The Local, June 2017

LocaL

1

June 2017

LocaL

2

June 2017

Letter

STUFF TO READ

from the Editor

n this page you’ll find O a mission statement.

That’s the heart and soul

Hundred Word Highlights Memorable Mail From

4

No Longer A Ghost Art and Museums On Stage Around Town Music Music Spotlignt Way Down Film Society Food and Drink Pasaquan

5 6

AL HAYNES

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE FUTURE

8 10 14

Tastefull Vapes

18

The Wicked Hen

20

A SMOKING ALTERNATIVE, AND IT’S ELECTRIC! MORE THAN COLUMBUS’S BEST NEW SOUTHERN RESTAURANT

the joint R EDE M PT ION

LocaL

21

of what I’ll elaborate here. But elaborate I must. I’m really excited about this magazine.

The mission statement says that this magazine exists “because we who work on it believe in actively engaging with community improvement.” And that’s true.

But that isn’t the story. This magazine exists because a few people kept talking about how great it would be for a magazine like this to exist. One of those people, Monica Jones, our publisher, finally had enough with the talk.

She asked Mat Cornett, our layout editor, and I, “why don’t we make the magazine, then?”

I can’t tell you how grateful I am that she asked that question. I don’t even think I gave her a direct answer; there was no reason to. As soon as the question was asked, we got to work. Three months later, here I am, writing my first letter from the editor, and I am thrilled.

I’m thrilled for a few reasons. First, because I love this kind of work. In making this first issue, I have met artists and business owners all over the Columbus area. I have visited a do-it-yourself music venue that welcomes people of all ages and artists of all kinds.

I have visited Pasaquan, a singular art environment recently restored, a place with a unique history and brilliant future as a destination in our little corner of the world.

I have had the distinct privilege of helping to promote artists, musicians, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and for this I am deeply humbled.

I am thrilled because, with this magazine, we have the opportunity to put our shoulder to the common wheel, as our community continues to grow in generosity and beauty. For many years now, the Columbus area has been in the throes of a kind of renaissance, as museums and restaurants and shops of all kinds proliferate. Yes, we have much more work to do, and by bringing out this magazine every month and stuffing it with all that is best in our area, we will do our part.

Lastly, I am thrilled because I believe in this work and in this community. I know what it means for prospective students when Columbus State University grows, the new opportunities ushered in. I see friends embark on new careers, bringing new ideas and experiences to our area.

I see children playing in new and renovated parks, and people, all ages, enjoying libraries and the promise of humanity contained therein.

I see throngs mill about Uptown, kayakers descend the river in a spray, families gather for concerts on bright, early evenings. I see a city moving into the future with hope upon its shoulder, and whatever fences block its path, I know that they can be surmounted. I know this because, however much I believe in our ability to move forward through a commitment to art and philanthropy, there are people who believe more strongly than I do. There are secret, silent heroes all around us. To me, they are an inspiration. For you, you will find them in the pages of The LocaL. Thank you for reading, Tom Ingram Editor 3

What We Are All About.

The mission of the LocaL magazine is to bring you the best in art, music, food and fun from Columbus and the surrounding area. Locally owned and operated, we work to improve and expand community relationships through promoting positive events and stories. When good things are happening, we will be here to help you get involved.

Our monthly print issues will feature stories and events that comprise and drive the ongoing surge toward a more beautiful community. This magazine exists because we who work on it believe in actively engaging with community improvement, and we invite you to join us, not only by reading these pages, but also by taking part in any of the many wonderful events we feature.

publisher

Monica Jones

editor

Tom Ingram

layout & design Mat Cornett

CONTRIBUTORS AND CREDITS

articles

Curtis Lynch AL Haynes Bobbie Yeo Brian Waters Jacy Jenkins Keith Northington

community relations Dave Nahley Dita Railey Shannon Quck

June 2017

MEMORABLE MAIL FROM: Al Haynes

Hundred Word Highlights …Each CD review is guaranteed to be a full one hundred words, because sometimes ninety-nine and a half won’t do!

Billy Strings EP

S

billystrings.com You might have missed this 2016 release. I sure did. Lucky you, I’m here to remedy that problem for you. Billy Strings, twenty-five years old and straight out of Michigan via Kentucky, is a flatout talented guy, whether you’re talking about singing, flatpicking, or banjo playing. Like a baseball player that can hit for power, steal bases and snag anything hit near him, Strings is blessed with a voice that can wail a traditional bluegrass song or shout out a blues, lightning fast fingers, and a charismatic stage presence. Gold Glove material.

Picks: “Black Mountain Rag,” “Dust In A Baggie.”

by Curtis Lynch

ince being asked if I would like to write an article about things happening around our town, I felt, “what an honor!” That is, until I sat down and figured out I’m not a journalist. Oops! But, you know, we live in a city where there is so much benevolence that reporting about some of it doesn’t take a degree in journalism. I mean, it’s within reach to become the leader of the greatest country in the world without even taking a single political science course!

I was talking to my friend Scott Ferguson (President and CEO) of the United Way about how it took less than one year to fund raise over 7 million dollars, and I asked him, how did he and his staff do it? His response was simple. He said: generosity! The generosity of the people in this community is outstanding. The work that “service-providers” and those who contribute are the best there is. He is not wrong. I’ve seen it week after week, year after year.

In just the last few weeks before writing this piece, Columbus has had a few really great fund raising events, including Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society, March for Babies for the March of Dimes, and the list goes on.

But one event that really knocked my socks off was the Dancing Stars of Columbus, which benefited the Alzheimer’s Association. The event took place at the Rivermill Event Center on April 21. We had twelve couples who all knew how to dance really well, had “attitude” (which, when it comes to dancing, is on level with skill), and they were all costumed. It was an extremely close contest with four perfect scores; however, they were all winners because of the effort they gave.

It was a great night of entertainment that culminated a less than three month fund raising “adventure” with a stated goal of $304,000.

The food, decorations, etc were second to none. The organizers, dancers, spectators and judges (Patti Hasting, Brett Maddocks and myself) all had a wonderful time. Total money raised was over $359,000—in less than four months!

