Nashville Scene 9-18-25

Our preview of the season’s most exciting art, music, book, theater and film events

FALL GUIDE

STATE APPEALS, SEEKS TO PUT “ABORTION TRAFFICKING” LAW BACK ON BOOKS >> PAGE 10 FILM: WHAT TO SEE AT THE 2025 NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL >> PAGE 23

WITNESS HISTORY

This 1968 pink paisley Fender Telecaster was played extensively by Country Music Hall of Famer James Burton when he was a member of Elvis Presley’s TCB Band (1969 –1977), Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band (1975 –1976), and John Denver’s touring band (1977 –1994).

From the exhibit The Road to the Hall of Fame

artifact: Courtesy of James Burton artifact photo: Bob Delevante

OCTOBER 23-25

COMPAGNIE DYPTIK (FRANCE) LE GRAND BAL (U.S. PREMIERE)

“A show of invigorating rebellion” — Le Guide

NOVEMBER 12 & 13

TEATROCINEMA (CHILE) Rosa

DECEMBER 5 & 6

BECCA HOBACK with Kaitlyn Raitz: Solus

SHACKLED FEET DANCE! with Rod McGaha: Synergy

“A provocative, digital mash-up of live art and cinematic storytelling.” — Los Angeles Times

NASHVILLE SCENE

HONORARY CHAIRS: Denice & Milton Johnson | CO-CHAIRS: Vickie & Howard Mertz, Marie & Charles Sueing, and Angela & Brian Wright

Athena at the Park isn’t just a place to live–it’s a statement. Perched above West End with panoramic views of downtown and the Parthenon, these 51 luxury residences are designed for those who expect more. More space. More style. More experience. From the rooftop Sky Lounge to the resort-style pool and sauna, every amenity speaks to elevated living.

LUXURY CONDOS FROM $1.4M WEST END

VIVIAN LUX

Discover the newly completed Vivian Lux, a boutique collection of luxury homes in vibrant East Nashville. These home feature rooftop decks with stunning downtown views and are zoned MUL-A, with select units eligible for non-owner occupied short-term rentals.

Join us for the Broker & Investor Launch Party on Thursday, Sept 18, from 2-4 PM. Special guest speaker Brian Boyd, renowned author and tax attorney, will reveal how Airbnb investments can unlock tax savings and build long-term wealth. Enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres by Chef’s Market, explore Vivian Lux, and connect with industry professionals. Listed by Shannon Ryan. Scan the QR code to RSVP and learn more.

LUXURY HOMES FROM $674,900 EAST NASHVILLE

Street View: Residents Want Faster Improvements at Dangerous Crosswalk

A pedestrian was killed and another injured at the same Germantown intersection this summer, raising concerns about response time BY

LENA MAZEL

Cheekwood Loses Staff Over Conservative Ties

Arts organization lost at least two employees in recent months due to institutional politics BY

ELI MOTYCKA

State Appeals, Seeks to Put ‘Abortion Trafficking’ Law Back on Books 2024 law was blocked following a ruling that it violated First Amendment rights BY

HANNAH HERNER

Pith in the Wind

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

COVER PACKAGE: FALL GUIDE

2025

Any Fan of Prine

Tom Piazza discusses Living in the Present With John Prine ahead of book tour stops in Nashville BY

AMANDA HAGGARD

Crawl Space

Nashville’s fall art offerings range from ancient to contemporary, traditional to cutting-edge BY JOE

NOLAN

There’s No Place Like Home

Nashville’s Kyla Jade arrives at TPAC with national tour of The Wiz BY AMY STUMPFL

What to See at the 2025 Nashville Film Festival

Autumn at the movies kicks off with this year’s massive 56th annual NaFF. Here are our critics’ thoughts on what to catch. BY SCENE STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS

Harvest Time

Fall is packed with can’t-miss concerts, from Margo Price’s homecoming and Snooper’s album release party to Drkmttr Fest II and beyond BY

STEPHEN TRAGESER

CRITICS’ PICKS

Lorde, Judas Priest & Alice Cooper, Goddess Craft Market, African Street Festival and more

MUSIC

Lab Hours

Total Wife’s off-kilter vision comes to life on Come Back Down BY P.J. KINZER

And My Axe

The twin-guitar sound of Mirador’s Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin powers the group’s first recording BY DARYL SANDERS

The Spin

The Scene’s live-review column checks out AmericanaFest BY SCENE STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS

FILM

The 59-Year-Old Linebacker

Talking to Franklin resident Mike Flynt about The Senior, hitting theaters this week BY RANDY RUDDER

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD AND THIS MODERN WORLD

MARKETPLACE

ON THE COVER:

“Kimi masquerade ensemble in honor of André Sanou’s Qui Dit Mieux?” 2022 (headpiece by David Sanou in the studio of André Sanou; the maker of the body requests anonymity). Collection of the Fitchburg Art Museum. Photo courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art. On display at the Frist as part of New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations.

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RESIDENTS WANT FASTER IMPROVEMENTS AT DANGEROUS CROSSWALK

A pedestrian was killed and another injured at the same Germantown intersection this summer, raising concerns about response time BY

Street View is a monthly column in which we’ll take a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.

DOROTHY “DOT” DOBBINS was a pioneering lawyer who advocated for victims of domestic violence. She spent years working for Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, helped create groups supporting female lawyers and drafted Tennessee’s first child-support laws. She was also instrumental in opening Nashville’s first domestic violence shelter.

When Dobbins was killed by a Chevy Silverado while crossing the intersection of Third Avenue North and Van Buren Street on June 7, her death sparked community action: vigils, shows of solidarity and calls for a safer intersection.

The Nashville Department of Transportation made some improvements, including adding flashing lights and “yield to pedestrian” signs and removing a tree blocking sight lines. NDOT has also promised some longer-term infrastructure changes as a result of a four- to six-month traffic study.

But on Aug. 16, a little more than two months after Dobbins’ death, another woman was struck in a hit-and-run while walking across the same crosswalk. She is currently recovering from her injuries, but the incident has caused some community members to raise the question: When an intersection is dangerous, what could empower the city to move more quickly to improve it?

Asked about this question, NDOT Vision Zero coordinator Valeria Martinez differentiates between short-term and long-term fixes.

“After a fatal or serious injury crash, NDOT responds quickly to maintenance-style improvements such as new/refreshed street markings, new roadway signage, and lighting enhancements,” Martinez says via email.

But some of the more in-depth changes to roadways take time. “Roadway safety improvements that would make the greatest impact long term are road reconfigurations, new sidewalks, buffered bike lanes, and upgrading signals,” says Martinez. “These long-term advances usually require extensive analysis, complex design, large amounts of funding, and intensive construction timelines.”

As part of Nashville’s Vision Zero initiative and informed by long-term studies, NDOT focuses its efforts on areas with the highest concentration of crashes — areas they call “High Injury Networks.” Improvements on these networks are significant, like new signal timing, vehicle lane reconfiguration, bus stop relocation and raised medians.

LENA MAZEL

“I think that goes to show that we really need to come up with a short-term rapid response model,” says Councilmember Jacob Kupin, who represents District 19, where the Third Avenue crosswalk incidents took place. Even before Dot Dobbins was killed, Kupin was meeting with NDOT to talk about improvements to that intersection.

“We were working on [improvements to the intersection],” says Kupin, “but it takes time to move through that governmental process, and in that time it took us to do that, someone got hit and killed.”

After Dobbins was killed, NDOT planned a HAWK signal (a traffic light activated by pedestrians pushing a button) for the intersection, Kupin says. “That was expected to go in by the end of the year — and in the meantime, someone else got hit and nearly killed.”

Kupin says that while the neighborhood waits for the HAWK signal, the Germantown and Salemtown neighborhood associations have advocated for stop signs, which NDOT has since installed. Still, he is concerned that improvements move so slowly.

Kupin tells the Scene he’s looking into “what a rapid response committee” to traffic issues would look like. “They could mobilize right in the moment that someone was hit and killed or injured, or if they are notified that there’s a near miss,” he says.

But even with a committee, there’s still the question of funding: Budgets are another

concern for both short- and long-term improvements.

NDOT added 10 streets to its Street Traffic Calming Program in August, despite finishing only 10 percent of last year’s planned programs. NDOT director Diana Alarcon told WSMV last month that funding and staffing shortages have slowed the program down.

Kupin says he’s looking for alternative sources of funding for pedestrian safety enhancements and has requested some specifics from NDOT about costs — what it would take for them to move more quickly or complete certain repairs.

While the two pedestrian incidents at Third and Van Buren are important, there are stretches of road that, according to the numbers, are even more dangerous. “We are focusing our efforts in areas that we know see the highest concentration of crashes and where the most vulnerable populations live,” says Martinez.

Martinez says the High Injury Network consists primarily of state routes or “pikes” — roads built like state highways, with higher speed limits and wider lanes. Since Nashville has become more densely populated, these pikes cut through what are now residential areas with many pedestrians.

“Some of the biggest safety enhancements are coming from complete streets efforts coordinated with the Choose How You Move team,” says Martinez, referring to multimodal transportation upgrades and safety enhancements as part of Mayor Freddie

O’Connell’s transit initiative.

But with limited funding, the department will have to prioritize more dangerous parts of town over areas like Third and Van Buren.

In the meantime, Germantown residents want more. “Safer Streets Now” protesters in the wake of Dobbins’ death and the recent hitand-run said they wanted to see speed cushions before and after the crosswalk, creating 10foot lane widths through restriping, a new streetlamp south of the greenway for better night visibility, protected bike lanes and longterm upgrades such as a raised crosswalk and a divided median.

For Germantown residents and many others, these issues are far from anonymous. “Dot spent 40 years in activism: fighting for the betterment of people, fighting for women in domestic situations and just making our city and community a better place,” says Kupin. “I like to think that even in death, she’s still helping people be safer.

“It’s important that everybody who is in this situation is elevated and focused on because these are life-and-death issues we’re talking about,” he continues. “We’ve got to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, but we can replace money. I can’t replace Dot.”

According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s most recently available statistics, 80 pedestrians and 11 cyclists were hit by vehicles in Davidson County between January and April 2025. ▼

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

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NEWS

CHEEKWOOD LOSES STAFF OVER CONSERVATIVE TIES

Arts organization lost at least two employees in recent months due to institutional politics

BY ELI MOTYCKA

KELLY ANN GRAFF describes her work at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens as a “dream job.” The Belle Meade mansion sits at the intersection of arts and outdoor education, and it offered Graff a stable salaried position in the small, competitive field that combines her experience, training and interests. Until last month, Graff helped manage the nonprofit’s education programming, working with schools to set up field trips and organizing Cheekwood camps.

ing provided, but ultimately they’re doing more for us than we’re doing for them.”

Gibbs quit in July. Graff quit in August, citing many of the same political differences. Cheekwood has since scrubbed its own DEI efforts, which it fashioned under the “IDEA” acronym, from its website. After she gave her two weeks’ notice but before her final work day, Graff says she was shut out of an IDEA committee meeting she normally would have attended. She had recently found out that her work was funded directly by Brentwood-based private prison operator CoreCivic.

whose partnership is a ringing endorsement of our work to ensure all are welcome to experience the treasure that is Cheekwood.”

MacLeod — then Jane Offenbach — was “famous for saying she has a dollar sign tattooed across her forehead,” wrote Scene arts editor Laura Hutson Hunter in a prescient 2011 cover story describing the institution’s attempts to chart a new, financially stable path under its new CEO. Hunter termed the tension between this manicured, old-money Belle Meade mansion and the boundary-testing newness that defines contemporary art the “Cheekwood conundrum.” MacLeod’s tolerance for change extends to what can make the nonprofit money, former employees say — an appetite that includes multicultural festivals like El Día de los Muertos and the Black Arts Bash.

Graff’s co-worker, Natasha Gibbs, moved to Nashville from Michigan in 2023 specifically for a job running Cheekwood’s garden education programs. Gibbs had previously worked at another botanical garden in Michigan. These types of jobs are few and far between, Gibbs explains, contributing to a competitive professional environment.

“I am quitting my job as the School and Outreach Programs Coordinator in protest against Cheekwood’s financial relationship with CoreCivic,” Graff wrote in a written statement to Cheekwood executives. “CoreCivic is one of the major contributors to the prison industrial complex that creates the wealth and access disparities our educational programs are intended to address. Addressing these issues of access while directly benefitting from their causes is performative and hypocritical. Cheekwood has demonstrated that funding is more important than standing against the active and escalating violence against the Black and Latino communities across the country at the hands of CoreCivic.”

Nashville’s independent arts scene considers moral and political questions imperative. Small enterprises like Drkmttr and The Packing Plant explicitly ground their work in identity inclusion and frequently host events elevating topics like reproductive rights, immigrants’ rights and gun violence. Cheekwood has deliberately avoided such topics by stipulating that artists-in-residence avoid political work. Next year, it will dedicate its community week to “Americana” and feature a spring display titled Red, White and Bloom, according to former employees.

