East Nashvillian Issue 21

January | February Vol. IV Issue 3

This year’s winners work from two different perspectives to create a whole community

also

DISGRACELAND • JOE MCMAHAN • WARREN PASH & THERESA KEREAKES

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January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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©2014 Kitchen Table Media

P.O. Box 60157

Nashville, TN 37206

PUBLISHER Lisa McCauley EDITOR Chuck Allen COPY EDITORS Joey Butler, Nicole Keiper

CALENDAR EDITOR Emma Alford

DESIGN DIRECTOR Benjamin Rumble

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Chuck Allen

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Stacie Huckeba

ADVERTISING DESIGN Benjamin Rumble

SOCIAL MEDIA Nicole Keiper

ILLUSTRATIONS Benjamin Rumble, Dean Tomasek

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ellen Mallernee Barnes, Jaime Brousse, Sarah Hays Coomer, Melissa D. Corbin, Jeff Finlin, Jon Gugala, James Haggerty, Eric Jans, Jennifer Justus, Daniel Lumpkin, Tommy Womack CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Tim Duggan, Eric England, Theresa Kereakes INTERN Victoria Clodfelter

ADVERTISING CONTACT Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615.582.4187

www.theeastnashvillian.com

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January | February 2014

The East Nashvillian is a bi-monthly magazine published by Kitchen Table Media.

This publication is offered freely, limited to one per reader. The removal of more than one copy by an individual from any of our distribution points constitutes theft and will be subject to prosecution.

All editorial and photographic materials contained herein are “works for hire” and are the exclusive property of Kitchen Table Media unless otherwise noted. Reprints or any other usage is a violation of copyright without the express written permission of the publisher.

Kitchen

Table Media Company Est.2010

CORRECTION: The Artist in Profile story in our November | December Issue, page 38, has the name of the manager at Tenn Sixteen as “Steve” McColl.

It should be Sam. We apologize for the mistake, Sam. No hard feelings.

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COVER

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EAST NASHVILLIANS OF THE YEAR Introduction

Business: March Egerton

Citizen: Carol Williams

Nominees

By Chuck Allen

By Jennifer Justus

By Jaime Brousse

By Chuck Allen & Lisa McCauley

FEATURES

36 42

LARGE MANSION IN EAST NASHVILLE … NEEDS WORK The twisted tale & redemption of Disgraceland

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By Randy Fox

FUNKY SPACE & RUMPLED GRACE

Joe McMahan applies the principles of record producing to rising from the ashes

THE LONELY BIRD IN SHELBY BOTTOMS

By Jon Gugala

Tiffany opens a new boutique —without a jean jacket in sight

By Jaime Brousse

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DESIGN A RAIN GARDEN

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FOR THE MADEFIRST CREW, DROPPING A NOTE IN JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

By Jeff Finlin

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EAST NASHVILLE GETS ’80S POP STAR POWER

And have it built by voluteers

By Chuck Allen

By Chuck Allen

ON THE COVER

TWO HANDS WITH HEART Design by Benjamin Rumble

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

16 18

Matters of Development

By Eric Jans

Get Fit in 2014

the 19 Helping Homeless this winter

By Eric Jans

By Eric Jans

COMMENTARY

12 Editor’s Letter 14 Astute Observations

21 Resolution Revamp 80 East of Normal

By Chuck Allen

By Sarah Hays Coomer

By James Haggerty

By Tommy Womack

IN THE KNOW

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Know Your Neighbor: Nathaniel Smith

By Daniel Lumpkin

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Artist in Profile: Warren Pash & Theresa Kereakes IN MEMORIAM

Tracy Hamilton Photographed by Tim Duggan

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

By Melissa D. Corbin

By Emma Alford

By Ellen Mallernee Barnes

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59 Cookin’ in da Hood 63 East Side Calendar

January | February 2014

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EDITOR’S LETTER

I’

Looking Forward, Looking Back

ve recently been pondering the difference between living in the past or the future, and allowing the past to inform the present and the future. Although this may seem obvious to some, to me the difference can be subtle.

The key is staying in the moment, or at least as close to the moment as I can. It’s where everything in reality happens. The moment is the place to be.

Sentimentalism can be a dangerous trap, because it resists one of the foremost laws of the universe: change. It can be challenging to look upon past experiences with an objective eye, taking from it that which serves me in a positive way and letting go of the rest. I believe that life is a walk along a path of mental, emotional, and spiritual growth; this means when I reflect

who the council members are, etcetera. Lean on those who know their way around. The ones I’ve met encourage my involvement and have gone out of their way to help me grasp how things fit together around here. What amazes me is how much difference a small contribution of one’s time can make, especially considering there is power in numbers.

The 2013 East Nashvillians of the Year, Carol Williams and March Egerton, care deeply about the community they call home. They respect each other’s contributions, and both possess that most human of qualities—empathy—which allows them to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. This brings to the table the ability to understand how compromise can actually be a win-win. If the past shows us anything it’s that entrenched positions are bad for everyone involved.

From Disgraceland to Joe McMahan,

Theresa Kereakes and Warren Pash to Sarah Coomer’s Resolution Revamp,

Hags to Womack,

our first issue of 2014 has a thread running through it:

how the past informs our present and our future. upon the person I once was, I’m reflecting upon a lesser version of myself. There were times when that person was in darkness and turmoil. Ironically, those are the times that can be the most informative.

So, too, it is with our community. We choose how we wish to allow things to move forward, what we will take with us into the future, and what we will leave behind.

There was a time on the East Side when the situation wasn’t very rosy. Slumlords tore 20th century homes down only to replace them with rectangular brick eyesores with mansard roofs. Today we have developers maximizing their return by taking advantage of a loophole in the zoning code and building what amounts to a duplex on what was once occupied by a single family dwelling.

Our cover feature this issue focuses on two individuals who have made enormous contributions to East Nashville, and who demonstrate that we can all make a difference should we so choose. It’s not enough to lob spitballs at people with whom we disagree on the Listserv; it takes the motivation to learn about how the community functions,

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January | February 2014

From Disgraceland to Joe McMahan, Theresa Kereakes and Warren Pash to Sarah Coomer’s Resolution Revamp, Hags to Womack, our first issue of 2014 has a thread running through it: how the past informs our present and our future.

As it is said, the future starts now.

I

n closing, I want to say that it is with heavy hearts we bid farewell to our friend, Tracy Hamilton. Along with our publisher, Lisa, Kim Collins, and Brandy Smiley, Tracy graced the cover of The East Nashvillian one year ago for the story we published on breast cancer called “The Warriors.” Tracy truly was a warrior, but in the end she lost her battle with this terrible illness. I knew Tracy for many years, and not once did I ever see her without a smile. She always had a genuinely kind disposition and was a joy to be near. She and her husband, Jesse, opened The Village Pub together, and it has since become a staple of the neighborhood. Tracy, you will be missed. Godspeed and sweet dreams, my friend.

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{ ASTUTE OBSERVATIONS } for the

E ast Side ... & beyond By

James “ HAGS ” Haggerty

unlocking the secrets

G

reetings once again, dear readers of The East Nashvillian magazine; I hope this issue finds you well, rested, and happy. It has truly been a pleasure writing this column this past year and I thank you for reading it.

Sometimes I fret and such over topics upon which to base my “astute observations” and sometimes the topic falls in my lap.

This was the latter.

Recently, I was having a conversation and a drink at The Village Pub with a couple of friends, both of whom are accomplished songwriters and guitar players. Not so shockingly, the topic found its way to music. This was not the typical discussion of technique or of sessions and gigs.

Our conversation that evening was about youth, exuberance, innocence, and joy. We found ourselves talking about that moment, as a kid, when you got your first “real” instrument. Not the $50 guitar or bass with the action so high you needed the Kung Fu grip to get anything out of it, but the first honest-to-goodness magic guitar like your heroes played.

Allow me to share my story.

Believe it or not, I was not the most suave and self-assured young man in town. I was a shy kid who loved rock ’n roll. It was the last day of junior high. After the short walk from the school bus that I happily would not see again ’til September, I made my way down the block to our house. My older brother was waiting inside. He was by then a junior in high school and a great rock ’n roll guitar player. We had a band together. We were good. No singer really, but we could play instrumental versions of pretty much every Led Zeppelin and Rush song ever recorded. My brother said, “Hey, Jim, go look under your bed. I brought a bass home from a friend at school for you to check out.”

Up the stairs to the room we shared and there I was, pulling out a shiny black case from under the bed. When I opened it, the smell was new and sweet, like polish—much different than the cardboard one that held my student model bass. Nestled in soft blue fabric was a black-and-white

—

Rickenbacker bass. Just like my hero, Geddy Lee, played in Rush. I was really psyched. This was gonna be fun! No more school, and my favorite bass in the world was looking up at me.

I looked back over my shoulder at my brother and Dad. They were both grinning broadly at me.

“It’s yours,” my dad said.

“We just picked it up,” my brother added.

“Whoa ... WHAAAAAT?!?” I exclaimed.

I’d like to be able to tell you exactly what and how I felt on that June day in 1985, but it’s hard to describe the feelings of that 14-year-old kid. Excitement, adrenaline, innocence, and joy are the words that come to mind 30 years later.

Looking back now, I can say that I loved that bass. I was truly in love. It was special and real and powerful. The secrets were in there, and I was filled with adrenaline and happiness and excitement, eager to start right in on unlocking them. It was the greatest bass in the world, as far as I was concerned— the one I found any excuse to visit and play in the music store; the one I read about in magazines.

It was the most generous gift I’ve ever been given. We weren’t poor, but we weren’t rich either. I realize now what that gift from my parents really meant.

My friend put it really well that night at the pub. He’d rescued a Gibson EBO bass from a pawn shop. “I stared at that logo every night until I fell asleep. Now I was in the club; the instrument was no longer holding me back. I had the same bass as my hero. I realized it was all up to me,” he reminisced.

That’s it really. That's what we were talking about: unbridled joy and enthusiasm. Membership. The keys to a brand-new Cadillac that you weren't too young to drive. You’ve got unending possibility, adventure, and fun. It's all in your hands.

A Rick, a Gibson, a Fender, a set of Ludwigs—the instrument doesn’t matter. It’s the feeling that it’s all up to you, the future is wide open, and it’s gonna be a blast. Nothing to do but play!

Thank you, music!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Best wishes in 2014.

Once Hags’ dreams of being a musician had been trampled upon by the hard realities of life, he decided to become a bass player. When he’s not in the studio, Hags can be seen eight nights a week playing around town with pretty much everybody. Fortunately, he still finds time to provide The East Nashvillian with his “astute observations” about life here in the promised land.

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

More Matters of Development

2014 WILL BE AN EXCITING YEAR FULL of new additions and changes for East Nashville. If you weren’t satisfied with the plethora of dining and shopping options before, well, we probably can’t help you. But if you get excited about fun, new places to eat and shop, 2014 might be your year. If not, there’s always junk food at the new Speedway on Gallatin Pike. No news on whether Krystal will ever return.

The biggest recent change is the relocation of Mitchell Delicatessen to their new home at 1306 McGavock, one block west of their original location. The new, much larger space features more seating but the same favorite menu, as well as some new items. (Don’t worry, the turkey avocado and bacon sandwich is still there.) Make sure to park your bike at the new handlebar mustache bike rack, even if you’re clean-shaven.

The new Olive & Sinclair chocolate factory is open at 1628 Fatherland. Across the corner at 1701 Fatherland, work has begun on a new coffee/juice/smoothie shop called The Post.

Watch out 5 Points—17th and Fatherland is poised to become a cool new hang.

Just to the south of Ugly Mugs, the next phase of Walden is awaiting completion and will be home to three new businesses. We already know about the first two: Japanese gastro pub Two Ten Jack and the new East Nashville location for Climb Nashville (now open).

Longtime favorite West End sports store, Cumberland Transit, will be opening their second location in the third, remaining space.

Five Points Cocina Mexicana is coming along at 972 Main, where they are planning a large outdoor deck. Ken’s Sushi at 923 Main

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seems to be at a standstill, although their Facebook page says they will be open in February.

Soon we may have two great new dining spots on Main Street.

At Riverside and Rosebank, Riverside Grill Shack has opened in the space previously occupied by Eat Well Market. Hours are Mon-Sat 11-8.

Sadly, it seems that Nuvo Burrito is leaving the East Side. It was previously reported that they were moving to the new restaurant space at 1100 Fatherland, but that arrangement didn’t materialize. No word yet on what will replace them next to Marché.

What we do know about 1100 Fatherland is that they have secured a restaurant tenant: a vegan and gluten-free restaurant called Spark of Life. Joining Spark of Life will be the retail shops Thrive and nancybgoods, moving over from their original locations in The Shoppes on Fatherland.

Speaking of The Shoppes on Fatherland, three new stores have recently opened. 1907 Kids is the sister store to 1907 Apparel and replaces Wildernest. Two Feathers is a new vintage store in the space formerly occupied by Inspired. Hempopotamus is a new store featuring all things hemp. Hours at the Shoppes on Fatherland are Tue-Sat 11-6 and Sun 12-5.

Spot’s Pet Supply is now open at 1013 Gallatin Ave., featuring pet food, treats, toys, apparel, and accessories, as well as grooming services and a dog wash. Hours are Mon-Fri 9-8, Sat 9-7, and Sun 10-5.

Love the show “Storage Wars” but too busy to start your own empire? Storage Treasures is a new store at 2501 Gallatin Ave., where you can get all sorts of crazy finds at low prices—

January | February 2014

straight from storage lockers.

Prema Collection, a retail establishment featuring high-end, sustainable world furnishings, is now open for business at Porter East; also open is Antica, a new tapas eatery at the old Myriad location within the Fifth & Main development.

What’s next? There’s still no word on what will happen to the spaces formerly occupied by Olive & Sinclair, Mitchell Deli, OMG, or Nuvo Burrito. What we do know is that 2014 will surprise us with some great new restaurants, retail shops, and hangouts on the East Side. — EJ

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ESB Get Fit in 2014

TWO REGULARS AT THE TOP OF THE “Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions” list will come as no surprise to anyone with a pulse: lose weight; get fit. For the latter of the two we’ve compiled some terrific options—in no particular order—none of which require

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you to leave the comfort of your own ’hood.

If you prefer surfing the web to success from the comfort of your own couch (not recommended), your friendly federal government has some ideas, too. usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/ New-Years-Resolutions Margaret Maddox YMCA This East Side

January | February 2014

staple offers daily classes and programs for all age ranges and fitness levels. Do you prefer lifting weights or swimming; Pilates or yoga; body sculpting, dance, or maybe even a game of basketball? Any or all of these are available at the Y. Need a personal trainer? They’ve got that covered, too! MonFri 5a.m.-9p.m., Sat 7a.m.-6p.m., Sun 1-6p.m., (615) 228-5525, 2624 Gallatin Ave., 37216, ymcamidtn.org/margaret-maddox Gym 5 Specializing in personal training, Gym 5 has three levels of membership: personal, joint, and corporate. From yoga and cross training to indoor bicycling and the for-women-only “Booty Camp,” they have a variety of programs to suit anyone’s fitness needs. MonThu 6a.m.-9p.m., Fri 6a.m.-8p.m., Sat 9a.m.5p.m., Sun 10a.m.-4p.m., (615) 226-5559, 952 Main St., 37206, gym5.com East Park Community Center If committing to a membership is not your thing the community center might be an affordable option. They have daily classes in ZUMBA, boot camp, yoga, water exercise, and line dancing for $3 per class. The fees for seniors 62 and up are just $1.50. The weight room is $3 a day. There is a free indoor swimming pool, an indoor walking/running track, and an open gym. Mon-Thu 6a.m.-8:30p.m., Fri 6a.m.7:30p.m., Sat 8a.m.-12p.m., (615) 862-8448, 700 Woodland St., 37206 Climb Nashville The latest edition to the East Side’s lineup of fitness facilities, Climb Nashville sports climbing walls for all classes of difficulty. They provide equipment rentals— like climbing shoes and harnesses, and offer training with kettle bells, among other things.