I’m running out of time, but I have a lot more to share, and will later!

See you in the streets, Al Haynes

Rodney Crowell Close Ties

New West Records rodneycrowell.com

Crowell has been writing, recording, and performing songs for quite a few years now, but his erudite lyricism, his poignant, unvarnished self-examinations have only gotten sharper over time, as evidenced by his new release, “Close Ties.” Rodney has always been difficult to classify, he’s a bridge between country’s deepest roots, a rock-n-roller’s wildest excesses and a poet’s anguish. All of those qualities are here in ample supply, along with a layer of a kind of reflective weariness. Is this as good as the best of Crowell’s records? Let’s just say it’s a close tie.

Picks: “Life Without Susanna, “Nashville 1972.”

by Curtis Lynch

LocaL

Local celeb brags on Columbus’s generosity

4

June 2017

PAWS HUMANE No Longer A Ghost

One Dog’s Remarkable Journey From The Wild, Into PAWS Humane

O

ne morning, just about a year ago, a volunteer from a local rescue group was carrying a litter of puppies out of Columbus Animal Care and Control (CACC).

The crate fell apart during transfer to a waiting van and the puppies scampered every which way.

All but one of the puppies was easily apprehended and presumably went on to be adopted into loving homes. One puppy scampered into the woods, eluding capture for many months. In fact, he was on his own for nearly a year and grew into an adult dog while on the lam.

PAWS and CACC reside on a large wooded plot between the nearly 200 acres comprising Cooper Creek Park and at least as much undeveloped acreage owned by a neighbor on the other side. Deer, possum, raccoon, and coyote roam this land unhindered. It was a recipe for feral freedom, nice for a cat but lonely for a dog who, by nature, is designed for a more communal existence.

This crafty pup managed to survive (probably with the help of more people than we will ever know feeding him) and eventually became a fixture around the PAWs campus. Visitors would report sightings and we would have to reply, “yes, we know and we are attempting to bring him in if we can only catch him.”

LocaL

His habit of appearing one minute and departing in an instant earned our boy the name Ghost. The PAWS staff began to dedicate themselves to appealing to the need all dogs have for companionship.

Ghost would come out any time staff or volunteers were walking PAWS dogs and he would even attempt to engage our dogs in play.

Staff members would sit outside on their breaks and try to entice him with eat treats out of their hands. Slowly, Ghost came closer and closer and began to linger in the company of dogs and humans.

One Saturday in December, PAWS and CACC employees worked together to get Ghost into one of our play yards. But as they placed a lead around his neck to bring him into the shelter, the unthinkable happened.

Ghost had what appeared to be a cardiac arrest and he died on the spot. You may wonder why I would write such a sad and pointless story. Well, I wouldn’t. Ghost is now very much alive because of a secondyear vet student standing nearby who immediately dropped to her knees and began CPR. Ghost managed to come out of it and moved into a PAWS kennel where we have implemented what will likely be a year-long behavioral program aimed at teaching him that it is okay to accept the love offered by humans.

What I’ve come to call Ghost’s “inner circle” is made up of PAWS Humane staff members who take turns each day spending

30 – 60 minutes with him. They open his kennel so he can walk around, relieve himself, and simply be in the presence of people who ask absolutely nothing of him.

These dedicated staff members spend the time answering email or performing other tasks they can perform with pen and paper or a tablet. They intermittently hold out 5

their hands with treats that he can take when he likes. At the end of the day, when it is quiet in the shelter, staff members bring a “helper” dog to play with Ghost outside the back door. It is easy to see that he loves these moments with others of his kind.

We are in the process of completing a special enclosure to provide Ghost an opportunity to spend more time outdoors with both his dog and human friends.

It includes a large covered area, and a doghouse will soon be added. Every week Ghost becomes more comfortable with a life among people. We post videos of his playtime on Facebook and he has become a something of a celebrity in Muscogee County. No longer a “ghost,” he will have his pick of homes.

It is truly the sign of a new day in animal welfare that we can spend this time and energy on one dog. When animal control intakes have been cut to less than half of what they were just a few short years ago, we are completely redefining “treatable” when it comes to animal health and behavior. obbi Yeo lives in Opelika, AL. She is the CEO of PAWS Humane in Columbus, GA, an animal shelter and veterinary clinic offering low-cost spay/neuter and other services to the public. Email her at byeo@ pawshumane.org with your comments and story ideas.u

by Bobbie Yeo

B

Adoption Hours Monday-Friday • 10am - 6pm Saturday • 10am - 5pm Sunday •12pm - 5pm4900 Milgen Road Columbus, GA 31907 www.pawshumane.org office@pawshumane.org (706) 565-0035 Vet Clinic phone number(706) 987-8380 June 2017

front during 1917-1918, alongside the local opinion of President Woodrow Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles. The experiences of local soldiers who fought in World War I receive special attention, as well as the impetus for the creation of Camp (now Fort) Benning at the end of the war as a U.S. Army infantry training school. African Americans’ service in the war, the life and career of Columbus native and French flying ace Eugene Bullard, and women’s volunteer service at home and abroad are showcased.

March 15 – August 27, Third Floor Galleries, The Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road 706-748-2562

Close Up: Cinema Along the River

Box City Summer Art Camp

This exhibition spotlights the numerous movie and television productions filmed or set in the Chattahoochee Valley, as well as depictions of the area and the greater Southeastern region in American cinema. The careers and innovations of local screen actors, filmmakers, and theater companies past and present will be discussed, as well as movie stars and other luminaries who visited the area for work or personal reasons.

Through April 2018, Legacy Gallery, The Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road 706-748-2562

Historic Columbus brings two sessions of a summer art camp to provide children with an outlet for creativity and help develop an appreciation and awareness of their town. Campers will make their own buildings from cardboard boxes and build a community.

Lunch and snacks provides daily, and all children will receive a t-shirt. Cost is $100. Ages seven through thirteen. To register, visit www.historiccolumbus.com or the Rankin House at 1440 Second Avenue.

