East Nashvillian July-August 2015 by The East Nashvillian

Know Your Neighbor: Special Edition Q&A WITH CANDIDATES FOR COUNCIL DISTRICTS 5, 6, & 7

JULY | AUGUST VOL. V ISSUE 6

The

LOVE FRUIT! TomatoArt Fest 2015

‘We Cut a Lot of Hits’ the Sound Shop story

The NonBattle of Nashville

It All Comes Out In

THE WASH

Jamie Rubin’s impossible dream gets a team

Design, Build, PLAY when it comes to music venues, Chark Kinsolving does it all

Going BIG

Artist in Profile

STACIE HUCKEBA July | August 2015

the ‘BEast’ is released on Woodland

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

 peter 

westerholm metro council

district 6 Keep experienced, thoughtful, and effective leadership working for you. “For the past four years, I’ve been a leading advocate for neighborhoods, mobility, sustainability, and diversity. With your support, I’ll spend the next four years making sure we continue protecting our neighborhood character while making our community vibrant, safe, and welcoming for all residents.“

-P eter

First-Term Accomplishments

• 4 Conservation Overlay extensions • Contextual Overlay • Partner Benefits for Metro employees • Strategic Plan and initial investments for Envision Cayce • Secured East Bank improvements • 3 pieces of public art • Housing Trust Fund for affordable housing • 3 B-cycle stations

• Duplex bill to prevent tall & skinny • $6m for Rosebank Elementary • Economic incentives for small business • Investments in Shelby Park • Supported short-term rentals • Bicycle parking bill / Car-sharing • Promoted urban agriculture • Over 13 miles of streets repaved • Over 6 miles of sidewalks and bike lanes

Second-Term Priorities

• Continue growing in a smart and sustainable manner • Continue improvements to East Nashville schools • Continue making our neighborhoods safer and preserving their beauty • Continue promoting affordable housing options and mixed-use properties • Continue investing in infrastructure • Continue investing in Envision Cayce

VOTE AUGUST 6 Early Voting begins July 17

peterwesterholm.com

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | AugustPaid 2015 for by Westerholm Election Committee, Treasurer Miranda Christy

July | August 2015

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PUBLISHER Lisa McCauley EDITOR Chuck Allen ASSOCIATE EDITOR Daryl Sanders COPY EDITOR John McBryde CALENDAR EDITOR Emma Alford CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Allison Avalon, Rebecah Boynton, Sarah Hays Coomer, Timothy C. Davis, Randy Fox, Holly Gleason, James Haggerty, Drew Holcomb, Randy Horick, Nicole Keiper, Tommy Womack CREATIVE DIRECTOR Chuck Allen DESIGN DIRECTOR Benjamin Rumble ADVERTISING DESIGN Benjamin Rumble

ILLUSTRATIONS Benjamin Rumble, Lucie Rice, Dean Tomasek

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Stacie Huckeba

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Robert Clifford, Eric England, Lauren Hanson SOCIAL MEDIA Nicole Keiper

MILY DAY

ADVERTISING SALES Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615.582.4187

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COVER STORY ART FEST 51 TOMATO 2015 U G 52 T L A ser

ove

uide

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Thousands to celebrate the ever-delicious veggie — er, fruit — at Tomato Art Fest By Rebecah Boynton

53 T

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omato

For the best in festival navigation Illustrated by Lucie Rice

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What, when, where, who

FEATURES

62 IT ALL COMES OUT IN THE WASH Jamie Rubin’s impossible dream gets a team By Holly Gleason

69 DESIGN, BUILD, PLAY

When it comes to music venues, Chark Kinsolving does it all By Randy Fox

72 GOING BIG

ON THE COVER

Mike “Grimey” Grimes Jamie Rubin Dave Brown Meg MacFadyen

‘The Beast’ is released on Woodland By Randy Fox

78 ‘WE CUT A LOT OF HITS’ The Sound Shop Story By Randy Fox

86 THE NONBATTLE OF NASHVILLE

Photographed at The Family Wash (Ver. 2.0) by Stacie Huckeba

How one of the biggest prizes of the Civil War was taken without a shot — and how East Nashville was at the center of it all By Randy Horick