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“I was a garden educator on Cheekwood’s education team doing youth programming, primarily working with Title I schools in Nashville doing a vegetable gardening program,” Gibbs tells the Scene, two months after she quit. “As time went on, it started to bother me that we were blatantly taking money from places like Tractor Supply Company and CoreCivic and doing DEI work with that money. It felt kind of like we were laundering that money to make ourselves look good and to benefit the people who were donating.”

Winters were slow, and Gibbs spent some of her downtime researching Cheekwood. She was particularly appalled to learn that the Cheekwood board’s executive committee includes Alberto Gonzales, the former U.S. attorney general under George W. Bush who helped legally justify warrantless surveillance and torture methods in the years following 9/11. In the summer of 2024, Brentwood-based outdoor outfitter Tractor Supply Company — Cheekwood’s lead corporate sponsor — abandoned carbon reduction goals and DEI efforts. After the fundraising office asked Gibbs if TSC executives could observe one of her youth programs and Gibbs declined, she says the incident became a blemish on her next round of professional feedback. She began to see other small incidents — like when a group of non-paying, majority-Black youth working with Gibbs at a summer program had to eat lunch outside in peak summer heat so as not to “mix” with paying campers inside Cheekwood’s air-conditioned dining facility — as a pattern.

The billion-dollar corporation has boomed under the Trump administration as a leading contractor for immigrant detention facilities. Cheekwood was not forthcoming about this controversial funder to employees, Graff says; she suspects the organization didn’t want her raising the issue to like-minded IDEA committee members. CoreCivic regularly appears on Cheekwood’s annual report as a corporate sponsor.

Cheekwood’s small Education and Outreach office has lost two more employees — a volunteer coordinator and an education programs supervisor — since Graff left. Churn is common at nonprofits — low pay and long hours are often justified by employees who believe in an organization’s philosophy and positive societal impact, a nonmonetary benefit formally known as “psychic income.” According to Cheekwood’s recent job postings, particular positions offer actual income under $50,000 a year.

These choices have created a vast philosophical gulf between independent artists (and collectives) and major arts institutions like Cheekwood and the Frist. A similar conflict played out amid last year’s Metro Arts Commission controversy over the equitable distribution of city grant money. The saga coincidentally involved then-Commissioner Will Cheek, of the wealthy Maxwell House family that bequeathed Cheekwood, conspicuously supporting the city’s major arts nonprofits. It was Cheek, an attorney, who raised legal questions in July 2023 about including racial criteria as an element of the city’s funding formula. Within months, the dispute polarized the city, prompting lawsuits and resignations; Cheek left his post the following March. ▼

STATE APPEALS, SEEKS TO PUT ‘ABORTION TRAFFICKING’ LAW BACK

ON BOOKS

2024 law was blocked following a ruling that it violated First Amendment rights

BY HANNAH HERNER

“It seemed to me like the higher-up staff were hiring young, often queer and left-leaning people because they liked their ideas in theory,” Gibbs says. “In practice, the priority is always on bringing as many kids through the program as possible, as opposed to providing them with a quality program. In some ways there is a valuable service be-

Graff says the additional departures were influenced by herself and Gibbs, though their former co-workers declined interviews requested by the Scene, as did Nathalie Lavine, Cheekwood’s Education and Outreach vice president. Both Graff and Gibbs recall numerous emails, conversations and meetings with Lavine to raise issues related to Cheekwood’s conservative ties, and describe her as sympathetic to their concerns. They perceived institutional opposition from Lavine’s boss, Cheekwood CEO Jane MacLeod, who also declined the Scene’s interview request. The organization instead provided a statement via PR firm Finn Partners highlighting its multicultural festivals, free field trips, free and reduced admissions programs, and work with Metro Nashville Public Schools.

“These programs are vital as Cheekwood carries out its mission of nurturing the spirit and serving as inspiration for a diverse and broad audience,” reads the statement. “None of it would be possible without the generous support of our equally diverse visitors, members and donors

A 2024 TENNESSEE LAW that would make it a crime to help minors travel out of state to get an abortion was blocked in July because of its violation of the First Amendment. Now the state is appealing the ruling in an effort to put the “abortion trafficking” law back into effect.

State Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), along with abortion fund member and attorney Rachel Welty, brought the lawsuit in July 2024 against the district

attorneys general for Middle Tennessee. The pair argued the law’s language infringed on their First Amendment rights to share information about abortion access. The law’s terminology criminalizes anyone who “intentionally recruits, harbors or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor,” and “recruit” was not defined. Those charged would face a class-A misdemeanor for “wrongful death of an unborn child,” which could result in one year of jail time. The law did not apply to parents or to adults with written parental permission.

Saint Thomas Medical Partners UT OB-GYN Center. The move is part of another ongoing lawsuit brought by three Tennessee women who say the state’s abortion ban endangered their lives.

Attorneys Daniel Horowitz, Melissa Dix and Sarah Martin have also filed a cross appeal requesting a higher court review Gibbons’ decision.

Because of Tennessee’s nearly total abortion ban, very few abortion procedures happen in the state. The “abortion trafficking” law was temporarily halted in September 2024, and permanently blocked in July.

“Judge Gibbons’ thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion protects the right of all Tennesseans to share truthful information about abortion without fear that crusading district attorneys will try to prosecute them for doing so,” Horowitz tells the Scene in an email. “It also affirms that the government has no authority to enact overbroad laws that criminalize pure speech based on the government’s disagreement with a speaker’s point of view. We will continue to defend the rights of Ms. Welty, Rep. Behn and all Tennesseans who believe that the government has no right to prosecute citizens for sharing truthful information.”

Senior United States Circuit Judge Julia Gibbons ruled that the recruitment portion of the law was a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. A similar “abortion trafficking” law in Idaho was partially blocked in December after a legal battle, allowing Idahoans to speak to pregnant minors about abortion health care.

Behn in July also announced her run for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District. Early voting in the special primary election for that seat begins this week.

“Instead of using the power of his office to lower grocery prices, [Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti] is spending resources appealing a case we know they are 99 percent going to lose,” Behn tells the Scene in a statement. “You can’t trample the First Amendment just because you don’t like what people are saying.”

In August, Skrmetti’s office filed subpoenas for broad abortion information from Tennessee hospitals Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Heritage Medical Associates, Women’s Group of Franklin and Ascension

Tennessee state law bans abortion in all cases except in a “serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function.” A law that clarifies that definition passed during this year’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly, while a bill that would have allowed abortions in cases of lethal fetal anomalies (fetuses with complications so severe that they could not sustain life outside of the womb) failed.

However, Tennessee doctors who provide abortions during a medical emergency to protect the life of the mother will not be punished, following last year’s Davidson County Chancery Court ruling in a lawsuit that included local physicians.

Attorney General Skrmetti’s office has not returned the Scene’s request for comment as of this writing. ▼

PITH IN THE WIND

NASHVILLESCENE.COM/NEWS/PITHINTHEWIND

Davidson County voter rolls lost 80,170 voters between Dec. 1, 2024, and June 1, 2025, according to the latest report published by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett. Posts on the Davidson County Election Commission Facebook page indicate that a major voter purge occurred between Feb. 3 and March 3, when the county’s total eligible voters dropped from around 530,000 to 460,000. The same report lists 25,973 voters purged in Shelby County, 18,367 in Rutherford County 14,375 in Knox County, 14,335 in Hamilton County and 14,115 in Williamson County. Purged inactive voters outnumbered purged active voters in every case. Tennessee residents can check their voter registration at tnmap.tn.gov/ voterlookup

Lawyers presented their cases last week at the first hearing regarding a federal lawsuit that challenges a Tennessee law making it illegal to “harbor” undocumented immigrants — with a state attorney saying certain circumstances could also criminalize the housing of individuals residing in the U.S. legally. The lawsuit argues that the recently enacted Senate Bill 392 is unconstitutional and that its broad language could criminalize landlords, churches and nonprofits that house undocumented immigrants. It also contends that enforcement of immigration law should be left up to the federal

government rather than the states. Attorneys with the state say churches and other groups would not be liable under the law, noting its intention is to crack down on “professional smugglers” who transport or harbor undocumented immigrants for a profit. The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law while the case works its way through the court system. Judge William Campbell Jr. is presiding over the case.

The Boring Company has responded with an 18-page document of answers to Metro’s list of questions regarding the Music City Loop airport-to-downtown tunnel project. Clifton Peay, director of performance management at the mayor’s office, sent a list of nearly 80 questions via email to Boring Company vice president of business development Jim Fitzgerald. Many of Metro’s questions focus on safety and emergency response, environmental concerns, project construction and funding, the impact on Metro utility lines and what entity will have authority over the proposed 9.5-mile tunnel. According to The Boring Company’s response, the project cost is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars, and it will be 100 percent privately funded. If any injuries were to occur within the tunnel, Music City Loop would be responsible. Boring officials say injuries are unlikely “due to Music City Loop’s advanced safety features.”

Nightfall at the Hall

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ANY FAN OF PRINE

Tom Piazza discusses Living in the Present With John Prine ahead of book tour stops in Nashville

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

AT THE TOP of the fourth chapter of Tom Piazza’s new book Living in the Present With John Prine, Piazza quotes Mississippi writer Barry Hannah: “Good old boys know there’s something unsmiling at the heart of things. That’s why we like to laugh.”

Prine was known for his wry perspective and profound grasp of the realities of life, but he always seemed to be having a good time trying to make sense of it all.

“The thing that made John so special wasn’t that he was a clown,” Piazza tells the Scene “John was always a lot of fun, and he was funny, and we laughed a lot, and that’s so much a part of his appeal to people and to me and to our friendship. But it also is worth remembering that the reason that fun was so much fun was that there was a real understanding of the parts of life that aren’t fun underneath.”

In Living in the Present With John Prine,

Our preview of the season’s most exciting art, music, book, theater and film events

FALL GUIDE

Living in the Present With John Prine Tom Piazza Norton, 208 pages $27.99

Piazza will appear at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum alongside Fiona Prine as part of the John Prine gathering You Got Gold on Oct. 11.

Piazza balances the joy of being present with John Prine with the absence that came after his death. Though there’s a heaviness of loss underpinning even the funniest stories in the book — John Prine had a jukebox that would smoke if you plugged it in, for example — Piazza doesn’t dwell too much on the heavy. There’s a strong sense of delight running through the whole narrative, even though underneath there is so much loss.

Piazza’s friendship with Prine started around the time Prine put out The Tree of Forgiveness in 2018. As part of a story for Oxford American, Piazza and Prine took a road trip to Florida together, and Piazza interviewed him along the way. The piece, as well as Prine’s album, got a lot of attention. But even after the story went to

BOOKS

press, the two would meet to hang out in New Orleans, where Piazza has lived for years, and in Nashville at Prine’s place on Overton Lea Road. Piazza says that, even then, interviewing and writing about Prine was never a questionand-answer session. It was just two folks sitting down to yak, pick on the guitar and maybe grab a bite to eat.

“I was not interested in trying to dig into John’s psyche and ask him what his conflicts were or what his regrets might’ve been, or any of that kind of stuff,” Piazza says. “It wasn’t important. It wasn’t important to me given who he was. He was exactly the person you encountered or I encountered, or anybody else encountered. There was nothing that I wanted from John that I didn’t get every minute that we were together. I never wanted or needed more from John than him to be himself and for me to be able to be myself. And I think that’s the secret to almost any successful relationship.”

Because of this lack of explicit interrogation, Piazza’s book works like the unveiling of a friendship — the story of someone learning more about a new friend.

Any fan of Prine would look forward to reading something that gives a little bit more insight into his day-to-day life, and though Prine always said he didn’t want to write a memoir, he eventually did approach Piazza about collaborating on one. Likewise, Piazza hadn’t been much interested in writing memoirs for musicians, but he said this was an offer he couldn’t refuse. With Prine, Piazza knew it could be different — they could hang out like they always did, and he knew they’d have a good time.

As it happens, their work on the memoir began at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Piazza sat down for his first recorded session for the memoir in February 2020, and they made plans to get together two weeks later for their next session. In that first chat, Prine talked about his early life experiences in Chicago and Nashville, his friendship with the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement and a bit about touring, among other things.

What happened next is well-documented. Prine died in April of complications from COVID. Piazza knew he would eventually have to reckon with what to do about the book, but first he had to grieve. Still, it would be a loss to let that material from their first official meeting go unseen by others, but Piazza wasn’t sure exactly what route he would take with what he had. Ultimately, it took him four years to write the portion of the book that covers Prine’s death.

“There was something there that I felt was worth sharing with people,” Piazza explains. “Because I knew the sense of loss that I was experiencing with John’s death. This may sound, well, sound off-the-table, but I knew that there would be thousands and thousands

VISUAL ARTS BOOKS

of other people who were feeling the same sense of loss and grief.”

Piazza had a feeling that there was a story he could tell — a story about “friendship and loss and gratitude and everything that goes into those ingredients that might be worth somebody’s time to read.”