June 12 – 15 and 26 – 29, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wynnton Arts Academy, 706-322-0756

Volunteer Meet Up at Port Columbus

Interested in history? Enjoy meeting new people? Have some time to volunteer? The National Civil War Naval Museum is looking for a few good volunteers, and every Monday through July at 1 p.m. will host this fun meet up. RSVP appreciated but not required.

National Civil War Naval Museum, 1002 Victory Drive, Columbus, 706-327-9798

Amazing Animals Summer Camp

Join the Columbus Museum for an art safari camp. Each camper will explore the Museum’s collection to discover how artists portray animals through activities like weaving crocodiles, creating cat collages, plus learning shapes, colors and primary art skills.

Each camper will also visit the galleries, participate in story time, and create their own museum menagerie.

June 12 – 16, The Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road, 706-748-2562

Rodger & Hammerstein's Cinderella

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that’s delighting audiences with its contemporary take on the classic tale. This lush, two-night production features and incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments you love—the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball and more. Be transported back to your childhood as you rediscover some of your most beloved songs, including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible” and “Ten Minutes Ago,” in this hilarious and romantic Broadway experience for anyone who’s ever had a wish, a dream . . . or a really great pair of shoes. Preshow dinner is available for these performances.

June 21 & 22, RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 900 Broadway, (706) 256-3612

Access for the Arts Access for the Arts is a monthly art exploration program for individuals and caregivers with early stage Alzheimer’s.

Each month’s event will be a tour or hands-on art making session led by one of the museum’s excellent educators.

Please register one week prior to each class.

June 19, July 17, August 14, 10 – 11 a.m.,

Laugh All Summer Comedy Show

Columbus Artists Guild June Meeting

As seen on VH1 Hip Hop Squares, Friday After Next and MTV Wildn Out, Michael Blackson, aka, “The African King of Comedy,” has been entertaining audiences all across the country and around the globe for more than a decade. He has been called one of the most original stand-up comics in the country, and his performances leave audiences laughing in tears. Featured comedians include 35-year veteran comedian TK Kirkland, a recent Breakfast Club interviewee; and T.I.’s Hustle Gand comedian K-Dubb, seen on Shaq’s 2016 All Star Comedy Jam and T.I. and Tiny’s Family Hustle. This summer’s hilarious and star-studded event will have you laughing all summer long. Hosted by the 20-plus year comic veteran and Undisputed Underground Comedian Doo-Doo Brown. A VIP meet and greet is available after the performance for VIP ticketholders.

June 24, RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 900 Broadway, (706) 256-3612

The June meeting of the Columbus Artists’ Guild features photographer John Pyle. Pyle specializes in modeling, fashion and photojournalistic-style work. Artwork sale begins at 5 p.m.; reception, business meeting and program begin at 6 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public.

June 22, 5 – 8 p.m., Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road, rbstclair@gmail.com

From Flying Aces to Army Boots: WWI and the Chattahoochee Valley

This exhibition explores the effects of World War I in the Chattahoochee Valley. Beyond military history, the exhibition will look at the social and political climate in the region during the first years of the war, 1914-1917, and changes to the home LocaL

6

June 2017

Atlanta Falcons Coaching Clinic

Youth coaches, don’t miss this free clinic led by notable speakers and high school coaches from around the state. This one-day clinic is designed to give coaches the knowledge and skills to improve the experience for youth football programs.

Coaches will learn how to teach football fundamentals, improve practice organization through the season, and be exposed to new offensive and defensive schemes. Lunch will be provided. The event is free. Register at www.atlantafalcons.com/coachingclinic as space is limited. June 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Columbus Convention and Trade Center, 801 Front Avenue,

Chase the Hooch

75th Ranger Regiment Golf Tournament benefitting Big Sky Bravery

Join TriColumbusGA on June 10 at 9 a.m. in Uptown Columbus for either a one-mile downriver swim or, for those interested in a greater challenge, a two-mile swim consisting of one-and-a-half mile downriver and half a mile upriver. Participants receive a race-specific towel, and food and festivities will be ready for participants and spectators at the finish line. To register, visit tricolumbusga.com June 10, 9 a.m., Uptown Columbus

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to play alongside or sponsor an Army Ranger in the 75th Ranger Regiment Golf Tournament.

The tournament will be held at the Green Island Country Club, and only twenty teams are available, so move quickly for this excellent event, which includes eighteen holes of golf, range balls, lunch and two drink vouchers. All proceeds will fund summer and winter programs for active duty Army Rangers from the 75th Ranger Regiment. Email josh@bigskybravery.org before June 16 to participate.

June 26, 12 – 7 p.m., Green Island Country Club, 6501 Standing Boy Road, Columbus

Bowl for Kids' Sake

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Chattahoochee Valley is hosting their annual fund raiser, Bowl for Kids’ Sake, which supports their mission of providing children facing adversity with positive role models that change their lives for the better, forever. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Chattahoochee Valley has been serving children facing adversity for over 30 years. They match children, ages six through fourteen (Littles) with positive role models (Bigs).

June 10, 4 p.m., Bowlero Bowling Alley, 1636 Bradley Park Drive, 706-327-3238

Ballroom Dancing

Every Monday at First Presbyterian Church, ballroom dancing lessons begin at 7 p.m., and all skill levels welcomed, especially beginners. No partner needed. Cost is only $5.

First Presbyterian Church, 1100 1st Avenue, Columbus, 706-322-4523

Callaway Kids Fun Run

Bring the kids out to Callaway Gardens for the Callaway Kids Fun Run. Distances include half- and one-mile courses along Robin Lake. Each athlete will receive a finisher’s medal, goodie bag and bib number. Proceeds will benefit the Tri ColumbusGA Community Foundation, which equips elementary schools in Georgia and Alabama with new equipment and scholarships. Register online or at packet pickup at the Callaway Gardens Beach Pavilion. After the race, there will be movies on the beach.

June 16, 7 – 9 p.m., Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga.

World Sickle Cell Day Youth Festival

The Association of Sickle Cell, Lower Chattahoochee Region, hosts the World Sickle Cell Day Youth Festival on Saturday, June 17, in honor of Sickle Cell colleagues who have passed away. All children and their parents with the sickle cell disease or trait are encouraged to attend. Food will be served and there will be a balloon release towards the end of the event.