Great hours, too! Belay away those fears and go bouldering. Mon-Fri 5a.m.-10p.m., Sat 9a.m.-10p.m., Sun 12p.m.-10p.m. (615) 6102200, 1900 Eastland Ave., Suite 104, 37206, climbnashville.com Karisma Richie Lee was voted the #1 Personal Trainer in the Nashville Scene’s Best of Nashville Reader’s Poll for both 2009 and 2010.

Receive personal training, learn kickboxing, or try a six-week boot camp at his kickboxing-infused East Nashville studio. Tired of that skinny hipster crying in your PBR? Time to tone-up, pal. (615) 417-8583, 604 Gallatin Ave., 37206, karismafitness.com Nashville Aikikai Did you even know there was an Aikido studio in the neighborhood?

They have classes for every level of experience, including no experience at all. Oh yeah, and weapons training, how cool is that?!?

(615) 262-4224, 1701B Fatherland St., 37206, nashvilleaikikai.org — EJ

ESB

Sophia’s Heart Located in East Nashville, Sophia’s Heart provides transitional housing for homeless families. Their goal is to keep the family unit together during the transition to permanent housing. Information on how to get involved or to make donations is at sophiasheart.org

East Nashville Cooperative Ministry The Second Harvest Food Bank site for our area, East Nashville Cooperative Ministry volunteers hand out food boxes to the hungry. To get involved or make donations, visit encm.org — EJ

Helping the Homeless This Winter

I HEARD RECENTLY THAT SNOW ON the ground before Christmas in East Nashville means a cold winter season. Inconvenient for us, right? What about our East Nashville neighbors who may not have a permanent or even indoor place to sleep this winter? More than an inconvenience, for them it’s about survival. What can we do to help? Here are several places you can volunteer time or money to help the poor, homeless, and marginalized right here in our neighborhood.

Room In The Inn Between Nov. 1 and March 31, Room in the Inn helps upwards of 1,400 people in Middle Tennessee with emergency overnight shelter, mainly at local churches. In East Nashville, Nashville First Church of the Nazarene at 5th and Woodland is one of the 180 congregations helping. They always appreciate volunteers, as well as donations of items or money. roomintheinn.org Nashville Rescue Mission Providing food, counseling, and emergency services like shelter, clothing, and hot showers, the Nashville Rescue Mission is open 365 days a year and has an easy signup for volunteering or donating at their website: nashvillerescuemission.org Open Table Nashville Assisting people in locating transitional housing, Open Table Nashville partners with local churches during the winter to provide emergency shelter for the homeless. They have a need for volunteers, as well as donations. opentablenashville.org

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Resolution Revamp

By Sarah Hays Coomer

W

hoever decided Jan. 1 should be the day we all dust off and try to become new and improved hasn’t visited the sunken hole in my couch that appears every winter, filled with wool blankets, microwave popcorn, and smudged dark chocolate.

Winter is a time for hibernation and rest. It’s a time to recharge, not to jump up at 5 a.m. in sub-zero temperatures and hit the park for boot camp. When it’s cold outside, our bodies naturally yearn for hot, hearty, nurturing food—not un-ripened, rock-solid fruit that’s been shipped from far-flung tropical climates.

As a personal trainer, I get a lot of phone calls in January from well-meaning people who are ready to “get to it—lose some weight!” But most of them slip away within about six weeks, and that’s being generous. They misplace their ability to find the GPS coordinates of the gym somewhere around the third week of the month, arriving late or not at all.

My work is most rewarding when people come to me ready to make a significant change, and devote themselves to the long process of transformation—come what may. Breakthroughs like that come from the inside. They aren’t generally triggered by an external, predetermined event like New Year’s Day. For most people, the resolve to change comes after many months or years of struggle with seemingly insurmountable, destructive habits. The impulse comes at the moment they can’t tolerate feeling crappy anymore, a lot crappier than they used to. It comes when they can’t bear another day squeezing into clothes that don’t fit and eating enough for two in front of the TV at night, before reprimanding themselves and curling up in bed to sleep it off.

It feels good to get moving after the holidays, to eat a little cleaner and drink a little less. It’s an ordinary, reasonable thing to do, and most people start to feel better after a week or so. With that relief comes forgetfulness. We turn our attention back to regular life. Any big goals we set over the holidays flatten like sparkling wine in a confetti-embossed, plastic champagne glass.

The air reeks with failure during January and February. The dropping of New Year’s resolutions is a cultural norm. We all do it.

Late-night television hosts joke about it along with the rest of us.

Just recently, I realized that I utterly failed at my objective to cook one new healthy recipe per week in 2013. I made one recipe—one out of 52. Total fail. What’s worse, I didn’t even notice until 11 months later.

To make a real change, it’s best not to attach new behavior to the turning of the year. Begin building new habits in January if you want, but be prepared for the arrival of spring before the new routine becomes second nature. Know that your resolve will weaken. Your muscles will ache, and bones will creak as you begin to move. Your body will cry out for relief in the first days and weeks as you try to kick sugar, cheese, or cigarettes. Expect to rage against yourself, and find someone you can call or text to hold you accountable as you face the anonymous lure of sundown each night.

Make your change on Dec. 28 or Feb. 6. Do it on a day when you feel like you have no choice. Do it because you’ll lose touch with the person you want to be going forward if you don’t.

Do it because it’s time, not because it’s New Year’s Eve.

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KNOW

your

NEIGH

BOR

Nathaniel Smith A new East Nashvillian explains his way around teaching a song to Yo-Yo Ma

Story by

Daniel Lumpkin

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January | February 2014

I

t seems as if cellist Nathaniel Smith began preparing for life as a touring musician at 5 years old. His “superhero” mother would drive him and his sister from their Mississippi home to Alabama each Saturday for music lessons. The trek took six hours round trip, but these weekend journeys helped pave Smith’s career in music.

“I came from a really music-loving family,” Smith said in his relaxed, Southern dialect.

“They started me off on the violin when I was 3, and I started playing the cello when I was 5.

I learned from that same teacher for 10 years.”

Normal expectations for a prodigious 15-year-old cello player would probably peak at hopes for a full ride to a prestigious college.

However, by the time Smith was 15, the age that typical success is defined as a learner’s permit, the young cellist had “taught” the

you did not teach Yo-Yo Ma a song when you were 15. That’s almost better than actually teaching Yo-Yo Ma a song at 15, and the jury is still out on that one.

Besides the Saturday excursions for music lessons, Smith also went to summer fiddle camps, which he confesses, “sounds so dorky but they’re the best things ever.” It was at one of these music camps that he met a young singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas, named Sarah Jarosz. “[ Jarosz] saw me play with Natalie McMaster and said a cello would be cool (to add to her live shows). Then Wintergrass was our first gig and one of our first times playing together. I flew up the night before the set. It was just the three of us playing together, and it just felt right. It felt right. [ Jarosz] was super happy and super stoked about it. I was just super stoked to be there with two of my favorite

American Songwriter magazine.

Now, at only 21 years old, Smith has decided to call East Nashville his home. Despite his busy schedule with Jarosz and two other touring artists, Natalie McMaster and Jeremy Kittle, Smith is “super, super stoked” to be called an East Nashvillian.

“It’s such a beautiful part of town,” Smith says. “I’m not used to living somewhere where there are so many good places to eat and so many things happening five minutes away. I’m used to having to drive 30 minutes to get to a decent restaurant in Mississippi. I love it. I still haven’t explored it as much as I want to, but I’m going to, for sure. I was asking people about the happening spots in Nashville … and it just seemed like everyone was moving to East Nashville. Everyone I knew, anyway. So I was like, ‘Might as well do that.’ It’s been a great decision.”

“I was like 15 at the time and Yo-Yo Ma was asking me my opinion ...

IMAGES COURTESY OF NATHANIEL SMITH

‘It’s freaking great, Yo-Yo. It sounds awesome!’ ” great Yo-Yo Ma a song for a studio session and played a show on the historic “Austin City Limits” stage.

For Smith, the word “taught” is a strong one, especially when it involves him “teaching” Yo-Yo Ma anything. When Smith describes his meeting and hanging out with one of the most celebrated classical musicians of all time, it is not a story told with arrogance or pride but with the utmost humility.

“I was playing with Natalie McMaster,” Smith said, while taking very careful effort to explain that Yo-Yo Ma did not need instruction from a teenager. “She was asked to guest on (Yo-Yo’s) “Songs for Joy and Peace” record.

She knew that he needed a cello, so he asked us to get together.

“He flew me up when he recorded it. He would ask my opinion, you know? I was like 15 at the time and Yo-Yo Ma was asking me my opinion and what I actually thought. I was like, ‘It’s freaking great, Yo-Yo. It sounds awesome!’

“I mean,” says Smith with a laugh, “what was I going to say? He’s an amazing person.

I’ve only met him that one time just for that day, but he was just such a kind guy. He just came up and gave me a huge hug when he first walked in. I figured it said somewhere (online) that I ‘taught’ Yo-Yo Ma, but I don’t know if I actually taught him. I got to hang a little bit and he asked my opinion.”

The surest sign of success in music must be when you have to clarify that, in your opinion,

people. I thought, ‘Man, we could be a band!’”

From there, the Sarah Jarosz Trio was formed, headed by Jarosz and backed by Smith and fiddle player Alex Hargreaves. Smith, with a heaping helping of humility, describes their progression as a band in one year, where they had more than 1,000 pre-sale tickets for a show, as “kinda funny.”

It was during that year that the Sarah Jarosz Trio performed on the “Austin City Limits” stage and began earning national acclaim from NPR, The New York Times, and

Smith is currently on a national tour with Sarah Jarosz promoting her third album, “Build Me Up From Bones,” released back in September on the Sugar Hill label. Smith is also excited about recording his own instrumental albums, and he sees East Nashville as a great environment for inspiration and collaboration.

Nathaniel Smith’s work can be found at nathanielsmithcello.com and sarahjarosz.com.

The Sarah Jarosz Trio kicking out the jams at the Savannah Music Festival.

L to R: Smith, Jarosz, and Hargreaves

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Artist(s) IN

Profile

Photograph | Chuck Allen

WARREN PASH & THERESA KEREAKES

By Ellen Mallernee Barnes January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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“ W

My wasted youth was actually look back on it. It was a real

arren Pash and Theresa Kereakes don’t remember meeting in 1978 in L.A., when the city was a riot of “scary bell-bottom music, people in big tall boots singing songs about the California sun, and people on Hollywood Boulevard with safety pins in their face who looked like they’d kill you,” says Pash—but they’re sure they did. Maybe they met at that party that Theresa, a photographer who had befriended Debbie Harry, Belinda Carlisle, Billy Idol and other soon-to-be stars, hosted at her apartment behind the Whisky a Go Go—the one that Kevin Costner came to.

Or maybe it was through Kereakes’ neighbor Joan Jett or at an Elton John or Electric Light Orchestra concert they were both at.

Pash and Kereakes, now both East Nashvillians, have found a way to revisit their 1978 halcyon days—this time together— through an audio-visual record and oral history they’ve created called “(19)78 RPM: Memoirs from an Analog Life.” It debuted on a recent November night at The Family Wash, when the Music City super-group Sons of Zevon took to that tiny, festooned stage and plowed balls–tothe-walls through a trove of cover songs, all from the year 1978. Pash, who joins the band for its infrequent gigs, had suggested to Family Lindsey Buckingham | Fleetwood Mac

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Wash owner Jamie Rubin (also in Sons of Zevon) that they combine their 1978 efforts.

Prior to the show, some of the black-and-white photos Kereakes took of her musician pals in the ’70s were hung on the Family Wash walls, and mid-show she and Pash answered questions about their respective experiences photographing, playing music and getting chummy with some of the biggest names in music.

Fresh from Canada, Pash was hanging out

at a lot of Hollywood hotspots in 1978, sidling up to the likes of Mick Jagger at bars, while getting a foothold as an actor and a musician.

He’d go on a few years later to write Hall & Oates’ “Private Eyes,” among other career feats, but in 1978 Pash and Kereakes were barely out of their teens. The two would “officially” meet in Nashville 30 years later, at which point they delighted in discovering that they’d once attended a staggering number of the same

Kereakes hangin’ with a couple of old pals: Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys and the New York Dolls’ Sylvain Sylvain

Joey Ramone | The Ramones

January | February 2014

Elvis Costello

quite relevant when you cultural turning point. concerts and parties and had many of the same boldfaced acquaintances. More importantly, they bonded over their retrospective elation to have witnessed the grimy, glitzy phenomenon that was the backstage environs of Hollywood Boulevard and the Sunset Strip in 1978.

“Everything that happened back then was a fugitive moment,” says Kereakes. “Nobody videotaped shows on their iPhone. The best you got was a still picture, and you just hoped

to capture that money shot that said it all. In a way it kept the magic.”

The magic may be long gone, but Pash still looks for remnants of its existence.

“I started going to thrift stores and occasionally I’d find an album from the ’60s or ’70s that had never been opened,” says Pash.

“When I got home I’d take my guitar pick and slice it open and snort the air because I wanted to get the air from those decades into my brain.

Talking Heads

“

It was all metaphorical, but I wanted to capture as much of that moment as I could. I don’t want to live in it, but I want to be informed by it. Because I know that you can’t get it again.”

Forthcoming “(19)78 RPM” presentations won’t include the Sons of Zevon, but that evening at Family Wash wasn’t too far from future iterations of what Pash and Kereakes envision as a years-long multimedia tour of universities, bars, and record stores that will include a “VH1 Storytellers”-style Q&A (Kereakes was an original producer of that show; this is but one of many remarkable points on her résumé), photos, and live music. Pash will cover the likes of Lou Reed, Tom Petty, Blondie—deep cuts, not the obvious hits—the stuff Kereakes and Pash heard live in 1978.

“Growing up, your parents are saying, ‘Oh, don’t waste your youth,’” says Kereakes. “My wasted youth was actually quite relevant when you look back on it. It was a real cultural turning point.”

Visit 1978rpm.blogspot.com for more on (19)78 RPM: Memoirs from an Analog Life.

All images courtesy of Theresa Kereakes

Stiv Bators | The Dead Boys

Jeffrey Lee Pierce | The Gun Club

Billy Idol on Melrose Avenue, Hollywood

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Meet the 2013 East Nashvillians of the Year Citizen: Carol Williams Business: March Egerton

F

rom a list of higly qualified and very worthy nominees, Carol Williams and March Egerton have won the awards for the 2013 East Nashvillians of the Year.

This annual award is presented by the Historic East Nashville Merchants Association in two categories—citizen and business—in recognition of the contributions made by each to the quality of life and economic vitality of East Nashville.

Nominations are submitted by the general public; the election is open to HENMA members only. There are no responsibilities implied with being elected, however, the award was created because it was believed there was a need to recognize those who have helped both preserve the historic

nature of East Nashville and also pave the way forward.

As reflected by our cover illustration, this year’s winners demonstrate the balance needed between development and preservation; too much of either could cause stagnation on the one hand, or, on the other, diminish the spirit and quality of life in our community.