With the blessing of Prine’s family — including his wife Fiona Prine, who even penned a lovely foreword — Piazza began to write a different kind of story. The book he ended up with is both a personal memoir and a straightforward biography of a beloved musician.

“Sooner or later,” he writes toward the end of the book, “you are left with the question of where to put the ashes, what to write on the headstone, literal or figurative, how to properly memorialize a life. And how to walk away without turning your back.”

A particularly moving aspect of the book is when Piazza meets folks like Jason Wilber, Prine’s guitarist of more than two decades, as well as Prine’s brother Dave, who had quite a bit to do with his younger brother’s proclivity toward music.

“[Dave] had this awe of what John had become, what John had made, what John had made of his talents and his sensitivities, and he was as in awe of it as anybody else was,” Piazza tells the Scene

John Prine elicits good stories from other people — people loved spending time with him because of his intellect and humor, Piazza says. Of course it would have been preferable to spend more time with John Prine himself, but Piazza’s experiences with meeting Dave Prine, Wilber and others helped him more fully grasp who John Prine was.

“I realized that what I was wanting when I was writing that book was some way to, and I think I say it in the book, was some way almost to bring John back into the present,” Piazza says. ▼

MORE UPCOMING BOOK EVENTS:

OCT. 7 AT EAST NASHVILLE BEER WORKS: Spooky Book Fair Pop-Up

OCT. 18 & 19 IN DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE: Southern Festival of Books

OCT. 27 AT PARNASSUS: John T. Edge, author of House of Smoke, with Margaret Renkl

OCT. 30 AT VANDERBILT’S SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

LIBRARY: Stephanie Burt, author of Super Gay Poems: Poetry LGBTQIA+ Poetry After Stonewall

NOV. 9 AT THE BOOKSHOP: Justice Reads Book Club with the Tennessee Innocence Project

NOV. 18 AT THE RYMAN: Kamala Harris, author of 107 Days

NOV. 19 AT PARNASSUS: Susan Orlean, author of Joyride, with Ann Patchett

CRAWL SPACE

Nashville’s fall art offerings range from ancient to contemporary, traditional to cutting-edge

BY JOE NOLAN

I’M FIXIN’ TO Crawl all fall, y’all. Nashville’s best art season means cozy gallery shows, sweater-weather exhibition hopping and — never forget — holiday shopping. The days grow shorter, the wine turns from summer white to autumn red, and art galleries and institutions around the city deliver some of their best programming of the year. This fall Nashville’s galleries, institutions and artist-led spaces are dishing up everything from African masks and new-media displays to a two-woman show that combines painting and sculpture in East Nashville.

Red Arrow pairs Danielle Winger’s colorful abstract botanical works with Lindsy Davis’ earthy immersive sculpture installations in Call & Response (through Oct. 25), and the complementary combination is a curatorial chef’s kiss. Winger’s richly colored paintings of flowing fronds and moonlit woods are dreamy and brooding. Her unpopulated wild spaces resonate with quietude and stillness, while also hinting at the presence of the divine somewhere between the meadows, mountains, moons and stars. Davis’ sculpture practice gets only stronger, and every exhibition feels like a big step forward for one of Nashville’s best artists. Her new large-scale woven forms are designed for gallerygoers to stand inside of, and her work is informed by a conceptual framework that’s as elegant and compelling as her constructions. Winger’s subjects and Davis’ use of natural materials align with recent trends toward abstraction and formalism, as well as the revival of Romanticism in the 21st century.

As always, the Frist Art Museum will have something for everyone to wonder and wander about this fall. New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations (Oct.

10-Jan. 4) spotlights four contemporary artists who are updating and reimagining ancient West African mask and costume-making traditions that stretch all the way back to the beginnings of agriculture on the Mother Continent. The exhibition includes works by Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa (Nigeria), David Sanou (Burkina Faso), Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah (Sierra Leone) and Hervé Youmbi (Cameroon), and it offers fresh research models for contemporary masquerade, illuminating various issues relating to ownership and research ethics when it comes to tracing and documenting these long-lived creative traditions. This will be the buzziest local show of the season, and it’s complemented by Fahamu Pecou: This Face Behind This Mask Behind This Skin (Oct. 10-Jan. 4), a display from the Atlanta-based multimedia artist whose paintings, sculpture and videos confront the comforts and limits of contemporary Black identity in the South. Also at the Frist, Nashville music-heads will be keen to see Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes

VISUAL ARTS

of the Storm (Nov. 6-Jan. 26). Macca’s snaps take viewers along with The Beatles during the three months when the group went from being a hit British band to becoming an unprecedented global pop phenomenon.

Ellie Caudill is a Nashville native who made her place in the local art scene when she helped open the Elephant Gallery space in 2017. As co-curator at Elephant, she helped define the venue’s unique immersive exhibition installations. Caudill studied at Watkins, but her art revels in trashy midway charm. The artist is known for commercial production, commissioned murals and zany portraits, but Peas in the River at Julia Martin Gallery (Oct. 4-25) is a more personal show exploring themes from grief to joy in the artist’s signature style.

TR Ericsson is a Brooklyn-based multimedia artist whose works range from zines and books to sculpture and painting. Ericsson — whose Is This You? (Oct. 4-26) comes to Neue Welt this fall — combines a conceptual mind, a ruthless attention to detail and an imaginative use of materials to create works like his signature nicotine paintings on panel. Since his mother’s passing in 2003, Ericsson’s work has been inspired by his explorations of an inherited family archive.

Modfellows opens a new show this fall that feels like a conversation between traditional painting and new-media art. Into the Field (Oct. 18-Nov. 15) is a two-woman exhibition examining dream imagery and unseen supernatural forces that finds each artist taking distinct paths into these unknowns. Ruth Chase pictures abstract figures in mysterious narratives using acrylic on canvas. Chalet Comellas paints abstract color fields and employs lighting tech to display

illuminated text messages in her work. The exhibition speaks to this contemporary art moment where age-old materials and techniques are mixing with revolutionary new technologies as artists continue to struggle with eternal questions about the immaterial world.

From Herb Williams’ crayon sculptures to Bryce McCloud’s throwback prints, the legacy of Nashville-born pop-art trickster Red Grooms is alive and well in the city’s contemporary art scene. Grooms himself is still working and innovating, and during the pandemic he escaped New York to shelter in the Volunteer State, creating a body of botanical still-life watercolor paintings at his retreat near Beersheba Springs. His show at David Lusk Gallery (Oct. 28-Nov. 26), which is untitled as of press time, examines the artist’s beloved Tennessee Fox Trot Carousel. The gallery will have his initial drawings and watercolors for the carousel figures, and four of the original cast models. Grooms is also slated to do a live wall drawing on site.

Wendy Walker Silverman opens a new painting exhibition in November. The local favorite will close the gallery’s 2025 calendar with A Brief Pause Between Two Mysteries at Tinney Contemporary (Nov. 22-Jan. 3), and we call that going out with a bang. Silverman’s new works are the most cohesive collection I’ve seen from the artist, and one gets a new sense of confidence from this eponymous display of big canvases covered in bold colors arranged in graphic-inspired compositions. Silverman’s earthy palettes of oranges, ochres and olives feel particularly suited for a fall art display, and her work embraces a timeless formalism that will please anyone with an eye for abstract painting. ▼

FAHAMU PECOU: THIS FACE BEHIND THIS MASK BEHIND THIS SKIN

A BRIEF PAUSE BETWEEN TWO MYSTERIES

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Nashville’s Kyla Jade arrives at TPAC with national tour of The Wiz

BY AMY STUMPFL

AS A BUSY VOCALIST, recording artist and producer, Kyla Jade is no stranger to the road. But with the new North American tour of The Wiz making its way to Tennessee Performing Arts Center next week, this versatile Nashville-based singer is quick to admit that “there’s no place like home.”

“I actually saw my first Broadway show at TPAC as a college student,” says Jade, who attended Fisk University and has called Nashville home for 23 years. “So it definitely feels like a full-circle moment to be back there, performing for so many wonderful friends. I’ve been hear-

familiar and warm. I think everyone has an Aunt Em figure in their life, so her character was sort of easy to find.

“Evillene, on the other hand,” she continues, “is so big and boisterous. But I feel like there’s more depth to her because she’s actually really fragile and hurt — she just shows it in a very loud, frustrated way. It’s funny, because I think people would say that’s really polar opposite to my own personality. So finding her was more of a challenge, but it’s also been so much fun.”

searching for love and happiness and kindness, and all the things that make us feel safe and seen.

ing from everybody, which is really exciting. I’m ready to come home, and I’m very proud of the show that we’ve built.”

Jade grew up in Kansas and got her start singing in the church. After college, she spent 15 years with The Bobby Jones Gospel Hour on BET, and toured with everyone from Wynonna Judd to Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Hudson before stepping into the spotlight as a finalist on NBC’s The Voice in 2018.

Now she’s back on the road with an all-new Broadway tour of the Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz — the first in 40 years. It’s directed by Schele Williams (The Notebook) and features choreography by JaQuel Knight (the creative mind behind Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” dance) and new material by Tony- and Emmy-nominated writer Amber Ruffin, so Jade insists: “This is not your mama’s Wiz.” But she’s thrilled to be making her national Broadway tour debut with the iconic show, taking on the roles of both Aunt Em and Evillene — two very different but uniquely rewarding characters.

“I patterned Aunt Em after my mother,” Jade says. “She’s soft-spoken but strong. Aunt Em is

And while Jade says she looks forward to performing Evillene’s big number “No Bad News” every night, her favorite moment in the show is actually the extended dance sequence at the top of Act II.

“I’m not even in it, but it’s my absolute favorite scene,” she says. “This is where you’re finally introduced to the Emerald City, and it’s just amazing. From the costuming to the lighting to the music — it’s absolutely breathtaking. It really is just Black excellence at its best. And I can’t wait for Nashville to see it.”

Reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the musical, Jade says it’s been exciting to see such a huge response from a multigenerational audience.

“People are bringing their children, their grandmothers — because there’s really something for everyone,” she says. “And I love that we get to introduce it to folks that maybe don’t know the Broadway show, or who haven’t seen the film. Audiences still respond because it’s a universal story about home. And I think everyone is searching for home in their own way — especially in our current climate. We’re all

“Our director Schele often talks about the joy of this show,” Jade continues. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your life, or if you’ve had a bad day at work. When you see The Wiz, you’re going to experience joy. So 50 years later, if we can bring people joy at a time when it’s so fleeting, then I feel like we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. And what an honor to share in that legacy.”

MORE UPCOMING THEATER PERFORMANCES:

SEPT. 27 AT TPAC’S POLK THEATER: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

SEPT. 27-OCT. 30 AT NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Musical

OCT. 9 AND 11 AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL: Nashville Opera’s The Shining

OCT. 10-12 AT TPAC’S POLK THEATER: Nashville Ballet’s If I Can Dream

OCT. 14-19 AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL: The Outsiders

OCT. 18-19 AT TPAC’S JOHNSON THEATER: Improvised Shakespeare

OCT. 23-25 AT OZ ARTS: Compagnie Dyptik’s Le Grand Bal

NOV. 7-22 AT THE BARBERSHOP THEATER: Street Theatre’s ThanksKilling: The Musical NOV. 12-13 AT OZ ARTS: TeatroCinema’s Rosa NOV. 18-23 AT TPAC’S JOHNSON THEATER: All Puppet Players’ Die Hard: A Christmas Carol ▼

The Wiz Sept. 23-28 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall

KYLA JADE AS EVILLENE IN THE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR OF THE WIZ

TEATROCINEMA’S ROSA

THURSDAY, OCT 2ND, 5PM – 10PM

FRIDAY, OCT 3RD, 11AM – 10PM

SATURDAY, OCT 4TH, 11AM – 10PM

SUNDAY, OCT 5TH, 11AM – 5PM

THURSDAY FREE FRIDAY FREE ‘TILL 4

WHAT TO SEE AT THE 2025 NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL

Autumn at the movies kicks off with this year’s massive 56th annual NaFF. Here are our critics’ thoughts on what to catch.

BY LOGAN BUTTS, HANNAH CRON, KATHLEEN HARRINGTON, LAURA HUTSON HUNTER, ANNIE PARNELL, D. PATRICK RODGERS, JASON SHAWHAN

KEEP YOUR SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS — around here, we’re all in on fall films.

Autumn in Nashville always offers a cornucopia of movie options, from the International Black Film Festival (Oct. 1-5), the Nashville Horror Film Festival (Oct. 4-5) and the Nashville Jewish Film Festival (Oct. 16-Nov. 6) to Vanderbilt University’s ongoing International Lens series at Sarratt Cinema (most Thursdays through November). But the season’s marquee event — taking place Sept. 18 through 24 at Regal Green Hills, Soho House Nashville, the Belcourt and elsewhere — is the 56th annual Nashville Film Festival

Featuring roughly 150 films, this year’s NaFF kicks off Thursday night at Regal Green Hills Theater 16 with Opening Night Presentation Man on the Run, filmmaker Morgan Neville’s documentary on Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles life. Other big events of the fest will include a Q&A with Nicole Kidman — titled Where Art Meets Home in Nashville — followed by a screening of 2003’s Cold Mountain (5:15 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum), as well as Closing Night Presentation Kiss of the Spider Woman (6 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Belcourt) starring Diego Luna and Jennifer Lopez.