June 17, 2 – 6 p.m., Psalmond Road Recreation Center, 6550 Psalmond Road, Midland, 706-566-6329

Callaway Gardens Sprint Triathlon

TriColumbusGA presents the Callaway Gardens Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon. The swimming leg will be a quarter mile around Robin Lake. Enjoy the gentle rolling terrain of Robin Lake Circle and Scenic Drive on the nine-mile biking leg. The run will be two miles of flat ground around Robin Lake. This race is the perfect venue for athletes of all levels, whether your looking to set your personal best time or leap into your first race.

June 17, Callaway Gardens, call 1-800-463-6990 for reservations and more information LocaL

7

June 2017

Second Annual Barks and Blues Festival

PAWS Humane, a non-profit organization that relies solely on the private support of our community, invites you to the 2017 Barks and Blues Festival. Hosted at the PAWS center on Milgen, the music begins at 1 p.m. with Skyler Saufley, followed by Tracy Stephens, Crossroad Disciples, and at 4:45, Neal Lucas. Food vendors include Scotty Dogs, Country’s Barbeque, Shaved Ice and Planet Pops. A kids zone will include face painting, “krazy” hair and Corta Tennis courts for free play. Of course, there will be many, many fury friends for adoption; the Barks and Blues Festival is a great opportunity to take advantage of PAWS name-your-own-price adoption special. Seating for music is limited, so please bring your own chairs and blankets. Parking will be allowed along Milgen Road and at neighboring businesses.

Other than offering up some great entertainment and family fun, Barks and Blues is a great opportunity for the community to see the incredible facility at PAWS and learn about the many services PAWS provides like our on site low cost spay/neuter clinic and wide array of programs targeted to address the root causes of over population and high euthanasia rates in our area.

June 10, 1 – 6 p.m., PAWS Humane, 4900 Milgen Road, Columbus.

Music and Dancing on the Mountain, with Randy and Darlene

Celebrate National Get Outdoors Day with music in the open, stone amphitheater. Dance and sing-a-long to easy rock music of the 70s and 80s. Bring a chair or blanket. The event is free, but a $5 park pass is required—considering the pass gives you access to the nearly 10,000 acres of Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, it’s a small price to pay for the beautiful scenery, good music and great time. June 10, 7 – 9 p.m., Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, 2970 GA Highway 190, Pine Mountain

Ga Ala Band plays The Tavern at Main Street / returns to Wild Wing Cafe

With more than 80 years combined on stage experience, Ga Ala Band is one of the tightest bands from the Columbus-Phenix City area. On June 16, they play The Tavern at Main Street. On June 17, they bring their take on rock, blue and oldies to Wild Wing Cafe for happy hour. No cover, and all ages are welcomed.

June 16, 9 p.m. – ‘round midnight, The Tavern, 6298 Veterans Parkway, Columbus. June 17, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., Wild Wing Cafe, 6525 Whittlesey Road, Columbus

Alabama Avenue at Soho

Join area-favorite party band Alabama Avenue at Soho on June 23 for all of your favorite classic and southern rock, new and traditional country, and party tunes. Johnny Powell first formed Alabama Avenue with high school friends in the summer of 2005.

Since reforming in 2015, they have played weekly throughout the area. $5 cover. June 23, 10:30 p.m. – till, Soho Bar & Grill, 5751 Milgen Road, Columbus LocaL

8

June 2017

The Bitteroots at the Loft

The Bitteroots, a jam band calling on blues and roots influences, brings their fun, hook-laden spin on the genre to The Loft on June 24. This Atlanta/Decatur-based band was founded in 2008, and since then has been called a “unique brand of soulful rock.”

Their expansive sets offer something for everyone, from extended jams to pop melodies.

June 24, 10 p.m. – till, The Loft, 1032 Broadway, Columbus

Denim and Diamonds: Josh Turner and Martina McBride, w/ Barrett Baber

Josh Turner and Martina McBride visit the Columbus Civic Center June 24 for the 18th annual Denim and Diamonds fund raiser.

Denim and Diamonds benefits Columbus Hospice, and welcomes these two major country recording stars for this year’s performance, as well as Barrett Baber, former “The Voice” contestant with “Billboard”-charting songs. Sponsorships for the fund raiser are available through www.columbushospice.com. For tickets, visit Ticketmaster or the Columbus Civic Center. This is the perfect chance to enjoy world-class country music and contribute to a worthy cause. June 24, 8 p.m. – 11, Columbus Civic Center, 400 4th Street, Columbus

Catch The Heavy-Hitting 80s Band June 24 at Legends When children are asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Most offer the expected answers: doctor, lawyer, astronaut, and a few might even aspire to president. But there is another answer, one that makes mothers tremble with fear and fathers shake their first and curse the sky.

That answer? Rockstar.

Columbus has a rich music scene, deep with talent, and for a decade now, Triple Threat—Cody Davis, Chuck Garner, Dwayne Michaels and Jason Hammock—have been top performers. They’ve brought heavy-hitting 80’s rock to the area’s nightlife and opened for some of the biggest rock acts to come through Columbus, including Nothing More, Trapt, Travis Tritt, Bobaflex, Taproot and more.

Triple Threat released their first, eponymous EP in 2011, which garnered them play on local rock radio for the songs “What Lies Behind” and “Stuck in a Rut.” The band is back in the studio, working on their next project, which features songs “Already Gone” and “When the Angels Cry.” Both songs are hard-hitting, dealing with the subject of addiction and the devastation that it leaves behind. If you like 80s hair band rock, with melt-your-face guitar work and vocals like early Skid Row with Sebastian Bach, then Triple Threat is a must-see.

Around town, Triple Threat plays mostly cover songs, but they always add a couple of real head-banging originals to the mix. Front man Cody Davis says it’s cool to hear the crowd sing along with his original songs.

With a decade of rocking the local scene under their belt, Triple Threat are looking to make the next jump into the regional band scene. As they get bigger, two things remain true: they play heavy metal, and Columbus is home.