All of the nominees should be recognized as well, for they have, each in their own way, helped shaped the face of the East Side. As Carol Williams makes clear, “Every single person is important in what they do.”

Perhaps the most important thing about this award isn’t the actual winners, it’s what they represent: We all have a responsibility to make our neighborhood a better place.

Past Winners 2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

Business:

Business:

Business:

Business:

Business:

Citizen:

Citizen:

Citizen:

The East Nashvillian magazine Citizen:

Elizabeth Chauncey

Green Wagon Citizen:

Eric Jans

ArtHouse Gardens | Alan Murdock

Dan Heller | Riverside Village

Catherine McTamaney

Carol Norton

Meg & Bret MacFadyen | Art & Invention Gallery Bob Acuff

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Photograph | Stacie Huckeba

“L

Citizen Carol Williams

By Jaime Brousse

ife every day offers possibilities—possibilities to serve, to be involved, to protect your neighborhood, to help a friend. If I see a need where I feel like I can make a difference, then I’ll be there. It doesn’t matter what it is, how small or how big,” declares Carol Williams.

It’s that kind of earnest, go-getter attitude that has helped Carol Williams change East Nashville in a multitude of ways for more than 35 years, and it helps explain why, at the age of 69, she’s tackling what she calls “the biggest thing to happen on this side of the river in decades.” With a seat on the board for the Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation, Williams is working to build support for a plan that would tear down the public housing community and start over—while potentially opening up the East Side’s share of the riverfront to new development.

Williams may have her hands full, but she’s no stranger to large-scale revitalization movements.

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When she moved to Russell Street in 1975, she didn’t just burst onto the activism scene—she helped create it. The area was then a much different place: Think less charming view of Nashville history, more crime scenes and slumlords. In fact, they got the idea to move here after her late husband, an attorney, investigated a murder scene down the street. “What my parents did … was crazy, but it ended up being the best kind of crazy and a decision for which I will be eternally grateful,” says William’s daughter, Annie B. Williams. “My brothers and I were exposed daily to people and lifestyles very different than ours, and as a result we learned to know, accept, learn from, and love those differences.”

“The Edgefield of the mid-‘70s was very rough, but it was also real. It was the authenticity that drove my parents to give the finger to white suburbia and move their young family to the slums,” says her son, Charlie Williams. “We might not have been able to get a pizza delivered to our house, but as a kid I

always felt a sense of purpose in my parents and their decisions. They were living life deeply.” While raising their three children, they cleaned up the mess a squatter left behind and restored their home back to its former glory. They discovered other people interested in cleaning up the rest of the neighborhood, too. They organized into Historic Edgefield, fighting for, and eventually winning, a Historic Zoning Overlay, which gives Metro oversight on any demolitions or renovations to this day.

Other neighborhoods followed suit, and community meetings began to crop up in every nook and cranny of East Nashville.

“Carol’s always been an inspiration to newer neighbors as they come in,” says Bob Acuff, locally known as an East Nashville crime-fighter and activist. “We need to have newer neighbors understand that East Nashville didn’t just happen this way; it’s been a lot of work.”

Williams’ daughter Annie B. admires her

The ideal of economic diversity plays a major role in the plan Williams backs for Cayce Place. “What I’ve seen of the plan so far is great; mixed-use, nobody’s home is taken away from them,” she says. The Metro Development and Housing Agency is developing a plan that would replace each of the 716 units, then add on, to incorporate more middle-class families and businesses. “Get the vision: You have people out of work, you have single moms who need day care, and you build around Davidson Street and that area, and you build economic and commercial activity, offering the people employment they can walk to,” she says.

The Martha O’Bryan Center would continue to play an integral role as a support system for families. But the biggest game-changer could be “having a top-notch school, uplifting every child in the area, mixing them with children who already have vision of hope. A lot of the children have not been exposed to any vision of hope,” she says. “I don’t even know if a lot of

… Her positive impact is visible on every street, in every alley and on every corner of East Nashville.”

When I first interviewed Williams in 2011 for this magazine, she was engrossed in her role as the president of the non-profit Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms. By the time her term ended in October 2012, the park celebrated its 100th anniversary, dedicated the public artwork “Reflections,” and started construction on a new baseball and activity field.

Each of her children still live in East Nashville, and Williams is excited to have a full house again. Her son Anderson and his family recently moved in, to help with the upkeep that comes with having a large home built more than a century ago. She’s also helping her daughter recover from a recent surgery for liver problems.

“What I really like to do most with my life is just respond, hourly, daily to whatever I see that might need to be done,” Williams said.

“Whether you’re helping your neighbor, or you’re president of an organization,

every single person is important in what they do.” mom’s spunk. “Where I may get upset about something in the paper, she writes a letter to the editor. Where I may shake my head at the trash on the side of the street, she picks it up.

Where I may fear the drug house in the corner, she gets it condemned. It’s mind boggling!”

Even East Park got a makeover—from unlit wasteland to urban green space and home to the annual Hot Chicken Festival. Former Nashville mayor, East Nashville resident, and festival founder Bill Purcell says, “Carol Williams is the model; a neighbor’s neighbor.

She cares about all of it and all of us, and that has made the difference in her neighborhood and all the others.”

W

illiams is still working to protect the neighborhood she helped rebuild—because, it seems, there’s only one thing she’s scared of: that East Nashville could look like, well, everywhere else.

“All of a sudden,” she said, “you realize how quickly it could change if you don’t keep working.” She describes driving through a Green Hills neighborhood recently, aghast at all the new so-called McMansions that had replaced working-class homes. “Our neighborhood has wanted to preserve the small homes built in 1950, as well as those built in 1800, as well as any other home built here, because we want to be unique,” she says. “In East Nashville, I would be so aggrieved if we took away affordable housing. That takes away the reason we moved here—to rear our kids in diversity.”

East Nashvillians realize yet, how big it’s going to be. It’s going to directly affect the life of all the surrounding areas, because of the crime, the murders, the drugs, the instability that prevails in public housing.” She also admits to something a little less grandiose, but no less impressive: giving rides to women she sees carrying groceries back to Cayce Place.

“She knows so many people, in Cayce Homes, in the schools. You need people on the board who have a sort of presence, who know people, they talk to people,” Acuff, a fellow board member, says. “People in Cayce Homes were afraid of change, and I think she made a difference in moving that forward and giving people the confidence that it’s for the better.”

“For my mom, it has always been about people. All people. She is equally likely to strike up a conversation with a homeless person on the street as with a powerful politician at a fundraiser,” Charlie Williams says. “They are the same and neither gets preferential treatment from my mom.”

According to her son Anderson, “There are few people in the world who truly transform lives—whether in raising one’s own children, raising the kids wandering the streets of Edgefield during the summers and after school, or inspiring an addicted woman on the streets, with little more than a show of unconditional love and respect for her reality to get clean.

My mom has transformed lives. My mom still transforms lives.” He added, “There are even fewer [people] who transform communities

“Yesterday it was a homeless man who needed conversation. I was out talking with neighbors, and he injected himself into our conversation.

That was a moment that could make or break somebody’s day. You could shove him off and say, ‘Get on your way, leave me alone,’ or you could just incorporate him into your life. Who knows what that might mean to someone? So I’m busy all the time.”

S

he hopes more young people will step up to the plate and take on leadership roles in the community. “Whether you’re helping your neighbor, or you’re president of an organization, every single person is important in what they do,” she says. “Meet your neighbors, see who has needs. It’s not all about government issues, it’s about building a neighborhood. So if you know that someone in your neighborhood has a porch that’s falling off, see who knows how to build porches! Get other neighbors to donate two-by-fours. Whatever you can do is needed. Whatever part you can play, no part is too little.”

It’s hard not to be inspired by her conviction (I found myself wondering why I’ve never gone to a neighborhood meeting). “There are dozens of East Nashvillians who have given their heart and soul to making this a viable, livable, balanced, diverse neighborhood,” she says. “That’s why I’m humbled by being singled out [as East Nashvillian of the Year], because no one person has made ‘the’ difference. It doesn’t happen that way.”

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Photograph | Stacie Huckeba

I

Business March Egerton

By Jennifer Justus

magine an East Nashville without Margot Café, Bongo Java or Marché. No Ugly Mugs or Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams or even additions along Gallatin Pike like No. 308 or Edley’s Bar-B-Que and Fat Bottom Brewery, which gave new life to older buildings. These establishments weave a web of neighborhood life. They’re places we celebrate milestones over meals, work on business plans over laptops, take the kids for ice cream, connect with old friends at lunches, and meet new ones over cups of coffee.

While the owners of these businesses certainly play a crucial role in this mix, in this issue, we’re celebrating the guy behind the guy.

Developer March Egerton had the vision to turn brick and cement into spaces with soul that have been instrumental in the revitalization of East Nashville.

At 49 years old, Egerton stands tall and lean, with a serious demeanor punctuated by sharp wit. Matter-of-fact, private, and driven, he keeps his balance as a husband and father of three along with a love for basketball at the YMCA. You might spot him at one of his properties like Ugly Mugs, but it will seem only for a second as he’s moving forward, always, toward the next task.

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Egerton recently stopped by Edley’s—one of his newer developments—which sits just a few blocks from the first commercial property he ever purchased just after the tornado of 1998: the home that now holds PizzeReal.

“It was really obliterated. It got hammered, and I bought that from a labor union that had been there for a long time, and they just wanted to get rid of it,” he says. “They didn’t want to fix it up, and I bought it, and I knew nothing about construction.” He ended up renting it to a group that formed a Somali mosque. “Nobody remembers this. It was a trip. I got to know some of those guys pretty well,” he says. But leasing wasn’t so easy in East Nashville then, and it has hardly been smooth moving forward.

“Now it seems like every time you turn around there’s a restaurant opening, but it was a long grind,” says Egerton he first probably seven or eight years was really up and down, and then, of course, when the market tanked in 2000 … People forget, but Marché sat empty for years after I bought it. Jeni’s was empty for over two years before I got them in there. You gotta suck it up sometimes, or you have to just lease it to whoever, and I try not to do that … You gotta look at stuff long term.”

M

arch Egerton grew up in Green Hills and had an interest in real estate, but he also never intended to settle in Nashville and didn’t expect development to be such a major part of his life.

After college, Egerton left Nashville in a VW bus headed for the West Coast. He first landed in Seattle during the grunge era. The weather began to wear on him the second year, so he applied to graduate school at the University of Hawaii.

“I moved out there and had never been there.

I bought someone’s plane ticket—half of a plane ticket; you used to be able to do that,” he says. “I took some cardboard boxes of stuff and landed on the island of Oahu and slept in the car I rented on the first night.”

Though Egerton says he had a head for business, Egerton never took business classes or pursued an MBA. “I got a bachelor’s degree in American Studies, which is like a way to not drop out of college. And then I got a master’s degree in American Studies, which was an ex-

bought the building that now holds Bongo Java (which he later sold to them) and the former gas station that became Margot Café.

Egerton began leasing the Walden project, his only new construction to date, in 2008.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams joined Ugly Mugs, Silly Goose, and The Wild Cow by opening its first full store outside of Ohio in 2011. The East Nashville location of Jeni’s has since become the busiest of about 16 total. Two Ten Jack, an izakaya, is scheduled to open in January. It’s the first Nashville restaurant involving Jason McConnell, the successful Franklin chef and restaurateur behind Red Pony, 55 South, and Cork and Cow. “Remember that only two of five phases are now completed [at Walden],” says Dan Heller, developer of Riverside Village and Egerton’s partner on the Fluffo redevelopment project.

“So in terms of impact, imagine just one guy creating an entirely new commercial neighborhood at the intersection of three existing neighborhoods, literally from scratch. No over-

I’m not just in it for the rent. In my mind, it takes orchestrating.”

Egerton plans to continue the Fluffo development with a $3 million, 45,000-squarefoot, mixed-use project in a building at 901 Woodland Street. Coming to compromise over development and growth is part of the job, but Egerton, who lives in Inglewood, is positive about East Nashville and its future—just not to the point of being overzealous.

H

eller noted that Egerton doesn’t use spreadsheets. Rather, he’s building an empire on memory, basic calculations in his head, and notes scribbled on a yellow legal pad. Egerton doesn’t expect others to completely understand his way of working and thinking, which he said makes him open to the issues others face.

“I guess everyone wishes everyone could understand their whole deal in a flash, but that’s not a very practical wish. I understand how people perceive kind of what goes into this versus

“This feels like a real neighborhood. It’s got rough edges to it.

It’s got people pushing strollers. It feels very dynamic that way.

I don’t get tired of that.”

cuse to live in Hawaii and write a guidebook.”

The book covered cheap places to eat on the island. Egerton had no money, and no car for the first nine months of the three years he lived there. He then moved to Portland, Ore.—where he also stayed for about three years—with his girlfriend at the time, who was going to midwifery school.

“I had told myself I would never move back to Nashville,” he says, “and then, one day I decided I would.”

B

ack in town at age 33, Egerton knew parts of Nashville well as a native, but he didn’t know much about the East Side. “The first time I came over here I thought, ‘Man, what a shithole.’ And then the second time was like a week later, both by chance, and I thought, ‘Ah man, this is perfect.’ It was weird. That’s how stuff goes sometimes,” says Egerton. “The first time you see it, the negative parts are all you can see.”

He started out by buying a couple of houses.

Commercial projects had occurred to him early on, but, “I didn’t have any real clue what I was doing,” he says.

The 1998 tornado, however, caused development to happen on this side of the river on a different timetable. Living in Portland, Egerton had been exposed to the mixed-use real estate he would eventually develop. “In retrospect the timing was good in a lot of ways. There was none of that going on.”

After his first commercial property, he

lays required. Just seven acres of vacant land and March Egerton.”

Chad Grout of Urban Grout Commercial Real Estate is working with Heller and Egerton on leasing the Fluffo redevelopment, and adds that Egerton has a talent in choosing the right tenant mix, even at all hours of the day, which is rare. “Perhaps more importantly,” says Grout, “Walden has demonstrated that East Nashville’s commercial growth is not defined by 5 Points.”

Egerton says he enjoys mixed-use properties partly because he’s “kind of a food person” and he enjoys bringing those types of businesses to the neighborhood and helping them work. “I enjoy knowing what this stuff used to look like and what it was,” he says. “One day it doesn’t exist, and a year later it does, and there are people who are employed there and people have met and gotten married at Ugly Mugs. I didn’t have a direct hand in any of it, but I had some involvement in it, and that’s kind of cool.”

A

lthough Egerton insists he would rather look forward than back, he’s proud of the development on Main Street with Heller.

“Nobody was doing anything on Main Street, and Dan and I got going on this and working out the deal with Fat Bottom. I had it in my head that a brewery would be a really nice addition over here and could be the kind of thing that could kickstart Main Street,” Egerton says.

“I try to choose carefully on commercial tenants, and I’ve had a lot of them that have done really well. I want them to succeed.

the reality of it. It probably does make me more cognisant of the reverse when I’m looking at other people’s stuff.

“I try to pick up on the nuance of what other people do, more because I know that it’s rarely as simple as, ‘I’m an attorney,’” says Egerton.

“Everyone’s story is somewhat complicated, and I try to keep that in mind. You drive up and down Gallatin Road, and it’s hard to forget the breaks you’ve had in life and everything doesn’t just come down to hard work,” he says. “I like for my kids to see that, and I like to be reminded of that on a regular basis. When you get wrapped up in your own stuff sometimes you lose sight of that. I like that it still has some grit to it.”