Nashville audiences will have a slew of locally relevant flicks to choose from, including documentaries You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine (4:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at Regal Green Hills Theater 16) and Opryland USA: A Circle Unbroken (2 p.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 16 and 3 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Belcourt), as well as the trashy, John Waters-indebted romp Fucktoys — written by, directed by and starring Nashville-raised filmmaker Annapurna Sriram. And none of that is to mention the panels, parties and opportunities to rub elbows. Visit nashvillefilmfestival.org to purchase passes and single-screening tickets and to see a full lineup. Below, find our thoughts on 14 films showing at this year’s Nashville Film Festival.

MAD BILLS TO PAY

Centering on wildly irresponsible 19-year-old Rico and his family, Mad Bills to Pay — subtitled

Destiny, Dile Que No Soy Malo — is the debut feature from writer-director Joel Alfonso Vargas. Living with his mom and younger sister in a cramped Bronx apartment and barely contributing by selling homemade booze concoctions called “nutcrackers” on Orchard Beach, Rico soon finds himself on the fast track to adulthood. With shades of Sean Baker, Vargas gives us beautifully shot, slice-of-life slow cinema that will feel deeply relatable to anyone who’s ever found themselves drowning in family drama. Mad Bills to Pay will be preceded by a screening of Home Is Where’s music video “Milk & Diesel: The Motion Picture.”

3:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at Regal Green Hills Theater

3 D. PATRICK RODGERS

MATTER OF TIME

Few musicians are as culturally influential as Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. In director Matt Finlin’s documentary Matter of Time, Vedder uses that influence for good. The grunge icon and his wife Jill co-founded the EB Research Partnership (EBRP), an organization dedicated to funding research into epidermolysis bullosa, a rare and devastating genetic disease. EB

shortens the lifespan of those who have it, meaning most people living with the condition are children. EB patients are often called “butterfly children” because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly’s wing, blistering at the slightest trauma. The documentary braids together stories from families living with EB and information about the disease with footage from a 2023 benefit concert where Vedder performs some of his most moving songs to a rapt audience full of EB patients. Because the organization has set a goal of finding a cure by the end of this decade — and because the scientists interviewed express genuine optimism that a cure is within reach — Matter of Time is the rare documentary that is both devastating and deeply hopeful. 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at Regal Green Hills Theater 3 LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

“FROM WASTE TO WAGES: TENNESSEE’S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL IN RECYCLING”

Co-directors Jeffrey Barrie, Ryan Scott and Shelby White set out to bring attention to a potential solution to Tennessee’s ongoing landfill crisis with this seven-minute documentary short produced by the Tennessee

Environmental Council. With many of the state’s landfills at or nearing maximum trash capacity, and with Tennessee’s recycling rate consistently ranking near the bottom nationally, “From Waste to Wages” argues that a more efficient state recycling system would provide a regional economic boom in addition to the obvious environmental benefits. Lawmakers will have to follow through with that line of thinking for these potential solutions to be implemented, but the Tennessee Environmental Council — of which Barrie is the CEO — believes a revamped system would create thousands of jobs and reduce the burden on local communities. 11 a.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 3 LOGAN BUTTS

PEACOCK

Anyone who’s excited for auteur Yorgos Lanthimos’ upcoming Bugonia should add Peacock to their Nashville Film Festival schedule. With his debut feature, Austrian filmmaker Bernhard Wenger managed to secure his country’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. Though Peacock lost out to I’m Still Here at this year’s Oscars ceremony, it is nevertheless a dark, compelling and frequently hilarious satire. The film features Albrecht Schuch as Matthias, a sort of loved-one-for-hire who’ll play whatever part you like — accomplished son, impressive dad, hunky boyfriend — via his company MyCompanion. It’s a great business model. Until, that is, Matthias’ many masks begin to slip. 12:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 15 D. PATRICK RODGERS

COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT

When Come See Me in the Good Light premiered at Sundance in January, its subject, Colorado Poet Laureate Andrea Gibson, was there to see it. When the documentary screens at the Nashville Film Festival, the world will

PEACOCK

MAD BILLS TO PAY

have been without them for three months. The film follows Gibson and their partner, fellow poet Megan Falley, as they grapple with a terminal cancer diagnosis and what it means to truly live, offering an achingly beautiful retrospective on their life and the pure love they had for it. It’s poignant, funny and completely heartbreaking. See it, and BYOT (tissues, preferably a whole box). 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 15 HANNAH CRON

THE BALTIMORONS

Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons is a goodhearted romp through Christmas chaos, the emotional remodeling that is sobriety, and finding the true heart of improv comedy. Star and co-writer Michael Strassner (who’s behind several indelible short films and a prize-winning commercial featuring a Doritos alien abduction) is charming but also deeply real. Co-star Liz Larsen is an incredible find, bringing heart to dentistry and showing us a woman’s life we’ve never seen at the movies before. Sweet and sincere and very aware of how things are. 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at Soho House Cinema JASON SHAWHAN

OMAHA

Do not let the Sundance trappings fool you: Omaha — the feature-length debut from Cole Webley — is fucking devastating. Starring indie darling John Magaro as a widowed father who wakes his two kids up one morning for an unexpected trip to Nebraska, Omaha could easily fall into the rhythms of a Little Miss Sunshine-esque dramedy. But Webley and screenwriter Robert Machoian opt for a grittier, more realistic approach, with the full picture not coming into place until the final frame. Omaha may seem manipulative to some viewers, but the shotgun blast to the heart worked on me, thanks in huge part to the performances of Magaro and his young co-stars Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis. 8 p.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 14 LOGAN BUTTS

THE

TRUE BEAUTY OF BEING BITTEN BY A TICK

The word “biodynamic” comes up a lot in The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, a domestic

body-horror film from director Pete Ohs. It’s an eerie sendup of the wellness industry and backto-the-land movements, with touchstones like Rosemary’s Baby, The Fly and Larry Mitchell’s 1970s queer commune writings. Horror ensues when the struggling Yvonne (Zoë Chao) gets a nasty tick bite while staying with her friend Camille (Callie Hernandez) and can’t seem to make her or surprise visitors A.J. (James CusatiMoyer) and Isaac (multihyphenate Jeremy O. Harris) take it seriously. With tension deliciously spun by this cast, True Beauty takes vacation horror to new heights, making and then breaking its own rules. 8 p.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 4 ANNIE PARNELL

THE OTHER PEOPLE

When I saw that one of the entries in NaFF’s Tennessee Features category was a horror film, I had to dive in. The Other People, from filmmaking brothers Chad (director, producer, editor, co-writer) and Trey McClarnon (co-writer, executive producer), centers on 8-year-old Abby (Valentina Lucido), who makes friends with a shadow-dwelling boy who lives in her family’s home. Shadow housemates aren’t the only odd things happening in this town — people have also recently gone missing and died suddenly. In post-The Babadook horror fashion, people all over this quiet suburb are dealing with grief AND creepy figures. 8:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Regal Green Hills Theater 16 LOGAN BUTTS

SUN RA: DO THE IMPOSSIBLE

Jazz polymath Sun Ra kept his human life a secret, preferring to lean into an expansive alien persona that laid the groundwork for the Afrofuturist movement. But in the documentary Sun Ra: Do the Impossible, filmmaker Christine Turner draws constellations between Ra’s

childhood in Alabama, his days in “Professor” John T. Whatley’s Birmingham big band and the New York free-jazz scene, and the formation of his own immersive, boundary-pushing Arkestra. Replete with out-there visuals, insightful commentary from artists and historians and a fascinating exploration of Ra’s nonnormative masculinity, it’s a compelling look into the universe of a legend. 1 p.m. Sept. 21 at Regal Green Hills Theater 15 ANNIE PARNELL

BOUNDARY WATERS

Michael (the immaculately named Etienne Kellici) is a 12-year-old growing up in the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota — a collection of four iron-ore mining communities situated around Lake Superior. He spends his days exploring the Boundary Waters, a nature reserve in the Superior National Forest. When his mother suffers a mysterious injury, Michael sets out on a quest to uncover the truth of what happened, shifting this coming-of-age drama into thriller territory. With supporting players like character actor Bill Heck, Lin-Manuel Miranda favorite Christopher Jackson and the legendary Carol Kane, Boundary Waters’ cast elevates Tessa Blake’s narrative feature-length debut a level. 1:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at Regal Green Hills Theater 16 LOGAN BUTTS

FINDING LUCINDA

Finding Lucinda finds Avery Hellman wrestling with self-doubt. The California folk musician plays in the Lucinda Williams cover band Lake Charlatans and releases originals as ISMAY, and at the documentary’s start, they’re torn between continuing to make music or focusing on sheep farming. On a Nashville road trip, Hellman seeks answers from Williams fans and collaborators like Mary Gauthier, Los Texmaniacs and Wolf Stephenson on how Williams figured it out, eventually speaking with the renowned alt-country artist herself. The creative crossroads Hellman faces is relatable, though I wish the film had leaned more into the problems with hero worship — especially since Gauthier and Williams both advise Hellman to forge their own path instead of tracing someone else’s. 2 p.m. Sept. 21 at Regal Green Hills Theater 14 ANNIE PARNELL

IDIOTKA

If “Diet Prada,” “coquette core” or “Yuzuco yuzu juice” mean anything to you, then you are the target audience for Nastasya Popov’s directorial debut. Satirizing Los Angeles’ fashion-influencer culture, Idiotka follows Margarita, the first-generation daughter of Russian immigrants in West Hollywood. Barely keeping her chain-smoking, 80-year-old babushka and ex-con papa afloat by selling designer fakes on Depop, she enters the fashioncentered reality TV contest Slay, Serve, Survive The producers and judges are played by Charli XCX music video universe members such as Julia Fox, Benito Skinner, Owen Thiele, Gabbriette and Camila Mendes. Despite the hilarious one-liners (“overtly woke art is no for me”), the film finds its real strength in dysfunctional family dynamics. It’s a truly original indie misfit comedy — a dying breed we desperately need more of. 5 p.m. Sept. 21 at Regal Green Hills Theater 14 KATHLEEN HARRINGTON

BY DESIGN

No American director does things like Amanda Kramer (who kicked off the Demi Moore Renaissance with Please Baby Please and was also behind the TV special freakout Give Me Pity!). Who else would think to examine the all-consuming dread of The Now by digging deep into our love of things — in this case, an artisanal chair that grows to encompass and redefine the life of our heroine Camille (Juliette Lewis). How better to be loved as a thing than as a person. By Design is a remarkable work, with great supporting turns from Mamoudou Athie and Betty Buckley. 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at Regal Green Hills Theater 15 JASON SHAWHAN ▼

The 56th annual Nashville Film Festival Sept. 18-24 at the Belcourt, Regal Green Hills, Soho House and more nashvillefilmfestival.org

OMAHA

THE OTHER PEOPLE

BOUNDARY WATERS

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

APRIL

HARVEST TIME

Fall is packed with can’t-miss concerts, from Margo Price’s homecoming and Snooper’s album release party to Drkmttr Fest II and beyond

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

SELDOM DOES A week go by when you can’t hear one or more exciting new releases from Nashville musicians. More than a few stellar locals have new material coming out around this time of year, and you can build out an impressive show itinerary using just their release parties and/or hometown shows. For instance, widely traveled punk champions Snooper will be home to celebrate their aptly titled new LP Worldwide on release day — that’s Oct. 3 — at Eastside Bowl. Multifaceted multi-instrumentalist and songsmith Jess Nolan’s Right at Home lands Oct. 10, when she’ll play at East Side honky-tonk Skinny Dennis. Singer, songwriter and rocker Madi Diaz drops her new one Fatal Optimist Oct. 10 as well, but has her release party Oct. 11 at The Basement East.

Some artists with new work have a little more time between release and event. It’s not a record, but Third Man Books published musician and poet Lou Turner’s new verse collection Twin Lead Lines on Sept. 16, and the book launch — with readings, sound collages and more — is Sept. 26 at venerable DIY spot Soft Junk. Psychfolk-rocker Kashena Sampson will release Ghost of Me Oct. 3, and will play The ’58 at Eastside Bowl Oct. 9. Shrunken Elvis, the experimental/ experiential trio of ace instrumentalists Mikey “Rich” Ruth, Sean Thompson and Spencer Cullum, released their self-titled debut Sept. 5; their Oct. 14 show is also at Soft Junk. Mirador is a new project from two hard rockers — Ida Mae’s

Chris Turpin and Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka — whose self-titled LP lands Sept. 19 (read our talk with them in this week’s music section for more), and their sold-out gig at Brooklyn Bowl is Oct. 14 as well.