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

IN THE KNOW

19 Matters of Development

32 Artist in Profile: Stacie Huckeba

22 A Pickin’ Party Takes Flight

Your Neighbor: Special Edition 39 Know For the Record

By Nicole Keiper

By Tommy Womack

By Allison Avalon

East Nashville’s candidates for Metro Council share their positions on the most important issues

This Ain’t No Suburban ‘Shed’

By Timothy C. Davis

By Drew Holcomb

97 East Side Calendar

26 Good Wood for Green Room

By Emma Alford

By Allison Avalon

COMMENTARY

AUXILIARY

16 Editor’s Letter

95 Cookin’ in the ’hood

By Chuck Allen

By Amy Harris

28 Astute Observations

Shot: 130 Parting East Nashville Condensed

By James “Hags” Haggerty

By Chuck Allen

Simple Pleasures By Sarah Hays Coomer

128 East of Normal By Tommy Womack

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EDITOR’S LETTER

A watershed moment

am a white man and a child of the South. Until the age of 16, I lived in Jackson, Miss. In fifth grade I attended Council 5, which was a private, whites-only, “segregation academy” backed by the White Citizens’ Council as a response to desegregation. Better known as the Citizen’s Council, its motto was “State’s Rights, Racial Integrity,” and it used the Stars and Stripes along with a Confederate battle flag in its logo. Sixth grade found me back in Jackson’s newly integrated public school system. I was bussed to Watkins Elementary, a predominately black school in which I was one of two white kids in my sixth grade class. I was bullied at first, but when I stood up for myself a group of black kids stood up with me. That experience forever changed me, because what those kids demonstrated by taking up for me was contrary to what I’d been taught by my white friends, the community, and even my family. As I got older, I began to understand on a broader level what I intuitively and experientially knew on a personal level: Racism in our country — especially in the South — is structural and institutionalized, and it is the foundation of white entitlement. Complicating the situation is the fact white entitlement is intertwined with a narrow-minded version of Christian fundamentalism. This aspect always confounded me, since it’s virtually impossible to confront a belief system with logic without being accused of intolerance. There’s a twisted irony when it comes to being intolerant of intolerance. By the end of the ’70s, their influence having dwindled, some members of the Citizens’ Council would go on to start the Council of Conservative

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

Citizens, a patently racist, white-supremacist hate group that made the news recently due to being named as an ideological influence by the perpetrator of the racially motivated massacre in Charleston, S.C. The calls for the Confederate battle flag to be viewed for what it is — a symbol of racism — brought all of my experiences back to the fore. As I followed the news, it began to occur to me that the nation was experiencing a watershed moment. No longer was this a matter of left versus right; the moderate center had suddenly awoken from an uneasy slumber to emphatically and collectively say, “No more!” It was also a shot across the bow, indicating that the far right can no longer hide regressive fear mongering behind the mantel of conservatism. Japanese Marshall Admiral Yamamoto, upon hearing that a diplomatic communique breaking relations with the U.S. had been mistimed immediately prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, remarked, “I fear all we have done today is to awaken a great, sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” A similar awakening has taken place in our nation through the legalization of gay marriage, the affirmation of the Affordable Care Act, and the removal of the CSA battle flag. The march from Selma to Montgomery continues symbolically today, and there is still a long road ahead. Our criminal justice system still targets people of color disproportionately. Economic segregation still exists. Our education system is underfunded. The list goes on. One day, maybe, old beliefs will be rejected and replaced with an awareness of the empirical fact that we are all in this together.