At the same time, he praises the unique identity East Nashville has created, and its progress in the food and drink scene. “It’s long been my desire to make East Nashville sort of like the food and drink destination point in Nashville.

I think that’s starting to happen. I like that I go into Jeni’s Ice Cream when it’s packed, and I don’t recognize a soul,” says Egerton, adding that he appreciates the size of the area, with its mix of housing types and rental properties.

“Like the Gulch,” he says, using it for comparison,“everything is kind of the same age and the same kind of product, and that’s fine. I enjoy going down there, and it looks amazing.

But it doesn’t feel like it feels over here. This feels like a real neighborhood. It’s got rough edges to it. It’s got people pushing strollers. It feels very dynamic that way. I don’t get tired of that.”

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Nominees Patti and Mark Sanders/S&S Property The Corders have been prominent contributors Management to local events such as Tomato Art Festival, Save

BUSINESS AWARD NOMINEESS March Egerton

March has been key in the redevelopment for many years, owning and remodeling the buildings that house many of our favorite destinations: Margot, Marché, Bongo Java, Ugly Mugs, Jeni’s, Silly Goose, PizzeREAL, and Fat Bottom Brewery. His current project is the second phase of Walden, which will be the new home for Cumberland Transit, Two Ten Jack and Climb Nashville.

Matt Charette

A Massachusetts native, Matt first moved to Nashville in 1994 and lived on Ordway. In 2003 Matt took a chance on East Nashville with Beyond the Edge, which has become a neighborhood staple, and has since expanded with great destinations like Drifter’s, Batter’d & Fried, and Watanabe. When Matt first started BTE he was the restaurant’s bartender, cook, server and host.

He now has 118 employees and is one of the largest employers in the area.

Kustom Thrills

Chris Saint Clark opened in East Nashville in 2007. It is the first tattoo studio to open in the 5 Points area and has gone on to win multiple national awards. The studio has led many charitable events, such as the “Cash for Cash” event and Tats for Toys at Christmas. Kustom Thrills Tattoo is dedicated to being a business role model and a staple in the community.

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East Nashville residents since 1984, their developments include Fatherland Court, the 37206 Building, MC3 condominiums, a major rehab of the historic building at 1012 Fatherland Street and the Shoppes on Fatherland. The latter four projects have added more then 90,000 square feet of residential, retail and office space to the 5 Points area and created more then 100 jobs.

Their newest venture at 1100 Fatherland will add more than 6,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space.

The Roxy, the Official SXSW Sendoff, and the Music City Guitar Tour, among others.

The Dog Spot

Chad Baker opened The Dog Spot—a doggy daycare/boarding facility—in East Nashville two years ago. Baker has recently opened a pet food store, which includes a community dog wash.

This will be used whenever possible to facilitate fundraising efforts by local dog rescues. They plan on hosting as many fundraisers as possible, and will donate the use of the tubs as well as the Christian Paro shampoo, and the organization gets to keep all Christian Paro moved to Nashville in 2005 the money raised from washes that day. to invest in real estate. By 2007, he had started Paro South LLC. In spite of the financial crisis of 2009, Paro’s investment strategy and forward CITIZEN AWARD thinking have yielded dividends for both him- NOMINEESS self and the community. His projects include 1701 Fatherland, Paro South Creative Suites, Carol Williams Ever since she and husband Charlie bought Main Street Gallery and Center 615. Paro also serves on the board of Nashville Classical a house in Edgefield on Russell Street in 1975, Charter School.

Carol Williams has been a neighborhood activist. Over the years, she has been Team Mom East Nashville Underground at Jess Neeley, and she served on the boards of In 2011, husband and wife team Kristyn Historic Edgefield and ReDiscover East! Carole and Jared Corder created East Nashville also served on the BOLO team (Be on the lookUnderground. The quarterly “basement music out — a Metro Police program), as well as the festival” grew organically and soon prompted Property Standards and Appeals Board under the Corders to create an accessible and unique Mayor Bill Purcell as vice chair. She is a foundexperience that highlighted 120+ local bands ing member of Friends of Shelby Park, where she and businesses. The quarterly aspect of the festi- also served as chairperson for two terms, and is a val ended in August 2013 after 10 festivals, and Cayce Revitalization board member.

East Nashville Underground faces a new future.

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Large Mansion in East Nashville ...

Needs Work The twisted tale

& redemption of

Disgraceland Story Photography

| Randy Fox

| Eric England

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I

n the grand living room and parlor of the East Nashville mansion now known as “Disgraceland,” Patton James plops down at his well-worn baby grand piano with enthusiasm. “I’ve got to give you an Elvis moment,” he says, right before tearing into a rousing rendition of the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller composition, “Love Me.” It’s the perfect theme song for the grand and kitschy grounds of Disgraceland.

Written as a parody of country songs, the young Elvis Presley transformed it into a sincere, emotionally packed ballad. That same mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and sincere devotion is obvious when Patton James talks about his campy castle on the Cumberland.

For years, the imposing palace just west of Cornelia Fort Airpark has been an Easter egg tucked away in its Rose Park Drive neighborhood. Surrounded by mid-century ranch houses, its imposing masonry and iron fence with a black metal guitar and musical notes, grand driveway dominated by a stone lion fountain, and the tall, white, Roman columns that flank the front entrance have inspired exclamations of surprise from casual passersby and wild speculations from neighbors.

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“I’ve heard drug dealers lived here, Ronnie Milsap lived here, and one of the Titans owned it,” Patton James says, running through just a few of the most popular fictional tales the house has inspired. The myths are likely to continue with a boost from the house’s appearance as a pivotal location in the recently released stoner-comedy/mockumentary “East Nashville Tonight.”

In the film, James portrays a Vegas-slick drug dealer who sends Todd Snider spiraling down a rabbit hole of unease while waiting for his requested pharmaceuticals. In real life, James and his wife, Tracy Herron James, are gregarious hosts with an open enthusiasm for the home they’ve poured the last five years of their lives into restoring.

Patton James, a longtime East Nashville resident and singer-songwriter who heads the pop vocal/lounge music combo Patton James & the Synchromatics, joyfully points out the majestic features of the house and the quirky and eccentric additions. A recreation of Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” fills the ceiling of an upstairs bathroom. “I had all these Michelangelo art books that nobody would read so I thought I would do my own ‘Sistine Chapel,’” James says. From such tongue-in-cheek additions to faithful restorations like the original fireplace mantel that frames a Roman-inspired cameo, James has taken the original Italianate style of the house as inspiration.

“The house is built perfectly east-west,” James says. “We wake every morning and see the sun coming through the back windows, and the sun sets every evening directly in front of us. It’s a magical house.” Looking out from a second-floor balcony, Patton points out features in the back yard, including the in-ground pool and surrounding buildings. “For the longest time there was a switch I would flip and then look around to see if anything happened,” he says. “After I finally got the pool cleaned, I hit the switch and the pool lit up like Vegas. I was yelling for Tracy to look out the window. I didn’t even know there was a light in the pool.

“When Cornelia Fort was still open we would watch the blimp land whenever it was in town,” James says. “We had an inflatable love doll someone gave us floating in the pool for a long time until the air leaked out. She was our ‘mascot,’ but I did wonder if someone flying over might think it was a body and call the cops.”

Indicating a small, covered stage “Treat me like a fool, at one end of the pool, James says, Treat me mean and cruel, “I built that grandstand for our But love me ...”

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wedding. My band played at what I call our ‘Big, Fat Mullet Wedding’ — business in the front, party in the back.”

As James continues with the tour, the moments of appreciative wonder and playful humor continue. Those contrasts apply equally to the history of the house. For every confirmed fact there are a legion of offbeat legends and rumors. The twisting and often mysterious story of the house that became Disgraceland began in the midst of the Great Depression.

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ugustus Poteet, a road construction engineer and contractor, built the two-story Italian provincial-style home in the late 1930s. Under the name Oakland Farms, the accompanying land was used for cattle grazing and growing feed crops—corn, wheat and other grains. The 150 acres ran to the Cumberland River in the east, south to nearby Fortland Farms and north to the Wild Acres farm—land that is occupied today by homes on Rose Park Drive and the northern most section of the Shelby Bottoms Greenway.

In 1943, prominent Nashville jeweler Dick Barrick bought the farm and house. Under Barrick’s ownership the farm and house continued as a showplace for Nashville’s society set.

Olive Barrick, Dick Barrick’s wife, became one of Nashville’s most prominent society matrons.

Changing times and the growth of East Nashville brought an end to the grand farms on the Cumberland River. As Nashville boomed after World War II, the farmland became valuable real estate for middle-class housing developments. The Fortland Farms house burned to the ground in 1942 and by the late ’50s the land had been subdivided for new homes. The same followed for the Wild Acres estate, and in 1963, the Barricks sold their property to developers and relocated to Green Hills. Legend has it that leaving the house broke Dick Barrick’s heart, and he passed away the following year.

The Oakland Farms house was one of the few grand houses to survive the mid-century redevelopment of East Nashville. As the memory of the country estates faded, the legends grew about the unusual mansion on Rose Park Drive. Through the ’70s and into the ’80s, the house passed through several owners, including Canadian-born country music star Ronnie Prophet, who owned the house for a brief period. It slowly declined in grandeur as the surrounding ranch houses saw their own heyday and then gradual decline.

By the mid-’90s the house was a neighborhood eyesore. Local contractor Donald Sullens acquired the property in 1996, and it became his passion. Over the next two years, Sullens poured a tremendous amount of money and work into the house. He renovated the interior, added the Roman columns and front porch, constructed the pool, gazebo and pool house in the backyard, installed a stamped, stained concrete driveway, and built an imposing

“The Gardener & The Guitarist” Tracy & James Patton January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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started of it being a drug lord’s house. He lost it in foreclosure in 2005, and it sat empty until 2008. I remembered driving by the house one time by chance and almost wrecking my car.

It was like, ‘What the heck?’ but then I never could find it again, it’s so tucked away back here. When I saw a listing on the Internet, ‘Large mansion in East Nashville, swimming pool, needs work.’ I said to myself, ‘I bet that’s the house.’”

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fence around the property.

Sullens’ passion to restore the house couldn’t stand in the face of the 1998 Nashville tornado.

The storm that left a trail of destruction across the city tore off the original clay tile roof and broke all but one of the original stained glass windows on the back of the house. Sullens installed a new roof, but his goals for the house became harder to achieve. “It was too much to keep up with the house,” Patton James says.

“His widow said it broke his heart to sell it.

“It was then sold to a car salesman,” James says. “There would be three Hummers parked outside, and I think that’s where the rumor

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ames’ path to the future Disgraceland was far more than just a matter of satisfying a long-held curiosity. His past was a twisted path littered with as much happenstance and passion as that of the “mystery mansion.”

A native of Johnstown, Pa., the music bug bit him early in life. “From when I was 6 years old and I started taking piano lessons, that was it,” James says. “I played drums, and I studied guitar. I didn’t go to college; my mother cried.

I went to New York City; my mother cried.

I went to L.A.; my mother cried. I sacrificed everything for my music.”

In 1988, James’ search for a music career led to Nashville. “I came to Nashville and fell in love with the whole music scene,” he says. “I got a job for about six months at Gibson Guitars, the only ‘real’ job I’ve ever had. I also started playing gigs—3 to 5 p.m. at one club, 7 to 10 p.m. at another club. I was playing as much as I could, but I also would hear great guitar players at Gibson, and they would be the janitor. So I knew it was going to be a long haul to ‘make it’ in Nashville.”

Looking around for a source of income that would also accommodate his work as a musician, he soon discovered the fledgling home renovation movement in East Nashville. “My supervisor at Gibson was renovating a house on Woodland,” James says. “I fell in love with the old houses in East Nashville, and I felt I

January | February 2014

needed to set some roots down here. So I bought a house on Ordway. It was abandoned and very distressed. My mother cried when I bought it. I didn’t know what I was doing.

My dad never let me use power tools growing up because I was a guitar player. He was so worried about me losing a finger, but I went to Home Depot and took classes to learn how to tile floors or whatever. And there were so many people working on houses over here you could ask friends for advice. I’d work on the house all day, jump in the shower at 5 o’clock, and then go play music for six hours.”

After five years of work, James not only had a place to live and viable rental property, he also found out that his sweat equity paid off in other ways. “I got so tired of playing in all these smoky bars I decided to buy another house,” he says. “I had paid $50,000 for the house on Ordway, and it appraised for $150,000. With that equity I was able to buy a triplex on South 17th. I was really getting into renovation. Two years later I bought a duplex on Forrest.”

Step-by-step James built a small real-estate empire on the fly, using the same hardscrabble strategy he’d learned from building a career as

“We like to say we’re

‘saving Disgraceland’ a working musician: taking advantage of every opportunity, but always keeping an eye focused on the long view. “I’m a scrounger,” he says. “I would find a door in an alley, bring it home and sand it down. Everything was done on a shoestring budget. Everything was recycled. I still didn’t have any money. I was playing guitar at night for tips, but at least I had a little income going. For the next eight to 10 years I bought

a house every two years over here, but I wasn’t flipping them. I would renovate them and rent them. Once I got three or four houses under my belt, I was able to concentrate more on just my music.”

By 2008, he was ready to take a break from the constant parade of renovation, or at least he thought he was. It was then that he stumbled upon the listing for the “Large mansion in East Nashville.”

“When I did the first walk through, I had worked on enough houses to know what’s what,” James says. “The foundation was solid.

The doors had been kicked in and people had been in the house. The copper [water lines] and furnace had been stolen, but it hadn’t really been vandalized. It could have been a lot worse.

It was like a church. It had a certain presence about it, and once people got in I think they just wanted to look at it, not harm it.”

Tracy James remembers other mysteries from her first look at the inside. “The last owner had a bunch of dogs,” she says. “When they left they filled the bathtub with dog food and left the animals here. We never figured out what happened to the dogs but there were muddy dog prints on every window. We’ve never heard who rescued them. It’s one of the many mys-

“I called my realtor to try and put something together,” Patton James says, “and he said there were already three or four contracts on the house, but none of them could close. This was right after the real estate market crashed in 2008. I found out the banks wouldn’t loan money on the house. That’s why no one had

Even with cash in hand, closing the deal for Disgraceland wasn’t easy. “The realtor even gave up,” Tracy James says. “I told Patton to fire him and get another agent. Patton had to keep telling him it was a cash deal. It took three months to close. The house had been abandoned for over two years, and three days before we closed, somebody tagged the house with spray paint.”

Despite the challenges and frustrations, the deal finally closed, and for Patton James it meant far more than just another piece of real estate. “When I saw this house it was like my whole life changed,” he says. “It was like everything in my life was coming together.

I had been in Nashville 20 years. I closed on the house Oct. 14, 2008; it was like I was done searching. We came in here and cleaned it up,

but it really came down to Disgraceland saving me from myself and that ambition of always wanting more than I had.” — Patton James teries of the house. We’ve heard it was fixed up, run down, and fixed up through the years.

People would say, ‘Oh yeah, I had a friend that lived there,’ but I never heard any strong, consistent stories.”

been able to buy it. So I offered cash for the house as is—give me the keys and I’ll give you the cash, and I waived all the inspections. I was able to borrow the money against my second house, which I owned free and clear.”

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Funky Space &

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Rumpled Grace Joe McMahan applies the principles of record producing to rising from the ashes

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By Jeff Finlin

f someone had told me last January that before year’s end I’d be walking through the Gulch, with all its modern new fabrication, to visit the temporary home of East Nashville producer/musician and Luella and the Sun co-founder Joe McMahan, I’d have probably called them crazy. I’d finished a record with him, comfortably nestled in his funky East Side studio and home, just a few months earlier.