Indie-popster Wilby’s new full-length Center of Affection is out Oct. 10; mark your calendar for her show Oct. 24 at The Blue Room at Third Man Records. Country badass Cam released All Things Light July 18, and she stops at the Ryman Oct. 26. Roots-schooled rocking songsmith Nicki Bluhm’s latest record Rancho Deluxe drops Oct. 3, and she’ll play Skinny Dennis Nov. 16. The great Margo Price leaned further into rocking country twang than she has in a hot minute on her latest record Hard Headed Woman, which came out Aug. 29, and her homecoming headline show is at the Ryman on Nov. 20.

Plenty of upcoming shows have an affiliation with or are raising funds for great causes. Sept. 22 at Exit/In, an installment of the We Save Us abortion access series will feature greats like country singer-songwriter Kaitlin Butts and R&B maestro Devon Gilfillian in support of Access

Reproductive Care Southeast. Get Out, Get Loud brings drag performers, musicians (lineup TBA as of this writing) and more to Marathon Music Works on Oct. 5 to help Nashville Pride close a funding gap that emerged when sponsors dropped out. Oct. 9 through 12, You Got Gold takes over a variety of Nashville venues for its fourth annual run, celebrating the life and spirit of songwriter’s songwriter John Prine and raising money for his family’s nonprofit The Hello in There Foundation.

Beloved nonprofit all-ages venue Drkmttr marked its 10th anniversary with a crowdfunding campaign that wrapped in early September, but any ticket purchase to Drkmttr Fest II Oct. 17 and 18 is going to help expand its mission to make music and music communities accessible to all. Nashville’s own rocker Soccer Mommy, St. Louis synth punks The Mall and many more will be on site, as will an array of vendors and a slate of electronic sets curated by the Phaaser dance-party crew — you’ll want to be there as well. Meanwhile, rising-star bandleader and guitar wizard Grace Bowers hosts her third

annual We Gotta Live Together benefit show Oct. 18 at Brooklyn Bowl, with proceeds going to musicians’ health advocacy group MusiCares and gun safety organization Everytown. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s annual Ryman residency, happening Oct. 16 through 18 and Oct. 23 through 25, isn’t a benefit show per se. But the choice of opening acts gives a platform to youth arts organizations like Nashville’s YEAH! and Athens, Ga.’s Nuçi’s Space, which provide services for the public good that were chronically underfunded even long before the latest cuts in federal arts funding. The inaugural Nashville Jazz Festival, which includes local legends like The Lori Mechem Quartet and Jeff Coffin and touring acts like Cory Wong, heads to 3rd and Lindsley Oct. 25 and 26. It will shine a light on the jazz scene in Music City as well as the vital work of Nashville Jazz Workshop. Sometimes a concert is just a concert, and that’s great too. As ever, there are many, many of those worth your time, and we’ve rounded up two dozen to add to your calendar.

SEPT. 24 AT THE BASEMENT: Nashville Show to Go Birthday Party feat. Teevee Repairman, Wesley & The Boys, more

SEPT. 27 AT 3RD AND LINDSLEY: Government Cheese 40th Anniversary Party

OCT. 1 AT THE RYMAN: BigXThaPlug and Friends

OCT. 3 AT ROW ONE STAGE AT CANNERY HALL: Juan Wauters w/Tristen

OCT. 7 AT THE RYMAN: X and Los Lobos

OCT. 9 AT EASTSIDE BOWL: Black Moth Super Rainbow

OCT. 14 AT THE RYMAN: MJ Lenderman and the Wind

OCT. 24 AT THE BASEMENT EAST: S.G. Goodman

OCT. 24 AT EASTSIDE BOWL: Headliners Only feat. Daisha McBride, 2’Live Bre and Tim Gent

OCT. 30 AT THE CAVERNS: Glass Beams

NOV. 1 AT BROOKLYN BOWL: The Beths

NOV. 1 AT FOGG STREET LAWN CLUB: Digable Planets

NOV. 4 AND 5 AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA: Sabrina Carpenter

NOV. 6 AT THE PINNACLE: Paul McCartney (way, way sold out)

NOV. 8 AT THE BASEMENT: Jonny Fritz

NOV. 14 AND 15 AT BROOKLYN BOWL: They Might Be Giants

NOV. 17 AT MARATHON MUSIC WORKS: Dijon

NOV. 20 AT THE BASEMENT EAST: Willi Carlisle

NOV. 20 AND 21 AT THE SCHERMERHORN: Guerrero’s Return: A Hero’s Life

NOV. 22 AND 23 AT THE BLUE ROOM AT THIRD MAN

RECORDS: Die Spitz

NOV. 29 AT THE BLUE ROOM AT THIRD MAN

RECORDS: William Tyler and Friends

DEC. 5 AT THE BLUE ROOM AT THIRD MAN

RECORDS: Bonnie “Prince” Billy

DEC. 6 AT MARATHON MUSIC WORKS: J.I.D

DEC. 8 AT THE PINNACLE: Erykah Badu Mama’s Gun 25th Anniversary Tour ▼

SNOOPER WILBY

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21

MUSIC [BRAND NEW KEYS] CMAT

Music journalist Robert Christgau compared Irish-born singer and songwriter CMAT’s 2022 album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead to the 1970s music of Melanie Safka and Todd Rundgren, which makes sense when you listen to her nimble soprano vocals and her superbly written pop songs. As Christgau wrote, CMAT’s singing doesn’t have much to do with “anybody’s Music Row twang.” Still, CMAT, who was born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson in Dublin, makes music that represents a possible future for country even as she bypasses the rules for creating mainstream country. If My Wife New and 2023’s Crazymad, for Me brim with catchy pop that sometimes references country, but CMAT’s new Euro-Country is a singersongwriter-pop amalgam that doesn’t sound like anything coming out of Nashville right now. “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station” rocks out like, say, 1990s Matthew Sweet or The Beatles’ Revolver, while “Iceberg” and “Lord, Let That Tesla Crash” address themes like regret and the excesses of youth in a way that’s trenchantly funny. I can listen to CMAT for her lucid vocals alone, but her lyrics make me laugh immoderately. As she sings in “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station”: “I make up places like Finglas, Tennessee / A mish-mash of what should and shouldn’t be.” Tele Novella opens. EDD HURT

8 P.M.

917

Visit calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings

FRIDAY / 9.19

[OPENING NIGHT]

MUSIC

NEW WORLD SYMPHONY : OPENING WEEKEND WITH DAVID ROBERTSON

The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák spent just three years in the United States, serving as director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York from 1892 to 1895. But his journey had a lasting impact on American music. Drawing on the rich traditions of Black spirituals, Native American music and even American literature, Dvořák saw his time in the States as a chance to explore how national identity might be expressed through music. Indeed, such influences would inspire Dvořák’s most famous work — Symphony No. 9, From the New World. It’s a marvelous choice for Nashville Symphony’s season-opening concert this weekend, and a fitting way to kick off its America 250 celebration. Led by renowned conductor and composer David Robertson, the evening promises a compelling program that honors significant works and pivotal moments in modern music. The program also includes Claude Debussy’s evocative Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun — revolutionary in its lush, fluid form. And audiences can look forward to seeing acclaimed pianist Orli Shaham, who will perform Light Forming, a new concerto written especially for her by Robertson. AMY STUMPFL SEPT. 19-21 AT THE SCHERMERHORN 1 SYMPHONY PLACE

FESTIVAL

[STREET SCENE] AFRICAN STREET FESTIVAL

A good street festival combines community engagement with cultural relevance, but the greatest street festivals make it happen under ideal weather conditions. That’s why Nashville’s African Street Festival, organized for the 43rd year by Nashville’s African American Cultural Alliance, is one of the city’s best. It’s a weekend-long celebration of African culture — from food and craft vendors to music and immersive art installations. This year’s event will include a special children’s village, which will be full of art-making, drumming and dance

LORDE PAGE 30

JOHNNY

opportunities. The festival’s mission is to “bridge ancestral tradition with bold creative expression — creating an environment that feels both soulful and elevated.” An added bonus is that it can help build the city’s momentum for African art just in time for the Oct. 10 opening of the Frist Art Museum’s New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations Visit africanstreetfestival.com for details.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

SEPT. 19-21 AT HADLEY-LILLARD PARK 1037 28TH AVE. N.

[MARVELOUS]

MUSIC

KENDELL MARVEL

Real-life country music, performed on Lower Broadway? That’s what you’ll get if you snag a ticket to see Kendell Marvel at the Neon Steeple inside Chief’s, the multi-story Second and Broadway joint opened by Eric Church last year. Marvel’s a must-see act for country music fans looking for an only-in-Nashville experience with a one-of-a-kind songman. Locals may remember Marvel for his HonkyTonk Experience showcase held in different clubs around town, where he invited famous friends to join him onstage for rowdy singalongs. Others may know Marvel for his solo career — including the 2019 Easy Eye Sound album Solid Gold Sounds and its 2022 follow-up Come on Sunshine — or his behind-the-scenes contributions to hitmaking, including credits on songs cut by Chris Stapleton and George Strait. For Marvel’s next show in town, the Chief’s website promises “an evening of storytelling in the Neon Steeple.” MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

7 P.M.

200 BROADWAY

Dracula; Saw; Twister; Liar, Liar; Seinfeld; Stranger Things; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; and more recently, Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. But for many of us, he will always be best known as Westley, the daring young farmhand turned swashbuckler in Rob Reiner’s classic 1987 fantasy comedy The Princess Bride This weekend, Elwes returns to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center for The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening With Cary Elwes. The program includes a screening of the iconic movie, followed by a moderated discussion, promising all sorts of behind-the-scenes stories and “tales of inconceivable antics.” It’s sure to be a fun evening, and there’s even a VIP package available that includes premium seating, a meet-and-greet with Elwes and a signed copy of his book As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride AMY STUMPFL 7:30 P.M. AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL 505 DEADERICK ST.

FILM [MAY ALL YOUR BACON BURN]

STUDIO GHIBLI FEST: HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

SATURDAY / 9.20

MUSIC

[STONED AT THE NAIL SALON] LORDE

Lorde has just about filled out her Middle Tennessee bingo card. In years past, the Kiwi pop superstar has taken the stage at Bridgestone Arena, the Grand Ole Opry House and Bonnaroo (check back here in 2029 for her inevitable appearance at the Ryman). Now Lorde is back in town to continue new venue The Pinnacle’s opening-year hot streak with a two-night stand. I have to be honest: As someone who was a huge fan of the genre-hopping art pop of Melodrama and the soaring, psychedelic folk pop of Solar Power, I found that it took me a bit to find the groove of her latest, the post-Antonoff LP Virgin, which is a collection of synthy dance tunes. But I’m there now, and I look forward to singing along to “Man of the Year” and “What Was That” this weekend. British dream-pop musician The Japanese House opens. LOGAN BUTTS SEPT. 20-21 AT THE PINNACLE 901 CHURCH ST.

YOGA [RESET]

AUTUMN EQUINOX MINI RETREAT WITH THE DOPE YOGI

Nicole Gheorghe, also known as the Dope Yogi, is hosting a one-day yoga and relaxation mini retreat designed to honor the fall equinox and get us ready for the coming shorter days and longer nights. Gheorghe believes we all could use the opportunity to slow down enough to notice our breath, our bodies and our capacity for calm. So she organized a oneday seasonal reset at The Farm (the wellness

retreat in Castalian Springs, not the intentional community in Summertown) on Saturday. Expect opportunities to restore balance through grounding yoga, mindful reflection and space to slow down. The ticket price includes everything for the day: meals and snacks; space to connect; grounding yoga practices; and access to facilities such as a sauna, swimming pool, hot tub and cardio equipment set on 200 verdant, rolling acres. Overnight stays are available for an additional fee. MARGARET LITTMAN

8:30 A.M. AT THE FARM 732 ROCK SPRINGS ROAD, CASTALIAN SPRINGS

FILM

[AS YOU WISH] THE PRINCESS BRIDE : AN INCONCEIVABLE EVENING WITH CARY ELWES

Cary Elwes has built an enviable career in film and television, taking on memorable roles in Robin Hood: Men in Tights; Bram Stoker’s

It’s hard to pick a favorite Studio Ghibli film, but right now, Howl’s Moving Castle is my 8-year-old daughter’s pick. I think it has something to do with the color-coded wheel that alters the world that lies outside the castle’s door — that kind of multiple-reality situation is catnip for anybody with a big imagination. We’re already counting down the days until we get to watch the 2004 film on the big screen, when it appears at Regal and AMC theaters as part of Studio Ghibli Fest. If you’re unfamiliar with the Japanese animation house, this is as good an entry point as any. The story that Howl’s is adapted from — a novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones — is fantastical but rooted in fairy tale tradition. There are artistic flourishes that remind you how masterful director Hayao Miyazaki can be — including a wisecracking fire demon sidekick and a spindly turnip-headed scarecrow who offers assistance along the way, all set against the backdrop of a Jules Verne-coded war. Now if we can only get them to offer a Calcifer-themed popcorn bucket. Visit gkids.com for showtimes and to reserve your ticket. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER SEPT. 20-24 AT REGAL AND AMC THEATERS

KENDELL MARVEL

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

MARIS X CAROLINE KINGSBURY FRI, 9/19

VALENTINO KHAN FRI, 9/19

NASHVILLE MINIFEST SAT, 9/20

THE PRAYER CHAIN W/ POOR OLD LU SAT, 9/20

STAFF PICKS

THESAURUS

LABUBU RAVE FRI, 9/26

TIFFANY JOHNSON SAT, 9/27

SUNDAY / 9.21

[GOLDEN AGE]

MUSIC

TV ON THE RADIO

After nearly a decade without releasing any music, TV on the Radio put out a new single — “Final Fantasy” — last fall and has been touring on and off (often without multi-instrumentalist and founding member Dave Sitek) ever since. Well, “new” is in the eye of the beholder, as the track was a demo version of “Bomb Yourself” from the group’s debut album Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes. Still, it was something fresh to listen to from the Meet Me in the Bathroomera art-rockers. And even if they haven’t added much to the discography over the past 10 years, simply hearing Tunde Adebimpe and the gang perform a full set list of the group’s avant, post-punk tunes onstage at the Ryman will be more than enough for fans. So grab your best “Dancing Choose” and catch the crew on Sunday night in Nashville before they head off to their various passion projects and side gigs for another 10-year hiatus. LOGAN BUTTS

8 P.M. AT THE RYMAN

116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.