July | August 2015

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Matters of Development

THE FIERY DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE loss of historic/older structures in East Nashville rolled on this spring/early summer. In May, mysterious placards started popping up in the rubble of torn-down homes, stating, “Historic Site — Original Neighborhood Home Lost in 2015.” They certainly got neighbors talking (on our Facebook page, among other digital and nondigital spaces). So it makes sense that some of the most loudly celebrated recent development news concerned a historic space being saved. Back in April, news broke that the long-empty and long-talked-about historic Gallatin Road Fire Hall Engine No. 18 — next to and owned by Walmart — was finally getting a new owner. The ownership swap was a long and complicated slog: The North Edgefield Organized Neighbors organization was slated to turn the fire hall into an arts center, but a significantly damaging fire to the building led to court rulings that put the hall back in Walmart’s wallet, and on and on. For years, the specter of demolition seemed to hang over the place. In June, however, we learned that commercial and residential interior design company Karen Goodlow Designs would be taking over the Art Deco-style 1938 structure, with plans to renovate, restore, and reimagine it. “The main engine bay will be a retail showroom with architectural salvage, fine art, and home decor items,” Goodlow wrote to Facebook followers. “There will be several small offices and art studios for rent. [The front room on the right] may possibly be shared office space in the day and art class space at night. There is also a basement space that is perfect for a ceramics studio or a craftsperson.” Interior designer Goodlow and her team — which also includes architect Karina

Young and Lisa De Araujo Jorge of A&M Builders — were uncovering long-covered windows and doors and prepping for the big job as The East Nashvillian was going to press. “We can’t wait to get started,” Goodlow wrote. “The future of this building will be glorious!” In more historic-building-with-new-ownership news, 8 Lavender Lane Catering & Events, in charge of managing Riverwood Mansion at 1833 Welcome Lane in Inglewood since last July, has officially taken over the historic manse and event space. “I have a long history with Riverwood Mansion,” said 8LL executive chef Debbie Sutton, who now helms the Mansion alongside partners Steve Shelton and Matt Wilson. “Purchasing the home is the realization of a dream I have held since I first walked in the door and fell in love with the place 15 years ago.” The new owners plan to continue the come-on-in vibes that were introduced with 8 Lavender Lane’s management. “You can feel the uniqueness and energy of the home when you drive [through] the front gate,” Wilson said. “We strive to offer that experience to many more Nashvillians while producing events that offer this highest realm of creativity, design, and attention to detail.” And a not-so-historic space with a new captain: The folks from local coffee success story Frothy Monkey recently acquired East Nashville’s Bella Bakery at 1010 Fatherland St., renaming it BAKERY by Frothy Monkey. Owner Ryan Pruitt said that the Bella buy was meant to help Frothy Monkey expand its baking capabilities and serve all locations (including 12South and Franklin) better, as they’d outgrown their downtown Nashville location as a baking HQ.

What with Pruitt being a longtime resident of the East Side, the addition here isn’t super surprising — and apparently was a long time coming. “We love East Nashville … but Frothy has not had the opportunity to be a part of the neighborhood until now,” a statement from the company said, announcing the acquisition. “Although the bakery is not a traditional Frothy Monkey location, we look forward to bringing our baked goods and coffee to the East Side.” Another well-received upcoming neighborhood business addition: Defunct Books owner Greg Delzer is getting ready to open a Nashville version of his shop at 118 South 11th St. in East Nashville, with hopes of having the doors swing open in August, to time with the Tomato Art Festival. His Defunct Books story traces back to Spokane, Wash., in the early aughts (the store was then called Inland Bookstore), with moves to Iowa City and now Music City. Delzer told us he’d always wanted to live in Nashville, “and now seems like the perfect time.” Another expected new face: Eater Nashville reported in May that the owners of 312 Pizza Company in Germantown had eyes on expanding to East Nashville, opening a breakfast-focused restaurant called Maple and Eggs at 941 West Eastland, next to Holland House. Co-owner Staci Bockman told Eater that hopes were for a fall opening, with a menu of “traditional breakfast” and lunch, plus a bar program that includes a mix of breakfast-y cocktails, open seven days a week. Pop-up foodery POP’s steady provider Otaku RAMEN picked up a permanent place at 1104 Division St. in the Gulch, so East Nashvillians got a new face in that space: Little Octopus, the new concept from POP’s Sarah and Brad Gavigan, launched on Galla-