We’d reconnected again, rekindling our relationship from long ago through music and poetry and old stories of travel, booze, food, and debauchery. In some ways, it was like coming home. At points in my life I’ve had to seek him out when I needed an injection of inspiration both as an artist and as a human being. He’s always been the kind of guy who can bring me a little closer to my own bones.

Photography by Chuck Allen

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cMahan can always be found in the midst of some kind of funky coolness and color. Old houses, old records, pure sound, interests of the heart and mind, and travel are all part of who he is. At times, he can lift you above the mundane by quoting Chögyam Trungpa, or by talking about folk art, or guitars, or Indian music, or even chicken livers. He always has an energy around him that makes one realize life and music are an adventure.

He’s been hunkered down in East Nashville for years, always in some ramshackle space-full-of-soul, making music and life. Which is why it’s so odd to be walking through the Gulch to find him.

But then again, sometimes life happens.

In this case … fire happened.

Run out of his East Nashville studio and home by a fire June 8, 2013, McMahan landed here in transition. Knowing him, the whole scene seems a bit upside down. It’s like going to visit the dirt king in a swanky I.M. Pei building. It’s like venturing to Copenhagen for a meal at the fabulously inventive Noma when you crave smoked neck bones and collard greens.

Part of it makes no sense.

McMahan greets me in the front lobby of his apartment building.

Swanky light fixtures hang from the ceiling along with designer accoutrements that seem counterintuitive to anything within earthly reason. But walking into his temporary digs on the second floor it all suddenly makes sense. It’s obvious right away that, in spite of the fire and the trauma of the past year, Joe McMahan cannot escape himself. What’s left of his beautiful mess from the East Side looks like it’s just been shoveled into this modern space and track lit, as if to emphasize its beauty and rumpled grace.

A mixing console, Joseph Campbell videos, old jazz, blues and country records, turntables, wine bottles, random instruments, and soldering irons are scattered everywhere, reflecting a life dedicated to what one loves in spite of everything that happens. If his calling had been to be a mechanic, there’d be a partially rebuilt V-8 in the kitchen. Perpetually interested and engaged is a good way to describe him. He seems to be always getting better at whatever he happens to be putting his hands on at the time; it’s not all just about effort either, although it’s taken a lot of that this year. It’s more about just surrendering to a passion. Or, maybe, it’s that he just plain enjoys paying attention.

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orn in Hot Springs, Ark., to a father who trained racehorses, McMahan lived in a house trailer until he was 12 while traveling around to different racetracks with his family. “We’d park the trailer on the edge of a horse track for a few months, and then we’d pick up and go on to the next one,” he says. “As a kid I never had many friends. We would just pull into a town and a track, and then we’d be on to the next one a few months later. That was the first 12 years of my life.”

Eventually his siblings came along. Realizing they couldn’t be dragging kids all over the country, his parents parked the trailer on his grandfather’s land in rural New Haven, Mo. It was a town far removed from anywhere and anything. “I went from traveling all over the place to being stuck way out in the country eating a cold pork chop and talking to the cows,” he says.

McMahan had an affinity for Arkansas, though, and he always seemed to appreciate heading there to his grandmother’s place for holidays. Going

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back and forth from the North to the South was fascinating for him, but there was a point where he just decided that he was southern. “It was a choice I made,” he says. Eventually his parents got divorced, and he wound up living with his father back in Hot Springs.

Living in the segregated South was interesting. “There was some level of racism involved in life there,” he says reluctantly. “It was a terrible part of the culture back then, and it couldn’t help but affect you. But in another way there was an appreciation and a respect for this mythological black character.” Being immersed in the South and segregation had a profound effect on Joe. It stoked an interest for Faulkner and the blues. The whole thing was like a double-edged sword of contradiction.

In the meantime, he couldn’t help hearing the music that was coming over the airwaves from across the river in Memphis. “I remember hearing lots of soul. Al Green and Marvin Gaye were always on the radio in the horse barns.” He started playing guitar at about 12 or 13 but, as far as the blues goes, it was a slow boil to the awareness and appreciation for it that he has today. His guitar teacher gave him B.B. King’s “Live at the Regal”—which he loved—but he had to come about the blues through the rock world, moving his awareness back in time and figuring out where it all came from. “I followed the trail back,” he says. “And as my awareness opened up my love for it just blossomed. It was infectious.”

His dad wound up moving to Shreveport, La., for more horse business, and McMahan worked with him at the track as a groomer and a horseman until he was about 18. “In Shreveport there were these blues guys that were around. There was a guy named Son Thomas who worked the local scene and was also a folk art guy that made these wacky skulls. Local blues icon Buddy Flett was kicking around and was—and is—an inspiring staple of

the Shreveport scene. There was another guy named Raymond Blakes, who was an Albert King-style guitarist. He’d come and sit in with the band I was playing with, and it was just incredible. And then, of course, there was Lead Belly. Being from Shreveport and hearing him and knowing he was from there just kind of put you in the belly of it all. It made you feel that you were a part of it somehow. At times it was like you were walking through this mystical soundtrack of where the blues came from,” remembers McMahan.

After spending a year in Boston at Berklee College of Music, McMahan wound up back in Shreveport gigging, where he would eventually meet keyboardist David Egan and Nashville drummer Paul Griffith. During a stint in Dallas, he ran across Egan again. By then, Egan was playing with Louisiana legend Jo-El Sonnier, and an opportunity presented itself for McMahan to audition for Sonnier’s band. He jumped at the chance, got the gig, and the next thing he knew he’d hopped straight from the horse barn onto a tour bus. He eventually wound up moving to Nashville, since that’s where the whole thing was headquartered at the time.

“I’m very thankful for my time with Jo-El,” says McMahan. “He is still one of the most intense musicians I’ve ever been around. His enthusiasm and focus was unprecedented. I’ve never seen anything like it to this day.

Jo-El was hard on everyone, which made me a lot better as a player. It was so great to haul around a 100-watt Marshall and an Echoplex and go play for 30,000 people and stare at my shoes, just terrified. I cut my teeth there in that band.”

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t the end of the Jo-El run, McMahan met songwriter Kevin Gordon.

He marks that meeting as a seminal part of what got him thinking

“So that brought this whole idea to mind of film scoring for songwriters. When I come into a musical situation now I have to be thinking about how I can bring something to it that’s not going to get in the way”

— Joe McMahan

Joe V. McMahan Discography Yard Dog/Lucy Mae Blues - Webb Wilder (2013) Producer, mixing, guitars (single) My Moby Dick - Jeff Finlin (2013) Producer, mixing, guitars, keyboards David Egan - David Egan (2013) Producer, mixing, guitars Goin In Hot - Moot Davis (2013) Recording, mixing engineer Fly So Free/Meet Our Death Luella and the Sun (2012) Producer, guitar, recording, songwriter (single) Antivenin Suite - Isaac Alexander (2012) Producer, guitar, keyboards, perc Gloryland - Kevin Gordon (2012) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

Doug Rees - Nature Boy (2012) Producer, mixing, guitars That Old Southern Drag Patrick Sweany (2011) Producer, mixing, guitars, keyboard Home - Elie Small (2011) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

Rain On The City - Freedy Johnston (2010) Guitar, pedal steel In Time - Elie Small (2010) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

The Golden Age - Joseph Hazelwood (2010) Producer, mixing, steel guitar, guitar, misc.

Crows - Allison Moorer (2010) Guitars Say It Louder - Sarah Siskind (2009) Guitars Shout! Live - Mike Farris (2009) Producer, mixing, guitar (Dove award for best traditional gospel) More Like Me - Webb Wilder (2009) Producer, mixing, guitars, keyboards, misc.

You Don’t Know My Mind David Egan (2008) Producer, mixing, guitars

Rain or Shine - Joe Price (2008) Recording engineer, mixing See Thru Me - Isaac Alexander (2008) Producer, mixing, guitars, keyboards, misc.

A Little More Of Me - Juliana Cole (2008) Producer, mixing, guitars, keyboards, misc.

The Altered Statesman - The Altered Statesman (2007) Producer, mixing, keyboards, guitars, misc.

Luminous - Jennifer Niceley (2007) Producer, mixing, guitars, keys, misc.

California Parable - Sean Garvey (2007) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

Here Comes The Flood - Gordy Quist (2007) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

Melody Den - Melody Den (2007) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

Ledger - Claire Small (2006) Producer, mixing, guitars, misc.

O Come Look At The Burning Kevin Gordon (2005) Producer, mixing, guitars, keys, misc.

Seven Songs - Jennifer Niceley (2004) Producer, mixing, guitars, keyboards, misc.

Light of a Clear Blue Morning Allison Moorer (2003) Guitar, loops (single) Show - Allison Moorer (2003) Guitar Down To The Well - Kevin Gordon (2000) Producer, guitars Cajun Blood - Jo-El Sonnier (1999) Guitars Cadillac Jack’s #1 Son - Kevin Gordon (1995) Guitars Cajun Roots - Jo-El Sonnier (1994) Guitars

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McMahan in his transitional living quarters down in The Gulch

about his contribution in a different light. “We started doing gigs and recording, and Kevin would bring me a song he’d recorded by himself on cassette. It was so pure,” he says. “I would think, ‘How can I play anything on top of that that’s not going to take away from it?’ It was just so good as it was. I just couldn’t come in and start jamming on it. So that brought this whole idea to mind of film scoring for songwriters. When I come into a musical situation now I have to be thinking about how I can bring something to it that’s not going to get in the way. I have to find the primal inspiration of it and then approach it from there. Ever since then that has become a part of how I go about playing and recording.”

McMahan has lived in East Nashville ever since moving to the area in the early ’90s. In the beginning he lived in “Bush Manor,” a dump of a musician flop house on Chapel Avenue, first occupied by most of Will and the Bushmen back in the day. It seems everyone lived there at one point or another. The neighborhood was rough back then; it wasn’t the semi-upscale deal in evidence today. He eventually wound up living on McKennie, next to hillbilly stylist George Bradfute. The Long Players’ drummer, Steve Ebe, lived upstairs. “The riff-raff was thick back then,” says McMahan. There was often gunfire, and he even woke one day to a hooker turning a trick on his back porch. “Me and George called the cops on that one,” he says.

“They didn’t come.”

He eventually bought a two-inch tape machine, set up shop on McKennie, and started producing and recording folks while working a day job. Kevin Gordon’s “Down In The Well” was the first, which McMahan considers an honor.

He also worked with legendary Iowa guitarist Bo Ramsey (Lucinda Williams, Greg Brown).

“I learned a lot from Bo. Bo taught me that the 46

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music is always our boss and that ego can only get in the way. It causes us to be disloyal to the music. The music is always right.”

McMahan continued putting together his studio, eventually moving over to his present location on McGavock Pike, building it little by little. He has worked with scores of artists, including Webb Wilder, Kevin Gordon, Gwil Owen, The Altered Statesman (with Steve Poulton), Patrick Sweany and Sarah Siskind.

He credits his work with Mike Farris and the McCrary Sisters as being an inspiration for his current project, Luella and the Sun. Farris’ seminal album “Shout: Live at the Station Inn” garnered McMahan a Gospel Music Association’ Dove Award for “Best Traditional Gospel Album of the Year” in 2010.

“Working with artists is always a challenging and fascinating experience,” says McMahan. “A while back I saw an interview with Liv Ullmann on ‘The Charlie Rose Show.’ Charlie asked her, ‘What was the one thing that you learned from working with the brilliant filmmaker Ingmar Bergman back in the day?’ Liv shot back, ‘Never step on someone else’s fantasy.’

“What I’m trying to do when I’m making a recording is give someone a sensuous experience when they listen to those speakers vibrate. So what I have to do is capture the inspiration and the fantasy that’s going on inside that particular artist. The essence of that experience is in the primal inspiration of that artist. My job is to capture that so that other people can be enraptured by it. That, at times, can be an incredibly difficult thing.”

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“Word is that you are looking for a Realtor.

I closed on a house in East Nashville.

It was a

Jeremy is knowledgeable, extremely

familiar with the East Nashville market and trends and he is a joy to work with—unless

you are looking for a pushy, obnoxious guy who thinks he knows what you want more than you do, dresses like it’s 1980 and wears way too much Polo cologne.

Then he is definitely NOT your Realtor.”

—John, Golden Spiral Creative JEREMY HUNDLEY, REALTOR Hodges & Fooshee Realty Inc. call or text 615-481-7321 HundleyHouse @gmail.com

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The

Lonely Bird in Shelby Bottoms

By Jon Gugala

T

he summer heat hadn’t broken in late September for Jenny Piper’s habitual five-mile walk along the Shelby Bottoms Greenway when she saw it. “It moved so slowly, like, ‘Hey, look at me,’” Piper says of the bird pecking through the grass just off the asphalt path. Its beak was too small for a parrot, but it had the same flashy coloration of a tropical bird. “That’s crazy,” she remembers thinking. Then, “My son’s going to love this.”

Piper, who carries her phone with her for music as she exercises, snapped a few quick photos. She crept forward; although “it didn’t seem scared,” she says, the bird slipped into the undergrowth, and disappeared.

Piper brought her photos to Shelby Bottoms Nature Center director Denise Weyer a few days later, and began to lay out what she’d seen: a scarlet body with shimmering blue markings; a gold head; a long, patterned tail; and a disinterest in flying.

“How big was it?” Weyer asked.

“Three feet?” Piper said.

Weyer, a self-described “bird person,” didn’t think long before saying, “We don’t have any birds like that.”

“Well, you have one.”

Piper and Weyer had never seen the strange bird in Shelby Bottoms for good reason: Golden Pheasants (Chrysolophus pictus) are native to the mountains of Central and Western China.

In fact, many people have no idea that even the more common Ring-necked Pheasant is also a non-indigenous species in the United States.

Imported directly from Shanghai to Oregon in 1881, it anchored and spread its seed here as it had in Europe. With established populations in many of the 50 states, it’s become a staple of the American outdoorsman. South Dakota went so far as to name it its state bird—one of only three introduced species to be chosen across the U.S. The Golden Pheasant, a more striking relative, has an even older history in the U.S., with many historians tracing it back to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in the 18th century. Despite this country’s fertile pheasant soil, the Golden Pheasant has never taken root, in Nashville or elsewhere.

Now a single Golden Pheasant, the peacock of its family tree, roosts alone in Shelby Bottoms.

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If she were a betting woman, Weyer would put her money on a backyard enthusiast with an escaped pet as the source of the city park’s newest resident.

The Golden Pheasant is described frequently as one of the hardiest species to breed in captivity, and East Nashville, she says, is in the midst of DIY fowl-cultivation mania.

“Most of the [non-native] species that we have, particularly avian, are always associated with humans,” Weyer says. “We couldn’t keep a bird out of this park when they’re just in the neighbor-next-door’s yard.”

At least five of the seven exotic birds living in Tennessee currently have populations in Shelby Bottoms, including species of swan, dove, pigeon, and duck.

To be clear, this is not Red Alert for Weyer and her staff like it would be for other, more “invasive” species. If the insidious kudzu vine (home of record: Japan) were to pop up, she says, there are detailed procedures ready to be implemented to ensure its thick blanket of vines doesn’t smother native flora.

No, a solitary Golden Pheasant roaming the park has a much simpler, more gruesome solution.

In his Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes described man as animal by likening his life to one of “continual fear, and danger of violent death … solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Such is the life of a pheasant in the wild.