Cody says, “Columbus has been a blessing to me. The friends that I have here in Columbus, I will cherish forever.

Your next chance to catch Triple Threat live in Columbus will be Saturday, June 24 at Legends, 5762 Milgen Road.

Don’t miss out on one of the area’s hottest bands at an excellent venue.u

by Keith Northington

Second Annual 75th Ranger Regiment Summer Concert

Hosted by Big Sky Bravery and presented by Mercedes-Benz of Columbus, the Second Annual 75th Ranger Regiment Summer Concert is a free, public event. Bring family and friends to the Summer Stage on Broadway in Uptown to show your support for our heroes in uniform. In addition to the free events, koozies and t-shirts will be available for purchase. Also, a $10 wristband gets you into both Scruffy Murphy’s and The Uptown Tap for drink specials all night. One hundred percent of the wristband sales goes to support future programs with the 3rd Ranger Battalion and 75th Ranger Regiment. Big Sky Bravery is a nonprofit organization providing active duty special operations soldiers strategic decompression programs that engage their adrenaline after combat deployment.

June 28, 7-10 p.m., Uptown Columbus

Sir Charles Jones

Born in Akron, Ohio, but raised in nearby Birmingham, Sir Charles Jones is one of the leaders of soul and blues music in America.

Over six albums, Jones has established himself as an innovative artist exploring jazz and fusion, gospel and blues. On July 1, he brings his dynamic performance to the Columbus Civic Center. July 1, 8 p.m., Columbus Civic Center, 400 4th Street, Columbus

LocaL

9

June 2017

JOIN THE

WAY DOWN

FI L M S OC I E T Y for great movies at monthly Screenings & Discussions Bring\ Filmmakers And Lovers Together

T

he Fountain City Film Society was formed in September 2016 so people who appreciate cinema could gather on a monthly basis to watch and discuss the kinds of films that rarely screen in our local theaters. Beginning this summer, the Film Society is joining forces with Way Down Film Festival to pursue a common goal: building an active community of film lovers and filmmakers in the Columbus, Georgia area.

The Way Down Film Society (WDFS) seeks to expand the appreciation of the art form by the general public, and to create a networking environment for local filmmakers. Member participation and a diversity of viewpoints are essential to its

screenings

electricCityLife.com

“Songcatcher” (2000). The meeting on May 16, 2017 featured a screening and discussion of William Friedkin’s 1977 thriller “Sorcerer.” Friedkin is best known as the man who made “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection.” Why have you never heard of “Sorcerer”? Why did it crash and burn when it was released on June 24, 1977? Because it ran into a little box office juggernaut called “Star Wars” and then disappeared into obscurity.

Watching films and discussing them at our monthly meetings is the perfect way to learn more about these great movies.

If you have any questions about the Way Down Film Society, or if you would like to receive email notifications about meetings and events, please contact Scott Phillips at waydownfilmsociety@ gmail.com.u contributed by Jacy Jenkins read more articles like this at electriccitylife.com

success. The WDFS is not a film appreciation class, or a monthly lecture on cinema.

The Film Society currently meets on the third Tuesday of every month at the Cunningham Center at Columbus State University; mix, mingle, and socialize at 6 p.m. with the official meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. The group watches a feature-length film and participates in a postscreening discussion. Scott Phillips, a festival programmer for the Way Down Film Festival, and a member of the Georgia Film Critics Association, curates the films being shown and moderates the meetings.

Previous meetings have focused on classic films from France (“The 400 Blows”), Hong Kong (“In the Mood for Love”), Iran (“A Separation”) and India (“Pather Panchali”) as well as American, indie films like “Coherence” (2014) and LocaL

10

June 2017

A D.I.Y. Music Venue For All Ages It’s tough to see live music when you’re under twenty-one. Lance Wisham, founder of The Estate, a do-it-yourself music venue at 1231 Midway Drive in Columbus, knows this well.

He remembers playing in the punk shows at Flat Rock Park, when there was almost nowhere else for under-age bands to gig.

Lance spent seventeen years playing music, and ten years touring the country and spending very little time at home.

As he toured, he began to envision a music venue, a place to fill the void in Columbus, to provide the very kind of location he would have wanted when he started out playing music.

When Lance finally did come home to Columbus, he opened a painting business, Fountain City Painting Contractors.

He secured a large space on Midway Drive and soon set about renovating the old building not only for his painting studio, but also for the music venue he’d dreamed about for all those years on the road.

The Estate, operating entirely on donations and Lance’s ample energy, is a grungy, comfortable sort of place.

As you enter, there are pool tables and table tennis, several

Green Island Farmer's Market

Visit the Green Island Farmer’s Market, hosted by Wheelhaus Provisions, every Tuesday between 6 and 9 p.m. for a food-focused, community-driven market open to the public. You can RSVP and sign up for a weekly newsletter if you want to know what produce will be available every week: eepurl.com/cs9dYj Every Tuesday, 6 – 9 p.m., cul-de-sac behind River Flow Yoga, 6801 River Road

Bites of Uptown Food Tour

Columbus’s first walking food tour: where food meets history!

Put on your walking shoes for a fun, delicious way to learn about Columbus. You’ll discover some of the best local restaurants and stores in Uptown Columbus. Of course, they’ll also sprinkle in a bit of history, architecture and culture to round out a perfect afternoon. Let the adventures begin! For more information and tickets, please visit: www.columbuseatsfoodtours.com. Every Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Uptown Columbus

Uptown Columbus Happy Hour Tour

Spend your Friday evening exploring some of the finest bars and pubs Uptown Columbus has to offer. In this special beveragethemed walking tour, your guide will show you spots for beer, wine and specialty drinks that are unique to Columbus. Tour includes delicious light appetizers. You’ll also learn about the history and culture of Columbus. For the 21+ crowd. For more information and tickets, please visit: www.columbuseatsfoodtours.com.