MUSIC

[MR. SMITH GOES TO NASHVILLE] JOHNNY MARR

Guitarist and songwriter Johnny Marr will make his first Nashville appearance in 12 years Sunday night at Brooklyn Bowl. Regarded as one of the most influential guitarists and songwriters of his generation, Marr first rose to fame in the early ’80s with The Smiths and was also a member of several other groups, most notably The The, Electronic and Modest Mouse, before going solo in 2013. Marr will be accompanied Sunday night by his current band — James Dvorak (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Iwan Gronow (bass, backing vocals) and Jack Mitchell (drums). On Friday, Marr will release his second album of live material, Look Out Live! The double album was recorded with the same band in 2024 at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. “I like live albums, I always did,” Marr says in a recent Facebook post. “I put out a live album in 2015 called Adrenalin Baby and it’s really popular. … But I started to feel like I needed to update it.” In addition to material from across his solo career, Marr’s recent concerts have also featured songs by The Smiths and Electronic. U.K. rock duo His Lordship will open. DARYL SANDERS

8 P.M. AT BROOKLYN BOWL

925 THIRD AVE. N.

[SCHOOL’S OUT]

MUSIC

JUDAS PRIEST & ALICE COOPER

late Osbourne’s Black Sabbath as one of the pioneering acts of heavy music. Meanwhile, Cooper — known for classic rock staples “School’s Out” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” — championed theatrical showmanship like no one in rock music before him (and yes, he’s still pulling out antics every night he’s onstage). The opportunity to see these two together on one bill may not come around again, so throw up the horns and head to the show. Support on the bill comes from sludge metal band Corrosion of Conformity. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

6:45 P.M. AT FIRSTBANK AMPHITHEATER

4525 GRAYSTONE QUARRY LANE, FRANKLIN

SHOPPING

[WHAT’S

YOUR

SIGN] GODDESS CRAFT MARKET

Ever had your aura photographed? Caught yourself pondering whether you’re a manifestor, generator or projector? When was the last time you sipped on an apple cider mimosa while chatting it up with local artists? If you had trouble answering any of those questions, please calmly prepare your most magnificent fall fit and make a plan to swing by Gaia Sisterhood’s Goddess Craft Market, where you can learn all about the aforementioned activities and much more. Celebrate fall’s arrival while helping to make a positive impact on your community by shopping with more than 40 vendors on Sunday alongside friends, family and community. Expect lots of food, handmade art and fall vibes. The event is free to attend, and everyone is welcome, says Gaia Sisterhood founder Jennifer Harvard. A portion of the proceeds will go to the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. “It’s going to be a fun day,” Harvard tells the Scene. “It’s also a great way to honor the fall equinox.”

NOAH MCLANE

10 A.M. AT WILBURN STREET STUDIO

Southeast are a comfort for women living in a reproductive landscape that’s harsh, to put it mildly. ARC Southeast and others like it saw a huge influx of funding around the fall of Roe v. Wade and the institution of Tennessee’s nearly total abortion ban in 2022, but interest has since waned. That doesn’t stop ARC from helping those who need access to an abortion. The nonprofit handles all the logistics so the affected person can breathe a small sigh of relief. Meanwhile, it organizes in hopes of changing the very policies it helps to circumvent. The We Save Us benefit concert is a lineup of some of the best Nashville has to offer, including Lola Kirke, Devon Gilfillian, Morgxn, Adia Victoria and Annie DiRusso. The night will be a chance to hear poignant stories, dance to great music and rage against the legislative machine with music and money.

HANNAH HERNER

8 P.M. AT BROOKLYN BOWL 925 THIRD AVE. N.

[SISTER ACT]

POETRY/ART

HAGOOD : LANECIA AND CIONA ROUSE

Hagood is the name of a tiny unincorporated community in the middle of South Carolina that was named after a Confederate general. It’s also the birthplace of one of Ciona and Lanecia Rouse’s ancestors, as well as the title the sisters chose for the multimedia art exhibition they’re hosting at The Curb Center. The Rouse sisters are well-known among Nashville’s creative community. Ciona is an accomplished poet whose chapbook Vantablack was published by Third Man Books, and Lanecia is a visual artist whose collages were positioned directly across from work by Derrick Adams and Nina Chanel Abney at the Frist’s Multiplicity exhibition in 2023. For this show, the Rouses are collaborating to explore their own matrilineal ancestry through mixed-media collage, installation, color meditation and poetry. “There’s something about the South,” writes Ciona in their artists’ statement, “something about being Black in the South, something about being Black and woman in the South that makes looking back a necessary way forward.” Lanecia, who is based in Atlanta, will be in Nashville all semester to work with Vanderbilt faculty and students as part of an artist-in-residence program. The artists will host two workshops throughout the exhibition’s run — one on Sept. 24 and the other on Nov. 1 — but spots are limited. Visit the exhibition’s website via vanderbilt.edu/curbcenter for details.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

THROUGH DEC. 4 AT VANDERBILT’S CURB CENTER FOR ART, ENTERPRISE

In the wake of Ozzy Osbourne’s massive hometown tribute concert and his death just weeks later, at least one lesson can be learned: Celebrate living legends while you can. This week in Williamson County, metal fans get a one-two punch of headbanging royalty with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper at FirstBank Amphitheater. Fronted by Rob Halford, the “Breaking the Law” band stands near the

307 WILBURN ST.

MONDAY / 9.22

TUESDAY

/ 9.23

MUSIC

[LET ME BACK IN] RILO KILEY

I vividly remember the summer I first heard Rilo Kiley’s music. As with most early-Aughts teenagers raised in the rural Midwest, my introduction to new music typically came from

JUDAS PRIEST

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Thursday, September 18

PANEL DISCUSSION

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Shop the Scene!

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The Opry at 100

Featuring Vince Gill, Carly Pearce, and Dan Rogers

2:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, September 20

SONGWRITER SESSION

Steve Dean and

Bill Whyte

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, September 21

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Justin Branum

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Sunday, September 21

CONVERSATION AND SCREENING

Nicole Kidman

Where Art Meets Home in Nashville

5:15 pm · CMA THEATER AS PART OF NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL

Saturday, September 27

SONGWRITER SESSION

Ben Gallaher

NOON · FORD THEATER

Saturday, September 27

HATCH SHOW PRINT

Block Party

3:00 pm · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

Sunday, September 28

HATCH SHOW PRINT

Family Block Party

9:30 am · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

Sunday, September 28

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Mickey Raphael

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, October 4

SONGWRITER SESSION

Adam Hambrick

NOON · FORD THEATER

WITNESS HISTORY

Local Kids Always Visit Free

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

one of two sources: MP3 blogs (RIP) and the soundtrack to the first season of The O.C. But I learned of Rilo Kiley from the purest place of all: the pre-Tumblr haven for angsty girls known as LiveJournal. When my coolest LiveJournal friend posted the indie-pop darlings’ song “The Frug,” I fell in love. I went out and bought the band’s 2004 album More Adventurous, and I spent the entire summer before college blasting it from the speakers of my Chevy Cavalier. No one has ever felt more free than an 18-year-old girl who just discovered “Portions for Foxes,” except maybe a bunch of 30-somethings singing along to “A Better Son/Daughter.” That’s exactly what will happen when the band takes the stage at The Pinnacle for the latest stop on their reunion tour, their first string of dates since 2008. Show up early for an opening set by dance-punk legends The Faint. BOBBIE JEAN SAWYER

8 P.M. AT THE PINNACLE

910 EXCHANGE LANE

WEDNESDAY / 9.24

MUSIC [IRISH HELLO] THE SLEEVEENS ALBUM RELEASE

If you haven’t listened to Nashville/Dublin foursome The Sleeveens yet, you’ve missed one

of the true gems of the contemporary punk world. Featuring three hardened veterans of the local scene and an Irishman with a penchant for writing clever hooks, The Sleeveens have been grabbing the attention of listeners on both sides of the Atlantic. Given that one member lives almost 4,000 miles from the other three, their shows in town don’t happen often. This late-afternoon in-store appearance will be the first live set they’ve played in Music City in nearly a year and their only local show of 2025. And in that span, they’ve accomplished a lot. The Sleeveens have gone over to Europe twice this year with bands like The Chats and The Lemonheads, and made their first trip to the West Coast. Since the last Sleeveens gig here, they’ve also released a pair of 7-inch singles. “UFOs” was their first release since their 2023 EP and features an amped-up B-side of The Four Tops’ classic “Bernadette.” Their recent release “Downtown,” out on Goner Records, is paired with a cover of West Tennessee garage-punk aces Reigning Sound’s “Drowning.” Don’t miss it, because these guys don’t stay in one place for too long. The band will be immediately on their way out of town for the weekend to play GonerFest in Memphis. P.J. KINZER

4 P.M. AT GRIMEY’S 1060 E. TRINITY LANE

RILO KILEY

featuring

WALKER, KAYLEE ROSE, JENNA

SOPHIA SCOTT, HAILEY VERHAALEN, JACQUIE ROAR, SARAH MOREY + TEZZA

MIDNIGHT RIDERS - Allman Brothers Tribute Band + ADAM WAKEFIELD

Backstage Nashville! Daytime Hit Songwriters Show featuring ROGER COOK, IRA DEAN, RAY STEPHENSON

bywater call w/ zachary scott kline (9PM) Getdown Band 15th Anniversary (6PM) Slow Shiv, Voltagehawk, and Gremlins

The runarounds w/

and

The Roomie Broomies

Laveda w/ finger foods (7PM)

Nashville Show To-Go Birthday Feat. Tee Vee Repairman,

Participation Trophy, Wesley & The Boys, Slow Cast (9PM)

Lonely hunter w/ belt (7pm)

LAB HOURS

Total Wife’s off-kilter vision comes to life on Come Back Down

BY P.J. KINZER

CARNIVAL FUNHOUSES ARE the closest that many of us come to experiencing surrealism in the physical world. Their dreamlike environments, created with mirror tricks and eschewed perspectives, give visitors an uneasiness as they navigate rooms, attempting to decipher what’s real and what’s an illusion. The tension of a perfect funhouse keeps visitors doubting their senses by making them expect the unlikely — loud noises, jump-scares, trap doors. The balance between darkness and light, loud and quiet, and tension and release is off-kilter, overloading our senses.

That sort of sensory manipulation comes to mind while listening to Total Wife’s new album Come Back Down. As their other releases have established, Total Wife’s music is built around the band’s ambitious sonic imagination filtered through the tools and techniques of the studio. The elements are structured in a fashion that feels more like an expressionist sound collage than a traditional song. The noise-soaked “Peaches,” released as a single with a video animated by the band, is a euphoric meditation interrupted by shrieking guitar that might bring

to mind the whale songs My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields coaxes from his Jazzmaster. “Naosia” is dense with waveform-bending electronic skronk and the sort of breakbeats you expect to soundtrack a chase scene in a Guy Ritchie film. The closer “Make It Last” bounces along ebulliently, picking up velocity until it crescendos into white noise. Sounds and themes are often repeated, giving listeners the disorienting feeling of getting lost in a spiral labyrinth. What the album does best is create sensations using only sound that convey the feelings of touch or sight — even physical sensations like spinning or floating. It’s a rarity in music. Formed in Boston in 2016 by vocalist Ash Richter and producer/multi-instrumentalist Luna Kupper, Total Wife came to Nashville in 2020. The pair relocated after a trip to Tennessee in 2019 became a crash course in the art and music world.

“We went to Drkmttr, we went to Soft Junk, we went to a house show — all within the course of three days,” Richter tells the Scene on a recent call that includes both core members.

“And I was like, ‘This is just amazing.’ We hadn’t

experienced that yet.”