On God’s green earth, for the Ring-necked Pheasant to celebrate a birthday is an accomplishment, and its goal is a lot like a Lana Del Rey song: a lot of sex before a tragic death.

“So I was looking at the predators for pheasants,” I say to Weyer.

“Yeah,” she says, groaning.

“Foxes.”

“Yes.” “Coyotes, to a lesser extent.”

“Yes.” “Skunks.”

“Yes.” “Raccoons.”

“Could be,” she says.

“Hawks, owls.”

“Hawks and owls, especially.”

“I can’t imagine any of these on the list that you don’t have here,” I say.

“We have all of those.”

“It’s not looking good.”

“It’s not looking good, but I can’t believe it’s been alive as long as it has,” Weyer says. “With its bright coloration, I was sure the first time I heard of this bird would be the last time.”

Instead, she says, there have been four other known sightings over the course of almost two months.

“I’ve read that they’re hardy birds, and I guess he is.”

It was early on a Monday morning in November, and I was the only person I saw on

the five miles of the grass trails I ran. Then I saw it: a startled scarlet bird, maybe three feet long, on the path. It began to run, pacing itself 10 feet ahead, before ducking into the underbrush. Believing it an escaped tropical pet and too cold to fly (headline reads: “Local Man Rescues Exotic Bird”), I followed it, bent double, taking slaps of poison ivy vine to the face on the narrow deer path, aware I was tracing an Alice in Wonderland plot point.

As bright as the bird was, I soon lost it, and after a few more minutes I gave up—work started in an hour. I guessed an exotic bird would make an easy meal for a lucky raccoon, and that would be that.

Then, two days later, I saw it again, as have at least four others, pecking among the grass off the Greenway.

The Tennessee state bird is the mockingbird, but as far as I’m aware Nashville is without an official city bird. Ditto for the East Nashville post.

As I think about myself, a recent transplant joining a community with its own menagerie of transplants, I can think of no better bird to represent us all: exotic, flashy, far from the soil of our birth but with teeth bared to survive in this, our found home—and, with any luck, to someday find a mate.

For East Nashville, I vote for the Golden Pheasant. If he can make it, maybe there’s yet hope for us all.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY CHUCK ALLEN

East Nashville Gets ’80s Pop Star Power Tiffany opens new boutique— without a jean jacket in sight

By Jaime Brousse 52

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

January | February 2014

“I

!”

can cross this off my bucket list exclaimed a wide-eyed woman who wandered into the new Tiffany’s Boutique, moments after being rendered speechless by the sight of the shop’s famous, eponymous owner. Sporting a slightly darker shade of her trademark red hair, the singer-songwriter—best known for her 1987 hit recording “I Think We’re Alone Now”—welcomed her fan with a warm smile and a hug. Minutes later—the star-struck magic not quite gone—purchases began piling up in clouds of hot pink tissue paper.

“I get a lot of fans from around the world,” Tiffany explained earlier over afternoon tea at

Marché. Now those fans can get a dose of vintage-inspired pop star power at The Shoppes on Fatherland.

“I used to live here, over on Shelby [Avenue], before East Nashville was cool,” Tiffany says.

She now lives with her husband and their nine dogs (who have their own nanny) in White House, about 30 miles north of Nashville, where the first Tiffany’s Boutique opened in 2012. “But I always do my meetings here, all my friends are here and I’ve been wanting to have a store here. I love it when it’s 10 a.m. on a Saturday, and somebody’s got on shorts and tights and a funky hat walking their bulldog, and I’m like, ‘That’s my girl!’ I knew they would get it.”

the mall tour!” Tiffany says, nodding to the cross-country jaunt that helped launch her pop career in 1987. She discovers most of the merchandise while on the road performing or on frequent trips back to Los Angeles, all while working on a new album of ballads to be released later this year. “Music is my passion, songwriting is my passion,” Tiffany says, “but second to that is the boutiques.”

If browsing at a store owned and curated

by Tiffany isn’t enough for you, the singer/ shop owner also schedules private shopping days. But she admits that some of her fashion advice has been hard-won—including the tips she gained in an appearance on “What Not to Wear” last year.

“mall tour!”

I’ve been a

shopaholic

since the

Stepping inside the rather small store is like entering a celebrity’s rather large closet: purpleand pink-painted walls are packed from floor to ceiling but neatly organized and, even for the amateur shopper, conquerable. Everything seems to fall into two covetous categories: shiny or soft. Sparkling necklaces dangle from window displays, while leather bracelets and supersized cocktail rings sparkle with bling.

Fur vests purr from their hangers, while lacy camisoles and gauzy maxi dresses float nearby.

Tulle and rhinestones embellishments elevate a tweed blazer into a statement piece. A satin Marc Jacobs “little black dress” that just arrived at the store seems ready for the spotlight. But, oh—the shoes! Metallic strappy sandals from the fabled Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik perch regally on their pedestals, just feet away from the ultimate party heels that seem to have been dipped in confetti glitter and a pair of quirky but sort-of-perfect blue corduroy pointy-toe boots.

“That’s what I got into this for: to find pieces that were unique and different,” Tiffany says.

She started collecting funky finds and vintage pieces from around the world more than a decade ago, with the dream of opening a store someday. Some items in the store have been lived-in; others are brand new and come in a variety of sizes. “I’ve been a shopaholic since

“I’ve been hit-and-miss,” she says laughing.

“But you need to wear what you’re comfortable in. And that doesn’t mean frumpy!” Confiding that she still has sweatpants and ponytail days, she says her recent 35-pound weight loss has helped boost her confidence, on and off the stage. “You don’t have to be a size 2. A lot of bigger-sized women come in, and I love working with them … I’m constantly throwing myself in the fire to have more wisdom for what I’m doing—and to take that wisdom to a lot of women who can’t afford a stylist, or have no need for a stylist, but still wonder, ‘What do I do with this?’”

The woman who singlehandedly catapulted the jean-jacket craze of the ’80s cites the 1970s as her favorite decade of style. Femme Punk designers Betsey Johnson and Vivienne Westwood, as well as boho-gypsy singersongwriters Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks are her fashion icons. True to form, Tiffany plans to launch her own line of handmade tie-dye dresses in 2014. And just in case you missed them, she is also working on a line of—you guessed it—jean jackets.

Tiffany’s Boutique is located at 1006 Fatherland St., Suite 201. Hours are 11:30a.m.-7p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11:30a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday.

January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

January | February 2014

Design a Rain Garden and have it built by volunteers

South inglewood Park

Shelby Park

wnton hville

B

by Chuck Allen

N

Nashville Context: Streams and Rivers

ut first you’ll have to win the competition. Metro Parks, along with the Tennessee Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, The Cumberland River Compact, and Metro Water Services, are sponsoring an innovative competition to create a rain garden for South Inglewood Park.

Designed to educate residents, school children, and park visitors on the negative impacts of storm water, the winning design will be built by volunteers in April 2014.

When impervious surfaces like driveways, buildings, and streets prevent stormwater from naturally soaking into the ground, a variety of problems can

occur. Ever noticed an oily sheen in a puddle of water? Imagine thousands of oily puddles draining unfiltered into the Cumberland River, and you’ll have an idea of just one of the ways a modern city can negatively impact a river system.

“We want people to know the impact of stormwater runoff, and the way individual residents can help lessen those impacts,” explains Metro Parks’ Rebecca Ratz. If water isn’t allowed to soak into the ground, “that water picks up debris, chemicals, and other pollutants before flowing into the storm sewer system or directly into a lake, stream, river, or wetland. Rain gardens—areas with shallow depressions and deep-rooted plants—infiltrate water into the soil and filter out January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

55

South Inglewood Park

community center

5.25 acre watershed

site of future rain garden

pollutants, keeping them out of the water bodies we use for swimming, fishing, and providing drinking water.�

Rain gardens actually recharge the ground water through infiltration. They also reduce the overload an stormwater pipes that run to the Cumberland River and decrease the scouring in local rivers and streams by slowing the flow of water after rain events. As they are accomplishing these things, rain gardens provide a beatiful addition to the landscape.

water continues to Cumberland River

Building a rain garden in South Inglewood park will demonstrate that anyone can create a rain garden from which everyone benefits. Entries for the design competition are due by February 10, and the winning design will be announced in March. The winner will be celebrated with a reception at the Cumberland River Compact’s offices in the Bridge Building. The first place winner receives $500, and additional prizes will be awarded to student entries.

Visit tnasla.org for more information

The rain garden in South Inglewood Park will be located near the corner of Cahal Avenue and Rebecca Street, and will infiltrate water from a 5.25 acre watershed.

Parking can be accessed via Rebecca Street or Moore Street. Numerous entrances to the park are available for foot and bicycle traffic.

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January | February 2014

January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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January | February 2014

SUNDAY MORNING PANCAKES FOR SUPPER

M

y Friend Who Loves To Cook, Samantha Williams, turned a family weekend tradition into a nutritious, artisanal product that any locavore would drool over. Sunday Morning Pancake Mix has nine organic grains, three of which are grown right up the road at Windy Acres Farm. Once you try Samantha’s super food, the boxed stuff with a bar code will never find its way into your pantry again. Marché Artisan Foods, Hey Rooster General Store, and 1907 Apparel are a few

Ingredients

East Nashvillian favorites where you can pick up your very own stash. Samantha’s website, myfriendwholovestocook.com, has more details and even a few recipes that got us to thinking: Sunday Morning Pancakes are a star of the breakfast scene, but how about a little something for supper? This Korean staple is a great way to ring in the Lunar New Year on Jan. 31!

Cookin in da ’

HOOD

Haemul Pajeon - Haemul – seafood | Pa green onion | Jeon - pancake

Recipes from East Nashville favorites

Directions

FOR THE PANCAKE:

FOR THE PANCAKE:

• • • • • • • • •

Mix dry ingredients with egg and enough water to make a batter a bit thinner than American pancakes. Slice scallions on the bias in one-inch pieces. Add garlic and scallions. Refrigerate batter up to one hour for flavors to marry. Preheat skillet over high heat. Add shrimp just before cooking. Drizzle just enough oil in pan to coat. You may need to add a little between batches as the batter needs to crisp on the edges. Spoon batter mixture onto pan, forming silver dollar pancakes. When the batter starts to bubble a bit, you know it is time to flip. This will be approximately three minutes for each side. Keep warm until serving. Please note that we used salad shrimp for this recipe, but getting a little crazy is encouraged. Haemul means seafood.

Think calamari, octopus, scallops, clams or even a little cuttlefish for Valentine’s Day!

½ cup Sunday Morning Pancake Mix ½ cup Rice Flour ¼ teaspoon salt 2 eggs beaten Up to 1 cup ice water 2 cloves garlic, minced 5-7 scallions 1 ½ cups wild-caught salad shrimp Olive oil for frying

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:

• • • • • •

Whisk all liquids together in small bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and let stand.

The longer this sauce stands the better!

• • •

2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon chili-infused honey (if you don’t feel like infusing or can’t find it in the supermarket, use regular honey and simply amp up the pepper flakes to satisfy the heat) 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons toasted and ground sesame seeds 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions

WOODLAND WINE MERCHANT PAIRINGS

T

yler Zwiep recommends Lambert De Seyssel Petit Royal. This Grand Vin Musseux is imported by Kermit Lynch. Because of the intensity of our sesame dipping sauce, Tyler says that the sparkling wine will be cleansing with a delicate floral touch. $20 Scott Lyons recommends a Vin d’Alsace from Les Binner called Saveurs. A biodynamic white blend imported by Jenny and Francois, it is as aromatic as the onion and shrimp in our pancakes. It has a racy acidity to cut through the rich flavors of our dish. Scott adds that it has a touch of sweetness to balance the saltiness and spice of our dipping sauce. $15

All Content, including recipe, developed by Melissa D. Corbin, Founder of Corbin In The Dell. You can read more about Melissa at corbininthedell.com January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM 59

Still in the groove since 1984 www.GraffitiIndoorAd.com 60

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January | February 2014

For the MadeFirst crew, dropping a note is just another day at the office Story & Photographs by Chuck Allen

I

f Santa and his Elves had a shop in East Nashville it would probably look a lot like the space occupied by Made First. Secreted away in the back of an industrial park off Gallatin Pike, Jonathan Hammel and his talented crew spend most of the year fabricating everything from custom lighting to corporate trade show installations; they’ll even knock off a custom “Family Fued” set—provided you can spare the change. But as the new year approaches the focus shifts.

MadeFirst fabricates the note that drops during the “count down,” as well as other custom one-off elements that make up Nashville’s New Year’s extravaganza. Each piece is built from scratch according to Hammel’s plans, loaded into trucks, and taken to the Riverfont stage for setup. Most importantly, everything must be ready for prime time at 10 seconds to midnight January 1.

Talk about a deadline!

January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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           62

Approx. 2,000 square feet plus 4 patios 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 fireplaces, 2 dozen arches Florida room, office, bonus room Hardwood, Saltillo tile, stone, rubber floors Vintage light fixtures and other hip details New plaster walls & cherry, cedar, cypress trim TPO and EPDM membrane roofing Airstream, potting shed, nice yard & landscaping Herb garden, asparagus bed, fruit trees Great neighborhood, great neighbors Close to Five Points, minutes from downtown

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January | February 2014

EAST SIDE C A L E N D A R

Emma Alford Calendar Editor

UPCOMING PAINTING IN THE PARK

Starry Nights Painting Party

6 to 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 10, Shelby Park

For all you nature center enthusiasts with an artistic flair, Shelby Park is giving you an opportunity to enjoy nature painting in a classroom setting. The event is 21+ and all skill levels are welcome. $25 material fee and prior registration are required for the class. This more “mature” night at the nature center will give you a chance to explore your artistic side with other like-minded adults. To register, call (615) 862-8539 or email shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov

WHEDON AND WEEP

All Across the Whedonverse

8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday, Jan. 10, Bohéme Collectif Have you been feeling under the Whedon?

We all have, for years. Bohéme Collectif is hosting its own homage to the writer, producer, director, comic book extraordinaire Joss Whedon. It’s time to fan girl out over some of his creations—“Buffy”, “The Avengers”, “Toy Story” and so much more.

The night will be a mixed bag of music, visual and performance art. Go Whedon wild. 919 Gallatin Ave., www.bohemecollectif.com

SHOPLIFTERS OF THE WORLD UNITE

Fascination Street

PARTY FOR THE POKERS

9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, East Room

East Nashville Community Acupuncture Grand Re-Opening

FIND THE TREASURE

Moving is a pain, but thankfully the folks at East Nashville Acupuncture are pretty good at relieving it. They’re packing up their needles and heading for brighter pastures—and parking. The new location in EastSide Station will give them oodles of space for their practice and plenty of parking to boot. Come hungry and have your fill of snacks and drinks. You can tour the new space and maybe even win some door prizes. 805 Woodland St. Suite 340, (615) 457-1979, www.eastnashvilleacupuncture.com

The East Room has carved out a night just for the niche new wave/Goth punk crowd.

DJ Ichabod and Baron von Birk promise to stay true to the post-punk foundations of sound and ideas. You won’t hear techno or futurepop, but you will hear a menagerie of classics like Bowie and The Smiths— blended with up-and-coming Goth artists sure to please your musical palate. It’ll be “Just Like Heaven.” 2412 Gallatin Ave., (615) 335-3137, www.facebook.com/TheEastRoom

Start The Car: Treasure, Multimedia Storytelling

7 p.m. Saturday, Jan.18, Bohéme Collectif

The ancient art of storytelling is not lost on us Eastsiders. Start The Car is a Brooklyn-based multimedia storytelling series, and it’s coming to a Collectif near you.