Every Friday, 5:30 p.m., Uptown Columbus

Columbus Craft Beer Bash

Hosted by Cerrone’s Brick Oven Pizza and Columbus Beverage SuperStore, the first annual Columbus Craft Beer Bash is a celebration of beer, local music and food. A portion of the proceeds will benefit PAWS Humane, our local no-kill animal shelter, and all of the wonderful work they do. The Bash will be held at Chattahoochee Harley Davidson. Tickets are available through www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2951508 June 24, 12 – 5 p.m., 3230 Williams Road, Columbus

couches, and toward the far end of the building a room with a small stage. It’s an intimate sort of venue, the perfect locale for any kind of artist to connect with an audience.

And Lance does bring in just about any kind of artist you can imagine. The acts are local and national touring acts, and while most are metal, punk or hardcore, he also invites country, folk and hip-hop. You can even catch standup comedy at The Estate. Whoever is playing, you can expect original music in a venue open to all, a place inviting in its unpretentiousness and a scene that accommodates all kinds. Even the stage is open to all: every Thursday, Lance invites an artist to host open mic night, where performers need only sign up to share their music.

For an events schedule, visit www.facebook.com/theestatega and email Lance at theestatega@gmail.com for more information.

LocaL

11

June 2017

LocaL

12

June 2017

LocaL

13

June 2017

While most of the content is suitable for all audiences, some elements may not be suitable for children, and parents are advised to practice discretion. This article does contain some sexual references.

High school students, on field trips, entering the site between the two Moailike figures that guard the gate entrance.

Church groups studying the disks like particolored, celebratory shields sunk into the living room walls. Tours led past the dancing pit filled with white sand, their eyes draw up the grand, undulating Pasaquoyan staircase to the pagoda’s meditation room, wherein they will discover mandalas with diameters of grown men, each individually radiant in red, blue, green and white.

Four of the seven acres that comprise the Pasaquan site are imprinted with twenty-seven years worth of construction and decoration, the work of Eddie Owens Martin, the enigmatic, eccentric fortune teller of Buena Vista, Ga., better known as St. EOM. From 1957 until his death in 1986, Martin recreated his mother’s old farmhouse into a home that reflected his idiosyncratic worldview, a fusion of

beliefs drawn from his untutored reading in libraries and exploration of museum exhibits in New York City. Any single element from the site, disembodied from the whole, would seem odd; taken as a whole, the enormity of Pasaquan—the physical expanse of the place and the unity of vision required for a twentyLocaL

14

seven year project of this scale—overwhelms.

Pasaquan is a strange jewel, inspiring and perplexing. At the end of a tour, whatever your response to individual elements, from the stories told by caretaker Charles Fowler to the many masks that adorn the extensive walls, it is difficult to leave Pasaquan without being viscerally impressed by the place.

It’s really flippin’ cool.

It’s also difficult to explain. Tom Patterson’s 1987 “St. EOM in the Land of Pasaquan: The Life and Times and Art of Eddie Owens Martin,” soon to be reissued, is, apart from the site itself, the best place to start. But the book, like the site and its creator, present as many questions as answers. Patterson recorded most of the book; we are given Eddie explaining himself, and Eddie was a storyteller as concerned with entrancing his audience as with establishing a solid historical record.

For this article, we have used Patterson’s book, and the insight of Charles Fowler and Michael McFalls, caretaker and director of the site, respectively. We are grateful for their help.

Here, we will give some history of the place for context and some images for

reference. Whatever else is said about the site is presented with the eternal disclaimer of all who try to write about art: go see for yourself. In the case of Pasaquan, we urge you not to delay. ddie Owens Martin, otherwise known as St. EOM (pronounced “om,” like the sacred sound in Hinduism), lived a life no less colorful

E

June 2017

than the home and ever-expanding art project he created. Pasaquan is a vibrant art environment, a “psychedelic Assisi in the Southern pines,” as Tom Patterson has it. While the site enchants with its parade of pagodas and statues, metal fringe scintillant in the sun, the site, much like the man behind it, contains a depth and darkness not immediately apparent.

For those who drove out to Pasaquan on bright Sunday afternoons to have their fate foretold by St. EOM, the eccentric fortune teller was a burly man, sporting brightly colored shawls, with his untrimmed beard braided up into a great mass of hair hidden underneath elaborate headdress. And when he ushered you into his home and really got going with your future, he might speak with melody and in rhyme. But the tattooed man who eased the two German shepherds at the Technicolor gate before you dared exit your vehicle had a history; rich though it is with wild stories and interesting characters, it is equally marked with abuse and tragedy.

Eddie Owens Martin was born in 1908, at the stroke of midnight on the Fourth of July, or so he claimed. He was the second youngest

of seven surviving children of sharecroppers in the village of Glen Alta. His father, a violent alcoholic, often spent whatever surplus a season’s crop afforded on booze, and would return home to beat young Eddie. His mother, while accommodating, was not the tender sort. Martin seemed to know, as soon as a small child might consider such things, that he did not fit into the white southern society in which he found himself. Imagining the tribulations of being gay in the south in those days is beyond our power. After school, he would sneak off into the black community of Glen Alta, where he saw in the music and dance a celebratory alternative to the stark brutality of his home life. His interest in other ways and ideas, alternatives to his present context, stuck with him for the rest of his life.

At the age of fourteen, after years of abuse from his father, after sexual assault at the hands of older school boys, after long months spent working in the fields when his peers attended school, Martin ran away. He fled north, to New York City. There were few options for an adolescent southern runaway, so he turned to street hustling. He sold himself and lived in one-room flops. He also gravitated to the many museums and libraries in the city, where he inhaled exhibits about cultures from all over the globe and read about art, history, religion. For much of his life, Martin lamented his inability to study in school, a pain for which he compensated by tutoring himself in the expansive subjects that caught his attention.

As he grew older, he turned to art. He began by sketching on whatever scrap paper he could get his hands on. After nearly a year in lockup for marijuana possession, Martin returned to New York, where he found work as a fortune teller in a teashop. He excelled. He had a regular, energetic clientele. He bought paints and tried to have his work shown in galleries. He also made LocaL

15

occasional trips to Georgia, to Buena Vista, where his mother, after his father died, had acquired some property. Martin spent summers helping in the fields, the rest of the year reading tealeaves and painting in New York. When his mother died, Martin moved into her small farmhouse. Still feeling very much out of place, he built the first walls, at the front of his property, a barrier between himself and the greedy world, the beginnings of Pasaquan.