After arriving in Nashville, the pair went to work releasing an impressive catalog of work on their own label, Ivy Eat Home. Come Back Down is the group’s fifth full-length since 2021 — the year they released their debut To Make Sound in January followed by Total Wife in July — and it’s their first for Philadelphia indie Julia’s War Recordings. Their description of their unorthodox approach to crafting Total Wife’s music comes across like an inventor tinkering in a workshop, revisiting and adjusting the sounds as needed.

“[We were] on our own ... trial and error … pretty much recording albums over and over until I liked how it sounded,” says Kupper. “I never had written songs before trying to record. So I was learning how to write and compose, through the process of having a crack at Pro Tools when I was younger. [I learned] to record that way, which felt visually like collaging audio files and building textures.”

One audio-collage aspect of Come Back Down is the result of necessity. The electronic textures you hear on previous Total Wife records were made with Kupper’s collection of synthesizers.

But before making the new album, she sold them all for rent money, and the synth sounds you hear here are sampled from the band’s previous work.

CBD has a dreamlike quality, which the band attributes to long nights of mixing to the point of delirium. Primary lyricist Richter, who has a degree in poetry and a breathy, ethereal chant, focuses much of her lyrical content on themes like childhood, isolation and a relationship to the natural world. You might expect it to be awkward to use synthetic media like digital samples to explore such organic experiences. But Total Wife has figured out how to use the tools to translate their perspective into sound, and the result is a natural fit. ▼

Come Back Down out Friday, Sept. 19, via Julia’s War Playing Sept. 22 at Drkmttr Opening for Dummy Oct. 2 at The Blue Room at Third Man Records

AND MY AXE

The twin-guitar sound of Mirador’s Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin powers the group’s first recording

BY DARYL SANDERS

TWO GUITAR GODS are better than one. Or at least that’s the case with prog-rock outfit Mirador, who will release their eponymous debut on Friday. Greta Van Fleet guitarist Jake Kiszka and Ida Mae axeman Chris Turpin first met when their groups were paired on a tour in 2019. Kiszka and Turpin had an instant rapport and grew to be close friends.

“I’ve seen many, many guitar players, and the way Chris plays is very unique and unlike any of them,” Kiszka says. “We eventually spent what time we could on that tour, playing a lot of guitar late nights on the bus, jamming around, drinking red wine, you know, and sort of howling at the moon.”

Those late nights on the bus led to Kiszka guesting on Ida Mae’s 2021 album Click Click Domino. After that, the pair decided to do some co-writing.

“Jake said, ‘Do you want to come over and do

something?’” Turpin recalls. “And I said, ‘If we do something, I think it’s going to be a little serious, and we should lean into it.’”

Over a three-day period at Kiszka’s home in East Nashville, they wrote seven songs, six of which appear on their new album, including “Feels Like Gold,” “Raider,” “Ten Thousand More to Ride” and “Skyway Drifter.” After a second co-writing session, they had all but one of the record’s 12 songs. As the aforementioned titles suggest, lyrically the songs have a timeless quality, full of images of nature and only a few references that specifically could be considered modern. Turpin describes the lyrics as “folkloric.”

“We were tracing back early roots,” he says. “We were like, ‘How much further can we go back? What can we pull from the world that hasn’t been done in rock ’n’ roll so recently?’ And that’s where you go back to the early ballads and the European folk stuff. I think both of us wanted to write a record that had some form of deeper meaning.”

With the material in hand, they turned their attention to filling out the group.

“Jake was quite keen on getting a British band together, and I loved that idea,” U.K. native

Turpin says.

They enlisted bassist-keyboardist Nick Pini, who had appeared on several Ida Mae albums, and drummer Mikey Sorbello, best known as a member of British blues-rock duo The Graveltones. The four musicians got together for the first time at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in summer 2023.

“We set up and started jamming just to see what would happen,” Kiszka recalls. “When we stopped playing, the place was just humming, and it was like, ‘This is absolutely going to work.’”

The quartet spent a month road-testing the material as the opening act at the end of Greta Van Fleet’s Starcatcher World Tour, at which point they were ready to go into the studio and make a record. While both Kiszka and Turpin had experience producing, they decided they needed another perspective and chose Dave Cobb to helm the sessions.

“I think there’s probably a handful of guys on the planet today who can really record a serious rock ’n’ roll record, and Dave Cobb being one of them,” Kiszka explains.

Kiszka and Turpin shared both the lead vocals and the guitar solos on the sessions at RCA

Studio B in Nashville. Cobb made the guitars loud in the mix, but that’s not to suggest the arrangements are not dynamic, even beautiful in places. The guitarists also break out their acoustics for some intricate interplay on a few tracks, most notably on “Fortune’s Fate” and the finale, “Hymnal I.”

As for the band’s name, it was the result of a happy accident. In a text exchange, Kiszka suggested “Marauder,” but misspelled the word as “Mirador.” Before he could correct it, Turpin said he loved the word “mirador,” which is a tower of sorts that offers a good view of a broad range of territory. It seemed appropriate, so it stuck.

“We thought, ‘Fuck, it would look good on a T-shirt,’” Turpin says with a laugh. ▼

Mirador out Friday, Sept. 19, via Miradorian

Playing Oct. 14 at Brooklyn Bowl

PHOTO: DEAN CHALKLEY

From platinum-selling chart-toppers to underground , household names to undiscovered gems, Chief’s Neon Steeple is c bringing the very best national and regional talent back to Broadway. pl hi f’ N h t ons, t a s, eeple committed mmi

SEPTEMBER LINE UP

9.1 Nashville Hall of Fame Writers Round w/ Tony Arata, Matraca Berg, Gary Nicholson

9.3 Eric Paslay’s Song in a Hat

9.5 Kat Hasty

9.9 Dallas Moore, Scott Southworth, Daryl Wayne Dasher

9.11 “Afternoon Delight” Day Party w/ Will Hoge, Robert Ellis, Adrian & Meredith, Abe Partridge, Justin Wells

9.14 The Dirty Grass Players

9.16 Chief’s Outsiders Round w/ Skyelor Anderson & Ben Kadlecek w/Guests Antwan Wilmont,Dustin De La Garza, Chris Hatfield, Chad Michael Jervis

WRITERS’ ROUNDS AT CHIEF’S

9.18 Payton Smith & Friends: The Bridge Album Release Show

9.19 Kendell Marvel

9.20 Seals & Crofts 2

9.21 Cody Parks & The Dirty South, Austin Martin & The Herd, Charlie Farley

9.27 Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys

9.29 Buddy’s Place w/ Janelle Arthur, Mike Kinnebrew, Dan Smalley

9.30 Dan Harrison, Jeff Middleton, Mark Irwin, Mark Taylor

TICKETS AT

Kendell Marvel

Kat Hasty

Dirty Grass Players

ALL COME TO LOOK FOR AMERICANA

BY LIV RAPIER, NOAH MCLANE, BAILEY BRANTINGHAM, JULIANNE AKERS AND KERSTIE WOLAVER

WHILE THE AMERICANAFEST keystone Americana Honors and Awards show was underway at the Ryman on Sept. 10, a crowd filled the floor at Exit/In, showing up and out for performances from a stacked lineup. Kristina Murray, a Nashvillian by way of Georgia, started the evening with a set of originals highlighting her recent LP Little Blue, backed by her fivepiece band. “I hope you like country with a little bit of rock ’n’ roll and blues,” Murray said, aptly preparing the audience for a collection of groovy riffs (and noteworthy bass solos) that put the blues in country-schooled Americana.

You could feel a ripple of anticipation in the crowd as Music City’s own Aaron Lee Tasjan took the stage with his rocking band for the final set of the evening. His fifth solo LP, 2024’s Stellar Evolution, is a career highlight. But this performance was part of an ongoing celebration of his solo debut, 2015’s whip-smart In the Blazes, and he began with “The Trouble With Drinkin’.” Tasjan peppered the set with tales of his journey in the music industry, winding his way to moving to East Nashville and writing a song about a train — Blazes’ aptly titled “East Nashville Song About a Train,” or “E.N.S.A.A.T.”

Thursday afternoon, The Lipstick Lounge’s purple walls positively vibrated with the sound of music as AmericanaFest revelers swayed with the melodies during Day 1 of the OUTlaw Country Queer Roots party. Nine artists were on Thursday’s lineup — including Nashvillians like Lizzie No, Mercy Bell and Melody Walker — and they greeted guests with warm smiles and raw talent.

We arrived to see Iris Marlowe open the showcase with her high-energy 2024 single “Crooked Crow.” A Chicago-area alt-country songsmith who calls herself The Brimstone Cowboy, Marlowe is here for anyone who’s eagerly awaiting spooky season. She also played “Dead by Dawn,” the titular song from her forthcoming album due on Halloween. Marlowe’s fellow Chicagoan Andrew Sa was up next and provided a smooth, soft-spoken contrast. All eyes were glued to Sa as he calmly swung back and forth behind the mic, singing his country siren song. Sa could easily start a new career as a hypnotist.

OUTlaw is more than a gathering of people in one or more rad bars during the festival. It’s a safe space for LGBTQ musicians organized by people like Cindy Emch, a Bay Area musician who has curated the lineup since 2023. This year, just the existence of this space serves as a form of protest, Emch said from the stage. “As the [Trump] administration has been trying to actually outlaw more trans people, and medical care for trans people, and their rights,” Emch

noted, “marriage is on the chopping block … again.”

Later Thursday evening, The Blue Room at Third Man Records quickly reached one-in, oneout capacity, but the slow line proved to be well worth the wait as standout songsmith S.G. Goodman kicked off the show with tunes from her June release Planting by the Signs Jesse Welles has a knack for songs of protest and received the Spirit of Americana Award at the Honors and Awards. He was the first of several guests who took the stage throughout the night, joining Goodman for a harmonica-heavy duet on “Satellite.”

Los Angeles rockers Dawes made their AmericanaFest debut next. Considering their sound and style, that’s something of a surprise, but twists of fate have prevented them from playing an official showcase in the past. Also a fun surprise: Near the end of their set, they invited actor and singer John C. Reilly — Dewey Cox himself — to join in on “All Your Favorite Bands,” lyric sheet in hand. “It’s a little lame to have the words,” Reilly said. “But I’m a little drunk, and it’s Nashville.”

After cracking open a Diet Coke, Nick Carpenter, better known as Medium Build, waltzed to the mic. He careened between soft, tender moments with closed eyes and yelping openmouthed as he stomped and wrestled with his guitar. Keeping with the theme of guests, he invited Dawes back up for “This Is Life,” the wistful single Medium Build and Dawes collaborated on with Winnetka Bowling League. Joy Oladokun rounded out the night, balancing her set with ample banter. Nashville-born-andraised rapper Brian Brown joined her for his verse on “Hollywood,” a standout from her 2024 LP Observations From a Crowded Room. Her final song was her ode to mixed feelings “I’d Miss the

Birds.” She flawlessly morphed the tune into the indelible melody of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” ending the show with the iconic closing line, “You were only waiting for this moment to arise.”

A motley mix of concertgoers packed into The Basement East on Friday: Some attendees sported their Drive-By Truckers T-shirts and baseball caps while others represented a more eccentric crowd, filling the room with bright hair colors, eyebrow piercings and tote bags. What united these AmericanaFest attendees was the draw of an equally sundry four-band bill.

The night began with Swedish artist Sarah Klang and her slow, soulful ballads, many of which reflected on love and romance during her teenage years. Craig Finn of New York rockers The Hold Steady followed with a solo set of sometimes humorous, always deeply personal songs on everything from priests to New Jersey to stories of old friends. The evening sped up with Pittsburgh’s Merce Lemon, whose initially quiet and reserved demeanor quickly dissolved as she rocked out with a full band that included a violinist.

The night culminated with an energetic performance from Wednesday — an Asheville, N.C., project that meets somewhere in between hardcore grunge rock and alt-country. They began their set with “Reality TV Argument Bleeds,” the opener from their album Bleeds, out Sept. 19.

Despite Wednesday having garnered a substantial fan base in recent years, frontwoman Karly Hartzman engaged with the crowd in ways you might expect at a local DIY gig. When Hartzman requested a shot of Fernet from the crowd, it only took a matter of minutes — about the duration of one song — for

four disposable shot glasses filled to the brim with liquor to appear onstage. The band soon fired off the most Americana-esque song of their discography: the new record’s lead single “Elderberry Wine,” complete with pedal steel and Hartzman’s innate country twang. As the festival drew to a close on Saturday, a line wound around 3rd and Lindsley in anticipation of a mix of newer talent and stars whose work is a part of the bedrock of Americana. After a solo acoustic set from singersongwriter Liz Longley, legendary songsmith Rodney Crowell walked onstage in a polkadotted shirt and immediately took off with his band. The set featured songs from his latest LP Airline Highway, released Aug. 29, including Lukas Nelson co-write and album opener “Rainy Days in California.” The set was billed as “Rodney Crowell and Friends,” and many joined him, including bluesy duo Larkin Poe (whose members contributed to several tracks on Airline Highway), Sarah Jarosz and Carlene Carter Hot on Crowell’s heels was Rosie Flores, the accurately self-proclaimed Rockabilly Filly, who celebrated her 75th birthday during the festival. She radiated personality as she took the stage in a red fringed dress and a matching flower in her hair, to the delight of the audience. She and her band jumped into action, warming up with an energetic jam. The set that followed covered a lot of territory, including songs from her 2019 album Simple Case of the Blues as well as newer songs written during COVID quarantine and ones she penned during her childhood. It was time for us to call it a night, but one more set rounded out the bill. Flores is a tough act to follow, but top-notch Nashville session players Tom Bukovac, Guthrie Trapp and Jedd Hughes were ready to give it their best with the Guitar Party they set in for around 10:30 p.m.