If you’re wondering what the “multimedia” aspect entails, it’s a hodge-podge of sounds, videos, and images accompanied by storytelling. Raconteurs are encouraged to embrace any modes of expression that may enhance their story. The theme for bards this evening is “treasure”; take that as abstractly or literally as you wish. If you’re interested in spinning your own tale for the show, contact Bohéme Collectif for more information. 919 Gallatin Ave., www.bohemecolectif.com

5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 18, EastSide Station

UNDER THE BIG TOP

Bohemian Circus Playground

8:30 to 11 p.m., Thursday Jan. 23 and Feb. 27, Bohéme Collectif

OK, so we know it’s a little different from Barnum & Bailey’s rodeo, but this circus is sure to entertain. They have an opendoor policy for most acts—whether you spit rhymes, hula-hoop, or play with fire, there is room for any and all trades. Local comedian Holly Amber will host the evening. Gather round for the most eclectic spectacle this side o’ the Cumberland. It’s only five bucks and you can BYOB. Let’s get weird. 919 Gallatin Ave., www.bohemecollectif.com

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ESC YOU’VE GOT US BOOKBOUND

Bookbinding Class

5 to 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 25, Dandelion Salon

Are the post-holiday season doldrums bringing you down? You’ve probably already broken that half-hearted New Year’s resolution. So maybe you should start 2014 with a new project—bookbinder extraordinaire Katie Gonzalez will be teaching a class on the basics of her craft. You’ll leave with a finished book and the skills to make more. Register through theskillery.com.

1117 Porter Rd., www.theskillery.com

HIKE BY THE MOONLIGHT

Full “Snow” Moon Hike

7 to 9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 14, Shelby Park

On Valentine’s Day you can take a short, guided hike under the moonlight to look and listen for the wildlife in the bottomlands. After the trek, there will be a bonfire—and what bonfire is complete without s’mores, local gourmet hot chocolate, and a few “adult beverages”? Who knows, maybe you’ll find a star-crossed lover on this nighttime Valentine’s Day trek. Contact Shelby Bottoms Nature Center for more information: (615) 862-8539, shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov

PICKING IS FOR THE BIRDS

has started up SPiFFY SQUiRREL Sundays through NashvilleStandUp.com. He’s bringing in an array of national and local funny guys and gals. This independent comedy show is the best place for up-andcoming comics to flex their funny bones.

If you’re looking for a laugh, check it out.

Five bucks gets you in the door. 2412 Gallatin Ave., (615) 335-3137, www.nashvillestandup.com

STOP, SHOP, AND SWAP FOR THE SONGSTERS

Nashville’s Musicians’ Swap Meet

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. the first and third Sunday of each month, The Building

If you’re among the sea of musicians and songwriters in Nashville, you might want to drop in on the monthly Musicians’ Swap Meet at The Building in 5 Points. The musically inclined gather to buy, sell, and trade their gear. There’s always a smattering of various musical odds and ends: guitars, drums, amps, fiddles, or horns—you name it. You’ll also find vinyl, artwork, clothing, and other music-related memorabilia. This folky flea market of sorts is free and open to the public. Stop by, grab a coffee at Bongo Java, grub down at Drifters and check out the musical arsenal. If you’re interested in renting a booth for the swap, contact Dino Bradley: (615) 593-7497, 1008-C Woodland St.

Love Birds Picking Party

2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, Shelby Park

Pickers, strummers, and pluckers: Grab your strings and head to the park. Come join in on the nature center’s pickin’ party.

Don’t forget that it’s the day after Valentine’s Day, so if you want to show Shelby some love then donate a bag of bird seed.

The seed will be used throughout the year for educational programs and field trips.

Contact Shelby Bottoms Nature Center for more information: (615) 862-8539, shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov

RECURRING EAST ROOM HAS JOKES

SPiFFY SQUiRREL Sundays

7:30 p.m. Sundays, The East Room

The East Room is making a name for itself in Nashville’s comedy scene. Of course, we all know jokes are just funnier on the East Side. East Room head honcho Ben Jones 64

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

January | February 2014

I’M WITH YOU IN ROCKLAND

Kerouac’s Beat Monday’s

8:30 p.m. Mondays, Performing Artist Co-op

The Performing Artist Co-op, aka the “Purple Theater,” has seen the best minds of our generation, mad, starving, hysterical, and naked. OK, we won’t take it that far, but the theater does provide a forum for lovers of the Beat generation to share their own writing. They’re calling all you Dharma Bums to bring out your prose, poetry, or music to this laid-back listening party, reminiscent of a 1950s lounge setting. Five bucks gets you in the door to this open mic, as well as a strong brew of coffee or tea. If you’re burning the midnight oil and require some other type of liquid courage, it’s BYOB. 107 N. 11th St., www.facebook.com/purpletheater

ESC SHAKE A LEG

Keep On Movin’

10 p.m. until close Mondays, The 5 Spot

For those looking to hit the dance floor on Monday nights, The 5 Spot’s “Keep on Movin’” dance party is the place to be.

This shindig keeps it real with old-school soul, funk, and R&B. Don’t worry, you won’t hear Ke$ha—although you might see her—and you can leave your Apple Bottom jeans at home. If you have two left feet, then snag a seat at the bar. They have two-for-one drink specials, so you can use the money you save on a cover to fill your cup. 1006 Forrest Ave., (615) 650-9333, www.the5spotlive.com

RINC, Y’ALL

Scott-Ellis School of Irish Dance

4:30 to 5 p.m. ages 3-6, and 5 to 5:45 p.m. ages 7 & up, Mondays, Eastwood Christian Church Fellowship Hall

You’re never too young—or too old—to kick out the Gaelic jams with some Irish Step dancing. No experience, or partner, required. Just you, some enthusiasm, and a heart of gold will have you dancing in the clover before you can say “leprechaun.”

1601 Eastland Ave., (615) 300-4388, www.scott-ellis.com

HAVE YOUR PIE AND DRINK A PINT, TOO

$10 Pint & Pie Night

6 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays, The Family Wash

Every Tuesday night at The Family Wash, you can score a pint of beer and a shepherd’s pie for just $10. The reigning music venue on the East Side, The Wash is home to an abundance of good music, and on Tuesdays, the club plays host to the long-running songwriter series, Shortsets, hosted by Cole Slivka. They offer a wide selection of craft beer, and they even have a vegetarian shepherd’s pie for herbivores.

So sit back and enjoy the show, along with your pint and pie. 2038 Greenwood Ave., (615) 226-6070, www.familywash.com

FAT BOTTOM FOR YOUR BUCK

$10 Pint and Entrée Special

4 p.m. until close Tuesdays, Fat Bottom Brewery

Q: What’s better than a craft beer and a tasty meal? A: Cheap craft beer and a tasty meal. At Fat Bottom Brewery you can grab a pint of their liquid courage and an entrée for just $10 on Tuesdays. Peruse their beer garden and pick your poison; they’ve got plenty of options for the seasoned beer drinker. They’re always kegging fresh

batches and pouring cold ones, so stop by to get your fix. 900 Main St., www.fatbottombrewing.com

TELL ME A STORY

East Side Storytellin’

7 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays of each month, Mad Donna’s

Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? East Side Story has got you covered. They’ve partnered with WAMB radio and Mad Donna’s to present an allout affair with book readings, musical performances, and author/musician interviews all in one evening. They host this lovely event twice each month. Check the website to see who the guests of honor will be for each performance. The event is free, but you’ll have to reserve a spot by calling ahead. Note: The next event is in February.

1313 Woodland St., (615) 262-5346, www.eastsidestorytn.com

NO LAUGH TRACK NEEDED

Ultimate Comedy Show by Corporate Juggernaut

8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, East Room

You know what they say: Laughter is the best medicine, and Nashville’s own jokesters have taken up residency in the East Room, offering the weekly way to self-medicate. Corporate Juggernaut, which is a series of comedy shows put on

by Gary Fletcher, Jane Borden, and Brandon Jazz, will be coming to the East Side every week for this open-mic comedy night. Brad Edwards is your host, and his backing band is The Grey Grays. You can always expect to see fresh material and new talent. Doors and sign-up are at 8 p.m. Get out and help support Nashville’s burgeoning comedy scene. 2412 Gallatin Ave., (615) 335-3137, www.facebook.com/TheEastRoom

TOAST TO MOTHER EARTH

East Nashville Green Drinks

6 to 9 p.m., third Wednesday of each month, Village Pub & Beer Garden

Tired of talking sports and gossip every night out? Village Pub has something in mind for the greener East Nashvillians.

Once a month they host an evening for environmentalists to sit down for a drink and discuss ideas for a greener future. Just think about it like this: You’ll be saving the planet, one drink at a time. 1308 McGavock Pike, (615) 942-5880, www.greendrinks.org January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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ESC ART IS FOR EVERYONE

John Cannon Fine Art classes

6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays, The Idea Hatchery

If you’ve been filling in coloring-book pages for years but you’re too intimidated to put actual paint to canvas, it might be time you give it a try. Local artist John Cannon has been teaching art classes at The Idea Hatchery since September. These are small, intimate classes; this keeps the sessions low-pressure and allows for some one-on-one instruction. If you’re feeling like you could be the next Matisse with a little guidance, sign yourself up for some of Cannon’s classes. 1108-C Woodland St., (615) 496-1259, www.johncannonart.com

HONESTLY, OFFICER ...

East Nashville Crime Prevention meeting

11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesdays, Beyond the Edge

Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends and various other issues with East Precinct commander David Imhof and head of investigation Lt. Greg Blair.

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If you are new to the East Side, get up to speed on criminal activity in the area. If you are a recent victim of crime, they want to hear your story. 112 S. 11th St., (615) 226-3343

BRINGIN’ DOWN THE HOUSE

After-Hours Jams

7:30 p.m. Thursdays, The Fiddle House

Every Thursday, The Fiddle House, a full-service acoustic string shop, keeps its doors open for an after-hours jam. Each week, they alternate between “old-time” and “bluegrass” sessions. Sometimes only a few fiddlers show up for the soirees, but other nights the House is packed out. If you like to pick or if you just want to hear a good jam, check this place out next time you’re free on Thursday night. All skill levels are welcome and this pickin’ parlor is free. The music kicks off at 7 p.m. and ends whenever they feel like calling it a night.

1009 Clearview Ave., (615) 730-8402, www.thefiddlehouse.com

January | February 2014

BLUEGRASS, BEER, BURGERS

Bluegrass Thursdays with Johnny Campbell & the Bluegrass Drifters

8 p.m. until close on Thursdays, Charlie Bob’s

To celebrate your post-Hump Day, head to Charlie Bob’s and bring your axe along.

Watch North 2nd Street’s own Bluegrass Drifters kick things off, then join in on the pickin’ party afterward. Have a burger, buy a few beers and add a little ‘grass to your life. Oh yeah—it’s also dollar hot dog night.

1330 Dickerson Pike, (615) 262-2244, www.charliebobs.com

PALAVER RECORDS POWWOW

Palaver Thursday Showcase

9 p.m. Thursdays, FooBar Too

Looking to hear some fresh new tunes without paying a pretty penny to do it?

Head over to FooBar on Thursday nights— East Nasty-based record label Palaver Records hosts a weekly showcase to promote both local and traveling acts. It gives them a chance to scout performers, offers bands an opportunity to promote themselves, and gives music lovers a cheap show to catch during the week (only $3 at the door—you

CLASSICAL MYSTERY TOUR A SYMPHONIC TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES

THURSDAY, FEB. 20 • FRIDAY, FEB. 21 • SATURDAY, FEB. 22

SCHERMERHORN SYMPHONY CENTER BUY TICKETS 615.687.6400 NashvilleSymphony.org

CONCERT SPONSORS

WITH SUPPORT FROM

POPS SERIES

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ESC can’t beat that in Music City). You can see an array of different genres from week to week, and the beer always flows easy at Foo with $3 drafts. 2511 Gallatin Road, www.palaverrecords.com

CAN’T FORCE A DANCE PARTY

Queer Dance Party

9 p.m. to 3 a.m., third Friday of each month, The 5 Spot

Once a month The 5 Spot spouts rainbows and rains glitter. On any given month, the QDP is mixed bag of fashionably clad attendees (some in the occasional costume)

UNIQUELY NASHVILLE

dancing till they can’t dance no mo’. Help pack out the cozy club, shake a leg, slurp down some of the drink specials, and let your true colors show. This event touts itself as “The Most Fun.” After all, The 5 Spot was named the second-best place to dance in Nashville. Any excuse to dance—right?

1006 Forrest Ave., www.queernashville.com

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING…

First Time Stories

7 to 10 p.m., first Friday of each month, Actors Bridge Studio

We all have our firsts, some better than others. Whether it’s a story about that first prom night (when you weren’t crowned king or queen), your first concert, or maybe that first kiss—these stories are the stuff of the stage. Actors Bridge hosts an open mic night that such soliloquies are made for. They call it “storytelling karaoke.” They only ask that you tell it straight from the heart in less than five minutes. Bring your first and it won’t be the last time you make it out to this night. Admission is $5 and bring a few extra dollhairs for the cash bar.

4304 Charlotte Ave., www.actorsbridge.org

GET YOUR CREEP ON

The Cult Fiction Underground

8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Logue’s Black Raven Emporium

Smell the ink. Hear the presses. See the handmade posters.

One of America’s oldest working letterpress shops, Hatch Show Print has created one-of-a-kind prints since 1879.

AMERICAN LETTERPRESS LIVES HERE. 224 5th Ave. South • Downtown Nashville • 615.256.2805 HatchShowPrint.com • Follow Us:

hatchshowprint

Hatch Show Print is another historic property of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, a Section 501(c)(3) non-profit education organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964.

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The Cult Fiction Underground is housed beneath Robert Logue’s Black Raven Emporium off Gallatin Road. Every weekend they host screenings of rare and classic horror and cult films for $5. There is a gothic-style bar and lounge area downstairs also, so you can socialize and have a drink before (or after) the film. The dim basement creates an intimate gathering space for cult and horror fans. It looks like the kind of place Edgar Allen Poe might’ve stumbled out of over 150 years ago. The entrance is behind the building and parking is free. Check out Black Raven’s Facebook page to see what films they’re screening each week. 2915 Gallatin Rd., (615) 562-4710

ESC

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ESC

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS & EVENTS

INGLEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

7 p.m. first Thursday of every month, Isaac Litton Alumni Center

4500 Gallatin Rd., www.inglewoodrna.org

SHELBY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIA- MCFERRIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION 6:30 p.m. first Thursday of every month, TION

6:30 p.m. third Monday of every month, Shelby Community Center

McFerrin Park Community Center

EASTWOOD NEIGHBORS

6:30 p.m. third Thursday of every month, Memorial Lutheran Church.

401 S. 20th St., www.shelbyhills.org

Soup Sunday is fantastic family fun featuring delicious soups from over 50 local restaurants.

6:30 p.m. second Tuesday of every other month, Eastwood Christian Church 1601 Eastland Ave., www.eastwoodneighbors.org

GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

6 p.m. second Tuesday of every month, House on the Hill 909 Manila St., www.greenwoodneighbors.org

EAST NASHVILLE CAUCUS

February 23, 2014 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM LP Field (Club Level West)

5 p.m. first Wednesday of every month, Metro Police East Precinct

The East Nashville Caucus provides a public forum for East Nashville community leaders, representatives, council members and neighbors. 936 E. Trinity Lane

Free parking

Don’t miss the children’s activities, silent auction and celebrity judges!