Martin’s first vision came on one of his many summer trips to Buena Vista, in 1935.

He fell seriously ill and lay in bed with a high fever for twelve days. His family was certain he’d die. Instead, he had a vision. A figure came to him, with arms “big around as watermelons,” Eddie said (Eddie mixed his references equally between his agrarian roots and somewhat confused interpretations of Eastern philosophy and religion). The figure, its beard parted and tied up into long hair that reach to the sky, told him, “go back into the world and follow my spirit.” The penalty for not following the spirit was death. It was a call to god. When Eddie awoke, he was still a man growing too old to hustle in the street, but he was now a man determined to do something radically different.

A second vision gave Martin the name, Pasaquan. For Martin, Pasaquan “[had] to do with the Truth, and with nature, and the earth, and man’s lost rituals.” From an obscure book by British occult writer James Churchward, Martin adopted the mythology of the lost continent of Mu, a place where man began, where people lived a kind of idyllic life, one rooted in primordial rituals toward which all other religion points.

Through the idea that all cultures are striving back toward this first land of inclusion and tolerance, Martin amalgamated symbols and ideas into what he called Pasaquoyanism. This philosophy, far from systematic, results at the Pasaquan site in the inclusion of symbols from diverse cultures, often conflated in uncomfortable ways. One of his first statues, which he claimed was of Shiva, seems to have elements typical of Shiva and Kali, two distinct Hindu deities. These jumbled ideas can be seen throughout Pasaquan, resulting in curious, even captivating images; the trouble, of course, is that Martin is explicitly coopting the identities of other cultures in order to be transgressive. He wants to stand apart, and part of his method is to incorporate sacred iconography from traditions not his own, Mu mythology or not.

So what do we do with St. EOM’s appropriation?

First, we think we remind ourselves of the circumstances. We remember that Martin was a largely uneducated runaway, born in 1908. We remember that his vision was, sincerely, one of totally comprehensive love and acceptance. This was a man who moved comfortably through every culture he did, in fact, encounter, including some tough crowds in a New York City long before Disneyfication. As Charles Fowler points out, this is a man who paid his helpers fifteen dollars an hour, and that was in the 1970s. Throughout his Pasaquoyan proselytizing, St. EOM’s message was unwaveringly compassionate. Because here’s what we can do: We can let the site, and the man, be complicated, contradictory, troubling and profound. These all exist together, and rather than derive some hardline lesson or stance, we may experience the place for our own visceral edification. And today, as we continue to navigate questions of appropriation or ‘cross-pollination,’ visiting a site like Pasaquan may very well be an important part of that discourse, an argument free from the sometimes malign rhetorical devices of speech.

June 2017

With our retrospective eyes, there is a humor to Pasaquan. St. EOM’s concept of Pasaquoyans extended into space, onto other planets, and this is found prominently at two places of the site. Beneath the meditation pagoda there are depictions of distant planets, atoms, the imagery of space age America, one which tuned into the “Twilight Zone” and eagerly watched satellites catapult for the first time into orbit. Inside the house, before you enter St. EOM’s studio, is a room decorated with figures wearing what appear to be space suits. St. EOM called them “levitation suits;” he said they were air-conditioned, and by harnessing the power of energies emanating from various parts of the body, wearers could transcend the typical bonds of gravity. St. EOM even built one. When asked if he could, when wearing the suit, actually levitate, St. EOM is reported to have said that, no, he could not levitate—but he did feel lighter! ddie Owens Martin committed suicide in 1986.

He had been ill. He had grown bitter over the art world’s neglect of his work, even as those who were “in” celebrated another eccentric Georgian outsider, Howard Finster, who built Paradise Gardens in Summerville.

After his death, Pasaquan began to decay.

Restoring and maintaining four acres of intricate art is a major undertaking. For 30 years, the Pasaquan Preservation Society

E

to be carefully removed, restored and replaced with precision, and this over wooden walls that also needed replacing. Cracks in concrete needed filling. And the whole site almost, top to bottom, required repainting. All of this was done with an acute eye for detail, with professors and students from CSU and Kohler experts expending thousands of hours on the site. The work continues to this day.

For the visitor, Pasaquan shimmers under the Georgian sun, its high walls containing a wonderland of outsider art unlike anything else in the world.

Restored, Pasaquan has entered a new phase of life, welcoming guests and tour groups, admirers and curiosity seekers, and more than a few who remember having their tealeaves read by St. EOM himself. Visitors can explore the rooms of the remolded farmhouse, enter the verdant bamboo murals of St. EOM’s studio, listen to the artist’s music in the same room the artist once enjoyed music. We can emerge from amid the meditation room’s spiraling mandalas, stand at the precipice of the grand staircase, on the very spot St. EOM delivered Pasaquoyan sermons to visitors, and descend the broad steps to the dancing ring, where St. EOM physically communed with the Pasaquoyan spirits.

For Pasaquan, the future is as bright as its freshly painted surfaces.

Pasaquan is located at 238 Eddie Martin Road, Buena Vista, Ga. 31808. The site is open to visitors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, including information about tours during the week, please visit pasaquan.columbusstate.eduu

worked diligently to preserve the site. In 2014, the Society deeded Pasaquan to the Wisconsinbased Kohler Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving art environments throughout America. This transition allowed a tripartite partnership, between the Pasaquan Preservation Society, the Kohler Foundation and Columbus State University. These three organizations set about the monumental task of restoring Pasaquan to its former glory.

There was much to do. Hand-carved wooden beams, rotted and eaten away by termites, had to be recreated. Tiles placed decades ago had LocaL

16

June 2017

LocaL

17

June 2017

TASTEFULL VAPES a smoking alternative, and it’s electric!

LocaL

I

t’s 10 a.m. and Tastefull Vapes just opened.