July | August 2015

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

tin Avenue June 9. (Hence the giant octopus mural you can’t miss if you drive by.) POP’s Daniel Herget leads the Little Octopus kitchen, preparing a menu that celebrates “vibrant, clean, and fresh food that people can feel good about eating every day, incorporating seasonal and organic ingredients whenever possible.” Menu items so far have included light dishes like green papaya salad and globally inspired fare like roasted plantains with Cotija cheese. Little Octopus is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., at 604 Gallatin Ave., #202. East Side fashion fanatics got another new place to shop in early June, as new boutique Upper Eastside Nashville opened at 937 Woodland, stocking women’s and men’s clothes (both vintage and new) and accessories, along with housewares and more. The new shop is also home to owner Deborah Huitt’s line of custom bags, DhHeritage — she’s creating and selling pieces there, including leather totes and clutches. Upper Eastside Nashville is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Business news of a more bittersweet nature: We’ve mentioned this in the past, but now it’s official — craft beer purveyor Fat Bottom Brewing is headed out of East Nashville and is due to set up shop in The Nations. Founder Ben Bredesen announced in early June that the company was taking over a space at 800 44th Ave. North in that bustling neighborhood, and that a need for elbow room was the impetus behind the move. “Since the brewery opened … we have grown steadily at a pace beyond my expectations, and we are now at maximum capacity in our current location,” Bredesen said. “This move will allow the business to continue growing.”

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

At 16,000 square feet, the new Fat Bottom home allows space for a mix of on-the-horizon changes, including an expanded kitchen and a menu to go with it, full bar and dedicated event space, plus the addition of a sour and barrel-aged beer program. (The latter requires separate brew housing, since there’s a high risk of cross-contamination.) Bredesen and Co. are hoping to have The Nations location open and serving in January 2016. The East Nashville location on Main Street opened in 2012, helping to kick off considerable growth at the former Fluffo Mattress hub, which now includes Edley’s Bar-B-Que, Hot Yoga of East Nashville, and many other businesses. Also exiting the East Side: Local film lab Film Box moved out of 118 South 11th St. and headed to 90 Oceanside Dr., in the Wedgewood-Houston area. (We profiled The Film Box in our May-June 2013 issue.) Shoppes on Fatherland furniture/home goods shop Nest 615 is growing and, thus, moving, but staying in the neighborhood. Owner Ginger Lee dropped news in late May that she’d be taking the shop from 1006 Fatherland over to 1110 Gallatin Ave., just ’round the way. At press time, she was still working on rehabbing the new space (and crowdfunding to cover the apparently extensive needs there); we’ll update here and via social media (Facebook.com/TheEastNashvillian and @ eastnashvillian on the tweets) when we hear a grand reopening date. Also on the move: Gizmos Vapor Shoppe, which opened last summer at 1009 Gallatin Ave. near The Dog Spot, is planning to shuffle over to 922 Main St. in July. Plans were to keep the Gallatin Avenue location open until the new one takes over. By the time this issue hits the stands, the new West side outpost from pet haven Wags and Whiskers should have its doors open — they were putting finishing touches on at 3731 Charlotte Ave. as we were going to press.

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This makes three locations now for Wags, including its 12South retail shop at 2222 12th Ave. S., and the flagship East Nashville store at 1008 Forrest Ave., serving East Nashvillians and their furry friends since May 2004. Another beloved East Nashville business branching out: It’s been talked about for a good while, but we now have (literal and figurative) concreteness — Barista Parlor will be opening its latest location in Germantown at 1230 4th Ave. N., near well-loved eatery City House. They’re shooting for a fall opening. We were expecting to report in this issue that the new neighboring locations for Pepperfire Hot Chicken and Nomzilla! Sushi Et Cetera, at 1000 Gallatin Ave., were open — there were June 15 grand opening plans announced in late May. But, as is often the case with the complex process of getting a business’ doors open, that opening was pushed back. The space for Nomzilla! was coming together at press time, and Pepperfire had a slick-lookin’ new sign up already, but a new grand opening date hadn’t been announced yet. As always, stay tuned to Facebook.com/ TheEastNashvillian for the latest. Neighborhood eatery Italia Pizza & Pasta celebrated its 10th year at 1600 Woodland in May, and the anniversary came with news of a building and menu remodel in the works. Owner Salem Elkhatib told us that to celebrate, he was adding meatless meat and gluten-free pasta to the menu, along with dressing up Italia’s interior and extending the space, adding a patio and outdoor seating. Elkhatib also took pride in the fact that he’d be upgrading Italia himself. “Just like my own sauce and dough recipes, it’s all my creation,” he said. Hound Dog Commons, the community space built inside a restored 1940s car garage in Highland Heights, opened its doors to members in June. The dog-friendly space includes a workshop, green space, and more. The Commons is located at 1301 Meridian, and more info — including membership options — can be found at HoundDogCommons.com. Entertainment complex/driving range Topgolf is expected to break ground on a 65,000-square-foot, three-level Nashville space this summer on Cowan Street, just on our side of the river. Approval to build came through in May. Also in May, word bubbled up that the properties at 969, 975, and 974 Main St., long home to Hunters Custom Automotive, had gone up for sale for a total of $6.5 million. At press time, the listing with Urban Grout Commercial Real Estate was still up as active. Also up for grabs recently: The Solo East condominium development at Litton Avenue