CHAMBER EAST

7:30 to 9 a.m. first Wednesday of every month, location TBD

The Chamber East meets every month for a networking coffee to discuss community updates and how to grow and improve the East Nashville area. For the location of upcoming meetings, visit www.nashvillechamber.com

SPONSORS

CLEVELAND PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

6:30 p.m. second Thursday of every month, Cleveland Park Community Center

301 Berry St.

ROSEBANK NEIGHBORS

1211 Riverside Drive

DICKERSON ROAD MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION

4 p.m. last Thursday of every month, Metro Police East Precinct

936 E. Trinity Lane, www.dickersonroadmerchants.com

MOMS CLUB OF EAST NASHVILLE

10 a.m. first Friday of every month, location varies by group

MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) Club is an international organization of mothers with three branches in the East Nashville area. It provides a support network for mothers to connect with other EN mothers. The meetings are open to all mothers in the designated area. Meetings host speakers, cover regular business items of the organization including upcoming service initiatives and activities, and also allow women to discuss the ins and outs, ups and downs of motherhood. Visit www. momsclubeast.blogspot.com to determine which MOMS group your residence falls under.

Inglewood: 10 a.m., email inglewoodmoms@gmail.com for location Lockeland: 10 a.m. East Park Community Center, 600 Woodland St. Eastwood: email eastwoodmoms@gmail.com for time and location

610 N. Sixth St., www.facebook.com/groups/ClevelandPark Proceeds benefit Our Kids serving Middle Tennessee with medical exams and crisis counseling for children and caregivers in response to child sexual abuse

Discounted tickets available at

www.ourkidscenter.com

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If you have an event you would like to have listed, please send information about the event to calendar@theeastnashvillian.com.

For more up to date information, be sure to visit us at theeastnashvillian.com.

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EAST NASHVILLIANS OF THE YEAR C O N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E

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Randall Gilberd

Randall Gilberd is the president and co-founder of the Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation (CPRF). The CPRF mission is to break the cycle of multigenerational poverty through the holistic revitalization of Cayce Place, including mixed-income housing, world-class schools and a broad network of social support programs. Randall also sits on the Community Advisory Group, a group of 25 stakeholders who assist in the planning for Cayce.

Bob Borzak

Most recently, Bob, along with Randall Gilberd, formed the non-profit Cayce Place Foundation, an effort that contributed to the start of the revitalization of Cayce Place, which is now in the planing process (the goal is to begin construction in early 2015). This proposed holistic solution for lower income families promises to bring newly constructed homes and first-class education to more than 2,000 residents of Cayce Place. Among his many contributions to the community, Bob was the Rediscover East Chairman of the Zoning and Codes committee and has been a board member of Friends of Shelby since its inception in 2008.

Mark Miller

What began as a small running club called East Nasty has grown into a full-blown phenomenon. Mark Miller’s brainchild focuses a lot of positive attention on our community as it inspires its participants to get in shape.

THE TWISTED TALE & REDEMPTION OF DISGRACELAND C O N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E

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a little of paint went on, we planted flowers, started landscaping and cleaning up the pool, and it all just felt right.”

T

he home’s outward resemblance to the famous home of Elvis Presley inspired the name “Disgraceland.” Patton and Tracy were married in the backyard, one year after closing on the house. In the last four years they have continued to transform it. Patton enjoys pointing out the thrift store pieces that have gone into the renovation—a wardrobe from Goodwill, a chandelier from Habitat for 72

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Mona Lisa Warren

An event planner in Nashville since 1996, Mona Lisa Warren has worked on a variety of Nashville events, including the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon, CMA Music Fest, CMA Music Awards and the Vanderbilt Family Re-Union Conference. Her work as a volunteer includes serving as a board member and officer of the Convention Center Authority as well as the logistics coordinator for the Hot Chicken Festival, a benefit for Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms.

Diane Neighbors

Currently the vice mayor of Metropolitan Davidson County, longtime East Nashville resident Diane Neighbors has worked as a teacher and both director and state director of child-care services during a career in early childhood education that spans 37 years. She is a member (and served as president) of both the Nashville and the Tennessee Associations for the Education of Young Children. Neighbors continues to be very involved with Friends of Shelby and the Hot Chicken Festival.

Pat Gray

Pat is a third-generation East Nashvillian who has always called the area home. She served on the board of Friends of Shelby Park for four years and in 2012 served as both secretary of the Board and co-chair for the Shelby Park Centennial Celebration. Gray was instrumental in organizing relief assistance after the 2010 flood, which included locating elderly victims who had been in their homes for decades. In 2011 she raised the alarm to prevent Lockeland Springs Park from development, which ultimately led to the land becoming part of Metro Parks.

Humanity, rooms that have been transformed through discount “mistake paint.” With old and new, sought after or “found” artifacts, Disgraceland has become an embodiment of the odd mixing pot of style, creativity, talent, and ingenuity that has transformed East Nashville over the last 20 years.

The Jameses’ love of their home extends beyond renovation for their own enjoyment.

They’ve hosted many theme parties, neighborhood events, backyard movie screenings, and impromptu jam sessions. The pool house was renovated and used as guest space for visiting friends or friends-of-friends to stay while in Nashville, with the idea of eventually turning it into a full-fledged bed and breakfast.

Although fun and good times may be the first thing that comes to mind when one sees Disgraceland and the transformation the Jameses have brought to the house, there’s

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also a very serious side to their preservation of the property. Developers are transforming the neighborhoods around Disgraceland at a pace not seen since the development boom of the late 1950s and ’60s. Pointing toward the undeveloped land just south of Disgraceland, Patton James lists some of the changes that are coming: “Thirty-two houses are going in at the

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bottom, 74 houses are going in up here, that’s another 200 to 250 cars traveling on Eastland every day,” he says. “They told us that if they could get this property, they would raze this house,” Tracy James adds.

“That’s our biggest concern about what’s going on in East Nashville,” Patton says. “They’re just tearing things down. We’re sitting on an acre here, and the developer told me if they had this lot now they would build 12 or 13 houses on it. That’s how close [Nashville] came to losing this place. Along with Riverwood Mansion, it’s one of the few remaining historical farm houses in East Nashville.”

Along with the preservation aspects of saving the house, Patton James’ devotion to the salvation of Disgraceland resonates on a deeper level. “We like to say we’re ‘saving Disgraceland,’” James says, “but it really came down to Disgraceland saving me from myself and that ambition of always wanting more than I had. You have to have that goal to survive in the music business, but after 30 years you don’t want to be in the same place after giving your life to your career. You have to find a balance between success and reality that you can live with, and what I found with the real estate stuff was that the hard work does pay off. You put money and your heart and soul into a property and it’s there. It’s solid. You have a place to call home.”

January | February 2014

James points out a large, antique photograph hanging on the front wall of the great room. It shows a panoramic view of an ancient Roman ruin—grand columns, built more than 2,000 years ago, reaching toward an endless sky.

“This came out of great-grandfather’s house,” James says. “I carried it with me for years.

When I bought this house with the pillars outside, and the Italian feel, it’s like everything just lined up in the universe. It’s funny that two of the men who owned this house, and really loved it, died shortly after selling it. The message seems to be, I better not sell it.” James laughs at his conclusion, but his love for his odd, Eastside palace is a serious thing. “I really believe this is the place I was supposed to end up,” he says, “and you can just bury me in the backyard when I go.”

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W

alking into Peg Leg Porker off of 8th Avenue, the smell of smoked meat wafts through the air. There is a kinship of food that holds Joe McMahan to me. We went into battle together at one point, touring Italy with a soul band for a month or so.

Now, whenever we see each other, there’s a bit of gastronomic PTSD that happens. It comes from eating too many clams in Tuscany and pumpkin raviolis in the Piedmont. Ghosts of Dolcetta d’Alba, cheeses, dry cured meats, and chard pizza pies suddenly rear up and start dancing around in our heads as a flashback to greater times spent. As a result, food cosmically seems to find us when we hook up. As we settle in to eat some dry ribs and sauce, the conversation turns to the future.

A new home, which will include a new studio, is in the works for Joe McMahan. The

M

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love for the blues and the blues form, he and singer Luella (Melissa Mathes) started taking old Blind Willie McTell spirituals and reworking them. Along with bassist Adam Bednarik and drummer Jon Radford, they spent hours and hours attempting to redefine those old works in a more contemporary, inventive, and artistic fashion. The result has been something of an art form all its own. As all great art does, it incorporates a rich trail backward as well as forward.

Just as one can see the face of the Egyptians in Picasso’s contemporary pottery, so, too, can the faces of McTell and Lead Belly be seen in the sonic onslaught of primal modernism that is Luella and the Sun. It’s been a brilliant and enlightening bright spot on the local and national music front.

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. C O N S N A

brunch

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E 4 6

fire-scorched house has been gutted to the studs and is being rebuilt with “new everything.”

Lights, electrical, and plumbing are being installed. A recently purchased vintage recording console is being reconditioned. Salvaged mic preamps are being refurbished. New (old) microphones have been acquired.

“I’m really excited about playing guitar and writing these days,” says McMahan. “My experience in Luella and the Sun has enabled me to open myself up and discover another dimension to my work.” With the band currently plotting its next move, McMahan’s focus is on rebuilding the studio, writing, and working with other artists. “I’ve got a rock ’n roll band from Kentucky, and a great Eastside songwriter/artist, Joseph Hazelwood, that I’m working with.” There is a new single with Webb Wilder that has just been released and he has begun pre-production with old friend Kevin Gordon.

“Rebuilding everything from the ground up is a major undertaking of the psyche,” reflects McMahan. “I get overwhelmed. At times, you don’t own it—it owns you. I can wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about all the endless stuff I have to do. I basically have to start from scratch. I bought an old RCA microphone owned by Ike Turner, and I’ll start wondering how that is going to sound—or how I’m going to rewire everything. My mind will just start racing ... but in the end I have to just pull myself back to love and gratitude. I’ve been doing this for so long. In the end, all I can see before me is a gift. The whole community reached out to me incredibly during this whole process. It’s been amazing. I’m still going to be able to do what I love, and I’m truly grateful for that. I’m excited I’m gonna be able to create something new out of the ashes. I should be open for business again in early 2014, and it’s gonna be better than ever. I might even have to get a couch for myself.”

Steve Poulton of the Altered Statesman sheds some light on working with Joe: “What’s great about Joe is that he’s always asking himself, ‘Is the music is being served here?’ He gets you to do that by proxy, as well, in the studio or at a gig.

And as a result, you end up getting out of your own way and stop blocking your own path.”

Kevin Gordon comments, “Joe pushes people deliberately to get them out of their comfort zone to try and create something new.”

Gordon’s statement, ironically, sums up McMahan’s life this past year. Having been pushed out of his comfort zone, he’s creating something new. It’s been a hard year, no doubt.

Regardless of the times, though, there has always been a constant to Joe McMahan—he’s always remained true to his vision and growth.

Despite what happened to him over this past year, it’s obvious that he is perpetually incapable of escaping himself, much less his path as a musician, producer and deconstructionist savant. And that’s a good thing for all of us to be around.

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FUNKY SPACE & RUMPLED GRACE

week

end Now open @

AM 9 2-for-1 mimosas & build your own bloody mary bar

1313 Woodland St 615.226.1617

January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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marketplace

at parris printing it’s about your needs. your message. your

style

michael lundholm

(615) 727-1231 michael@parrisprinting.com

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marketplace

When the Best is Required

(615) 262-0011

pianotuningnashville.com

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marketplace

come see us Fridays & Saturdays 11 to 5 Sundays by appointment

3621 Gallatin Pike, Nashville TN 37216 We’re in the big white house just past Hart Lane, next to the Piggly Wiggly Parking available in the back FarmhouseArtandJunktiques.com 615-775-2653

We’ve moved on up.

To the East Side.

now in East Nashville 224 S. 11th Street (at Fatherland) near Five Points formerly in The Mall at Green Hills 615-329-3959 • www.specsnashville.com • info@specsnashville.com

January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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EAST of NOR M A L By

Tommy Womack

It just doesn't matter.

T

he other day a friend of mine posted on his Facebook page, “I am happy for my successful friends! I am happy for my successful friends!

I am happy for my successful friends!” This was my way of knowing that he was in no way happy for any of his successful friends.

I’ve been there. I understand. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve seen a lot of my friends rocket to the top of the charts. It’s profoundly irritating.

So I posted a comment. I said, “It don’t matter. In a hundred years we’ll all be dust, and no one is going to know we were ever here. Fix yourself a sandwich and put on some Sinatra.”

I said this without compunction and of my own free will. And having said it, I marveled at the fact that not only had I said such a thing, I meant it. It just doesn’t matter. Cue Bill Murray. “It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!”

I’m 51, and it was somewhere around crossing the golden Rubicon birthday about a year ago that I was given a gift. I changed. I realized that all this touring, the songwriting, the miles, changing guitar strings, changing the oil, chasing the muse. It is utterly meaningless. It just doesn’t matter.

This is not as deflating a revelation as it might seem; in fact it’s very liberating and a source of newfound joy. Prior to this epiphanous broom jumping, I had thrown myself into every gig like I was a gladiator.

Every show was life or death. I knew in my heart how sacred the music was, how much honor was at stake in the quest for that perfect musical moment. I played

gigs with gritted teeth. It meant so much. I was playing to blot out that voice in my head that kept asking me why the hell I was doing this, and wasn’t I ashamed at how I’d thrown my life away.

After my enlightenment—and who knows where it came from—I became aware that it is impossible to throw your life away, unless of course you kill yourself.

If you don’t do that, then you can’t throw your life away. Life is something that happens to you; you don’t happen to it. And it just doesn’t matter anyway.

In the past year, I’ve done some of the best gigs of my life. I don’t play to break on through to the other side. There is no other side. I don’t even care. I busy myself onstage now with enjoying the song I’m singing. And if there are 50 people enjoying it with me, or seven, it doesn’t matter. In a hundred years I’ll be dust and no one is going to give a flat flying frig that I ever played for tips on a Wednesday night at The Family Wash.

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’m going to die someday. I’m sure of it. And one of two things is going to happen (I haven’t made up my mind yet, which): I’m either going to have my ashes scattered over the salad bar at Shoney’s, or I’m going to be sat nude in an easy chair, encased in Lucite, and put into orbit. Between now and then I’m going to wallow in good old-fashioned Zen dearth of meaning.

If Keith Urban cuts one of my songs, great. If he doesn’t, God bless him. It just doesn’t matter.

And that’s wonderful.

— Tommy Womack is a singer-songwriter and author, and a former member of both Government Cheese and the bis-quits. His memoir, Cheese Chronicles, has just been released as an e-book by Amber House Books. Visit his website at tommywomack.com and keep up via his popular “Monday Morning Cup of Coffee” series. His column, "East of Normal," appears in every issue of The East Nashvillian.

He is currently working on both a new memoir and his seventh solo record.

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TUNE IN MONDAYS AT 6:15 FOR THE615 WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT OUR FIRST QUARTER ADVERTISING SPECIAL? January | February 2014 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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In Memoriam

Tracy Hamilton 1976 ~2013

“THE WARRIORS” PHOTO SHOOT DANDELION SALON DECEMBER 2012 PHOTOGRAPHED BY TIM DUGGAN

L TO R: BRANDY SMILEY, TRACY HAMILTON, KIM COLLINS, LISA MCCAULEY 82

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