Five customers immediately pile in, most of them known by name, or referred to as “Buddy”, by co-owner Brad Adams. Not only is this the original vape store in Columbus, GA, but Brad blazed a way, personally, to bring it here in 2012. Adams was travelling around selling products for trade shows when he discovered vaping as an incredible alternative to smoking on the sales floor.

He didn’t have to leave his customers; he could simply stay inside enjoying his vape pen, while he made money.

Adams came back to Columbus with a passion to bring vaping to his hometown. He went to the streets, literally, and infiltrated the car scene first. Brad loves using his personal testimony to encourage people

Originally, Adams couldn’t imagine selling the vaping kits for more than a couple of months, but on March 8th, 2013 he and his partner opened up a small, 250 square foot shop called Tastefull Vapes.

The size of the store didn’t stop anyone; they would have a line out the door with only one case of product. The first month Tastefull Vapes was opened, they did more than a year of sales from Brad’s trunk.

Adams uses his past sales experience every day and negotiates, sometimes for hours, to get the lowest price possible for his customers. What previously sold for $6090, is now $30-40. Top retailers and brands in the country partner with Tastefull Vapes because of a strong rapport with Adams.

Additionally, there are liquids they sell that you can’t buy anywhere else because they are mixed right here in Columbus, and some of the mods are custom built.

who are smoking to use vaping as an alternative. He says, “it’s cheaper, it can actually smell good instead of being repulsive, plus when I smoked I was coughing up a lung just by walking up a flight of stairs. Now that is not the case, because I vape.”

Being made fun of at first for vaping, Adams eventually converted a multitude of smokers and started selling so much out of the trunk of his car that he gained a partner, Gary. Instead of spending $250 for car parts, Brad invested in electronic set ups; and Gary was making various flavored liquid, which was very difficult to obtain at the time.

Ironically, as I talk to Brad, who is a natural salesman, he explains how he tries to talk people out of vaping if they are thinking about getting into it for the first time, and only advocates for people to vape who are already smoking. Vaping does involve nicotine but there is no tobacco. It has its own form of smoke (vapor) but there are no known adverse effects on the heart and arteries. It emits vapor but second-hand exposure to the vapor does not pose a public health risk in the same way as tobacco.

If you are a smoker, trying to quit, the e-liquid comes packed in different nicotine strengths. Categorized in milligrams: ultralight (6mg), medium (12mg), regular (18mg), and strong (24mg). There is a 0 milligram option too, which contains no nicotine for those who want to taste the vape minus the nicotine hit.

18

June 2017

There was not a lot of lawful regulation when Tastefull Vapes first opened. However, being perpetually concerned about the health of their customers, Adams put 18+ on the door to protect their young customers from potential health risks. Now, the law has caught up to their standards and legally you must be 18+ to enter vaping stores and to vape.

Adams puts his personal cell phone on the business card, and he will come to the store and help anytime he is available. For a while he stayed until 1 a.m., until he had to be firm with the time so he could rest.

However, they are open 7 days a week.

With a strong customer based business model, it is no surprise they relocated to a bigger store in November 2013 at the Corner of Whittlesey and Whitesville Road, next to Jumpin’ Java. The vibe is friendly, the couches are comfortable and the pool table is always fun. It’s not just a business, it’s a community and a sub-culture.

Word got out about vaping, and the quickly expanding business opportunity in the area, attracting about 32 shops at one time! Many of the other shops have gone the way of the dodo, but there is one shop in town that stays well ahead of the curve: Tastefull Vapes.u contributed by Jacy Jenkins

LocaL

19

June 2017

The Wicked Hen Restaurant and Lounge more than columbus’s best new southern restaurant

new south cuisine

B

LocaL

ryant Walker, owner and head chef at The Wicked Hen, is a Columbus native whose trek through the culinary world took him to Athens and Colorado before returning home. After ten years at the Green Island Country Club, where he served as head chef of the Terrace Dining Room, Bryant opened The Wicked Hen Restaurant and Lounge, pioneering New Southern cuisine in Columbus.

What goes into the kitchen at The Wicked Hen makes what comes out possible.

Bryant’s wide-ranging experience is just as important as the fresh, locally sourced ingredients that go into his innovative culinary creations. Sharing a few starters for lunch might entice diners through Bryant’s “wicked hens lay deviled eggs,” an exciting twist on the southern classic, with smoked salmon, crème cheese and capers. Another favorite are the “deep south duck egg rolls,” a surprising fusion with smoked duck confit, braised turnip greens, and Georgia-grown peach-fig marmalade; it’s an easy decision to order a second round.

For dinner, take another turn through the starters, which we are happy to see again on the evening menu, as a prelude to the main courses. Take a chance on a dish you’ll not find anywhere else in our area with the lamb burger, topped with dill Havarti, pecan smoked bacon, Berta’s buckshot pickles, and served with a side of sweet potato fries. The fries have a sweet and spicy glaze that transforms the southern staple into a side dish beyond reproach. A seven-ounce filet may not seem exciting at first glance, but with shallotherb compound butter, goat cheese polenta and a side of bacon-wrapped asparagus, we are grateful that Bryant shows off his savvy on every dish. Bryant worked as a 20

sushi chef in Colorado, and those chops are evinced in the sesame seared ahi tuna, with its wasabi-ginger vinaigrette, herb roasted purple potatoes, and another example of the bacon-wrapped asparagus, of which we cannot get enough.

Upstairs we find the other half of Bryant’s vision, a lounge area both intimate enough for date night and ample enough for parties. Ask your server or bartender for wine recommendations and you’ll enjoy an informed tour through a thoughtful list.

If you’ve moved to the lounge after your meal—and we suggest that you do—enjoy a digestif or two, mixed by the confident bartenders.

When the evening turns cool, enjoy your drinks on the patio overlooking the verdant hill rising toward Dinglewood, where fans pick up the breeze and the southern evening comes into full glory. And whatever else you do, before you set out for home, ask the host about reservations. You’ll be back soon, we’re certain.u

June 2017

LocaL

21

June 2017

jasontravisphoto.com

LocaL

22

June 2017

LocaL

23

June 2017

LocaL

24

June 2017