S.G. GOODMAN AT THE BLUE ROOM AT THIRD MAN RECORDS

WEDNESDAY AT THE BASEMENT EAST

PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

PHOTO: VICTOR J. REED

Red

THE 59-YEAR-OLD LINEBACKER

Talking to Franklin resident Mike Flynt about The Senior, hitting theaters this week BY

THE TOWN OF Alpine, Texas, is less than 100 miles from the Mexican border. Even in the winter, the heat is oppressive. But in summer, it is stultifying — even for healthy young athletes. So in June 2007, when 59-year-old Mike Flynt showed up at coach Steve Wright’s office asking to try out for the Sul Ross State University football team, Wright was … less than enthused.

“I knew I had to show up in person, because I know if I were a college coach and a 59-year-old called me asking me to try out,” Flynt says, “I’d have hung up on him so hard his ears would be ringing.”

Flynt explained to Wright that he’d gotten kicked off the team in 1970 for fighting. It was his biggest regret in life, and he wanted a chance to play his final semester. As fate would have it, some players were waiting outside to do drills. Flynt asked if he could come along and participate. “Well, you can run with ’em,” Wright told him. “I’ll give you that. I might let you try out.”

Mike Flynt grew up in Odessa, Texas, where he played for the famed Permian High School Panthers — the team portrayed in Friday Night Lights. Flynt’s father, thinking he needed to teach his son to protect himself, was pretty rough on him. One time he told him, “You’re just a runt, and that’s all you’ll ever be.”

But that only motivated Flynt.

“He put adversity into my life that shaped the rest of my life,” Flynt says. “I’m 77 now, and some of the things I went through as a boy served me well, and taught me how to overcome.”

Flynt began weight training and excelled at football, enrolling at Sul Ross and being named team captain his senior year. But his hot head still got him in trouble. When the head coach heard that Flynt had been fighting with two freshman players, he was kicked out of school.

“They told me the assistant coaches were packing up my stuff, and they wanted me off the campus within the hour,” Flynt says.

Over the next 37 years, Flynt worked as a strength and training coach at three major universities and later completed his bachelor’s degree. He also owned a fitness equipment company, eventually settling in Franklin, Tenn. When Flynt returned to a reunion with several former players in the spring of 2007, he said, “The crazy thing is, I feel like I can still play.” When one of his teammates mentioned that Sul Ross, now a Division III school, had no age limitations as far as eligibility, the wheels began turning in Flynt’s head.

He and his wife Eileen then planned on a short-term relocation to Texas. Flynt enrolled in nine hours of classes and made the team. Flynt notes that while most of the players encouraged him, a few were jealous of the media attention he garnered. One, he says, decided to target Flynt in a drill — resulting in severe damage to

RANDY RUDDER

Flynt’s C5 and C6 vertebrae. At this point, everyone from the team physician to his family members told him it was over. “You don’t want to end up paralyzed,” he recalls them saying.

But Flynt was undeterred. He underwent extensive physical therapy for several weeks and was released to play the final five games of the season. He saw action as blocking back on special teams and on defense.

Flynt’s book, The Senior: My Amazing Year as a 59-Year-Old College Football Linebacker, was published by Thomas Nelson in 2008, and this week, a film based on Flynt’s story hits theaters. Directed by Rod Lurie with a screenplay written by Robert Eisele, The Senior stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield, Hotel Cocaine, Don’t Look Up) in the title role.

“I have to admit I’m a bit awestruck by Mike,” Chiklis tells the Scene by email. “I was 59 when I made this movie, which is the same age Mike was when he made his return to his old school. … I love the humble nature of his story. It’s authentic because it’s real. Mike doesn’t become a superstar player. He struggles mightily to overcome adversity. That’s heroic, and we could use some of those in films today.” ▼

The Senior PG, 99 minutes Opening Friday, Sept. 19, at Regal and AMC theaters

MIKE FLYNT

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Become

1 Molecule that stores energy in the body, in brief

4 Word before rope or scare

8 Loose-limbed

13 Talk like a tippler

14 Far from shore

15 City on the Nile

16 Do a collie’s work

17 [“I’ll take ‘Tennis’ for $200, Ken”] It means nothing

19 Pre-med track precursor, in brief

21 Cookie holder

22 Not many

23 [“Let’s go with ‘Nickname’s the Same’ for $400”] Bruce Springsteen, Lance Armstrong and Melissa McCarthy in a 2016 comedy

27 Transistor states

28 Honda luxury brand

29 Over yonder

31 Bubbles, e.g.

34 Hauls

36 Muscle-and-bone doc

39 [“Give me ‘The Academy’ for $600”] This was only the second animated film to be nominated for Best Picture, after “Beauty and the Beast”

41 [“How about ‘Sports and Comedy’ for $800”] He was on first base, per Abbott and Costello

43 The Supreme Court justices, collectively

44 Charlie’s Angels, e.g.

46 Swanky

47 Doubled or tripled, say

49 Gas brand with a torch in its logo

51 Savanna prey

53 [“I’ll try ‘Painted Ladies’ for $1,000”] This piece by Impressionist Mary Cassatt shows two women enjoying a drink

58 Kelly of morning TV

60 Guile

61 Key ring?

62 At risk … or where one might hear the clue-and-answer pairs at 17-, 23-, 39-, 41- and 53-Across?

66 “Thus with a kiss ___”: Romeo

67 Norwegian coastal feature

68 In one’s birthday suit

69 Try to win over

70 Forbidden

71 Go like a geyser

72 Word after kick or dumb DOWN

1 Hebrew leader?

2 Booster for a dragster

3 Result of a scandal going viral, in brief

4 Jabber

5 Escort in the theater, informally

6 Human, to a robot

7 Outdoor party area

8 ___ Palmas, capital of the Canaries

9 Cuba o Puerto Rico

10 A winning scenario in a best-ofthree game

11 Sanctuary

12 TV show that has existed since before online media, despite what its name suggests

13 “Man and Superman” playwright

18 Tech sch.

20 Like easy-to-get meds, in brief

24 Peacock competitor

25 Go off

26 Drive off

30 Horatian work of ca. 18 B.C.

31 Not rent, say

32 Greek “P”

33 Incredible work

35 Does a crawl, say

37 Dept. that oversees the F.D.A.

38 “Look at that!”

40 Gumbo, for one

42 Terrifying sound for a field mouse

45 Terrifying device for a field mouse

48 Larrup

50 When repeated, a dance

51 Dirty money

52 Symbol of stealth

54 Emiratis, e.g.

55 Some list items

56 Mount St. ___, second-highest peak in Canada

57 Trebek who once hosted this puzzle’s theme

59 Nestlé chocolate bar

63 Lead-in to meter

64 Dr. ___ of rap

65 Poison source in Agatha Christie’s “A Pocket Full of Rye”

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

NOTICE OF DISPOSITION OF COLLATERAL BY PUBLIC SALE

Name of Debtor: TaylorMade Contracting LLC

Studio Bank, a banking corporation (“Secured Party”), is the owner and holder of a certain Loan (the “Loan”) evidenced by a Promissory Note dated September 3, 2021 from TaylorMade Contracting LLC (“Debtor”), together with that Commercial Security Agreement dated September 3, 2021, and that UCC Financing Statement recorded with the Tennessee Secretary of State on September 22, 2021, at Doc. No. 435125549, to evidence Secured Party’s security interest in its Collateral (described below). The loan documents referenced above and all documents executed and delivered by Debtor to Secured Party with respect to the Loans are collectively referred to as the “Loan Documents.”

The Loan Documents secure indebtedness owed by Debtor to Secured Party in a principal amount of $71,232.46, plus unpaid interest, attorneys’ fees, and other charges including the costs to sell the Collateral (the “Indebtedness”).

Events of default have occurred under the Loan and Loan Documents.

Secured Party, pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code, the Loan Documents and applicable Tennessee law, including Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 47-9-611, 612, 613, provides this notice that it will sell the Collateral described below (“Collateral”) by Public Sale o be conducted as follows:

Date of Sale: Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 1:00 o’clock p.m. (CST)

Method and Place of Sale: The Public Sale will be held by a hybrid bidding process, with virtual bidding via Zoom allowed and in-person bidding at the offices of Exo Legal PLLC, 901 Woodland Street, Nashville, TN 37206. The URL address and password for the online video conference will be posted at www.exolegal.com/news. Additional terms of the sale will be located at that site.

The Public Sale will be conducted by David Anthony. For further information, contact David Anthony, Exo Legal PLLC, at (615) 8690634.

Collateral: (1) 2022 Norstar (Serial Number EWB8320072ESD04 -C99) and TRA/REM Equipment, Bumper Pull 1 (Serial Number 50HEB2020N1064228); (2) Caterpillar 305E2 Hydraulic Excavator Cab/Air/Heat with a Cat Hydraulic Thumb, Quick Coupler, 24"HD Bucket, Serial Number HSM14791; (3) Caterpillar GP 74' Tooth Bucket, Serial #52239 and a Cat HD Carriage with 48" Pallet Forks, Serial #53400 Other Parties Receiving Notice: Phillip E. Taylor

Legal PLLC, 901 Woodland Street, Nashville, TN 37206. The URL address and password for the online video conference will be posted at www.exolegal.com/news. Additional terms of the sale will be located at that site.

The Public Sale will be conducted by David Anthony. For further information, contact David Anthony, Exo Legal PLLC, at (615) 8690634.

Collateral: (1) 2022 Norstar (Serial Number EWB8320072ESD04 -C99) and TRA/REM Equipment, Bumper Pull 1 (Serial Number 50HEB2020N1064228); (2) Caterpillar 305E2 Hydraulic Excavator Cab/Air/Heat with a Cat Hydraulic Thumb, Quick Coupler, 24"HD Bucket, Serial Number HSM14791; (3) Caterpillar GP 74' Tooth Bucket, Serial #52239 and a Cat HD Carriage with 48" Pallet Forks, Serial #53400 Other Parties Receiving Notice: Phillip E. Taylor

Secured Party shall sell, grant, convey, transfer, and deliver unto any successful purchaser all of the right, title, and interest in and to the Collateral which Secured Party has a right to sell as a Secured Creditor and no further or otherwise. The Collateral will be sold “as is”, “where is”, and “with all faults”, without any representations or warranties, expressed or implied and subject to any prior liens or encumbrances, if any. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Secured Party has not made and will not make any representations or warranties regarding the Collateral, the condition of the Collateral, warranty of title or marketability of title, quiet enjoyment or the like in this disposition, and the conveyance shall be with all defects and without any warranties, expressed or implied, including warranties of merchantability, condition, or of fitness for a general or particular purpose.

Questions related to the sale can be addressed to: David Anthony, attorney for Secured Party, at: Exo Legal PLLC; P.O. Box 121616, Nashville, Tennessee 37212; 615869-0634; david@exolegal.com.

For publication in and on: Nashville Scene September 18, 2025

UBS Business Solutions US LLC has the following positions in Nashville, TN. Associate Director, Software Engineer, Evidence Lab to blend solutions covering optimization and analytics to drive business results and digital transformation. Requires B+2yrs. exp. Can work remotely. (ref. code(s) 001901). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 001901. NO CALLS PLEASE.

EOE/M/F/D/V. #LI-DNP. The expected salary range(s) for this role as of the date of this posting is/are based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, qualifications, education, location and skill level. This role may also be eligible for discretionary incentive compensation. For benefits information, please visit ubs.com/usbenefits

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Nashville Shores

Secured Party shall sell, grant, convey, transfer, and deliver unto any successful purchaser all of the right, title, and interest in and to the Collateral which Secured Party has a right to sell as a Secured Creditor and no further or otherwise. The Collateral will be sold “as is”, “where is”, and “with all faults”, without any representations or warranties, expressed or implied and subject to any prior liens or encumbrances, if any. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Secured Party has not made and will not make any representations or warranties regarding the Collateral, the condition of the Collateral, warranty of title or marketability of title, quiet enjoyment or the like in this disposition, and the conveyance shall be with all defects and without any warranties, expressed or implied, including warranties of merchantability, condition, or of fitness for a general or particular purpose.

Questions related to the sale can be addressed to: David Anthony, attorney for Secured Party, at: Exo Legal PLLC; P.O. Box 121616,

Nashville Zoo at Grassmere