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

and Gallatin Pike put units up for presale in late June, hosting an event at LP Field to introduce its “high-end living, gated community” and its 130 one- and two-bedroom units. At the June 24 sales event, one-bedroom units were starting at $149,900, two bedrooms at $189,900. For more on the development, visit soloeastnashville.com. —Nicole Keiper

A Pickin’ Party Takes Flight

THERE WAS ONCE A TIME WHEN preservation was just about salvaging an old building, but the days of an isolated rescue are long gone. Now preservation is about preserving communities and the values they embody; values such as honor, ingenuity and stewardship. These are the tenets that pave the runway of historic Cornelia Fort Airpark and light the streets of neighboring East Nashville homes. Established in 1944 in memoriam to Nashville debutant and World War II pilot Cornelia Clark Fort, the landmark celebrates a pivotal figure in American history. Recognized as the first pilot to encounter the Japanese air fleet during the attack on Pearl Harbor and second member of the Woman’s Air force Service Pilots, Fort devoted her life to the valiant protection of her country. In March of 1943, Fort perished while courageously serving the United States, titling her the first woman in American history to die on active duty. Operated as a private airpark Cornelia Fort Airpark, rumbled with the vibration of over 30,000 aircraft operations per year. When the floods of 2010 devastated Nashville, Cornelia Fort airpark was among the carnage. Overwhelmed by the loss and duty of rehabilitation, possession shifted to Nashville Metro Parks. Once acquired by the city, the sprawling 140 acres of land was hinged to Shelby Park/Shelby Bottoms producing a spectacular and expansive greenway boasting 1,300 acres. However, even under supportive new ownership the damage from the flood accrued a profound and unexpected cost. A once vivacious airpark, buzzing with possibility and adventure, has become miserably quiet. Robust and innovative hangars once sheltering the wings of exploration are now vacant and idle, while great buildings that welcomed weary travelers are now shuttered and dark. Fortunately the spirit of Cornelia Fort, and the values of allegiance, integrity and service upon which the airpark was built are still active in nearby communities. Todd Jarrell, the producer of Bluegrass Underground and a resident of the nearby Rosebank neighborhood, notes, “This is a special place.

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Those buildings do not belong in a landfill. This is a place where things were meant to take flight.” Jarrell, along with his wife, Brooke Scurlock, who is the current president of Friends of Shelby Park, has joined with Nashville Metro Parks to honor Cornelia Fort’s legacy and aid in the preservation of the Airpark. Friends of Shelby Park is a well-respected private nonprofit with the mission to “protect the natural and historical integrity of the area by supporting appropriate recreational activities, maintaining and enhancing its features, promoting programs that inspire appreciation and conservation of Park and Bottoms.”

On Saturday, July 25, under the cover of a warm summer night, Cornelia Fort Airpark will host its inaugural Pickin’ Party. “We wanted to host an event that would bring the community together and allow all ages to enjoy the space,” says Jarrell. “Cornelia Fort airpark is rich with potential, and it is an important part of East Nashville’s heritage.” He goes on to say, “The possibilities here are truly endless; the buildings, the hangars, and the magnificent greenways. It is an oasis amidst a metropolis, and it deserves to be celebrated.” Admission to the venue is $10 and includes one local craft beer from Yazoo Brewery. Food vendors will include local favorites Edley’s BBQ, Hoss’ Loaded Burgers, Lockeland Table, The Post East, and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. Jarrell states, “All money made there stays there. All proceeds will go to the preservation and rehabilitation of this extraordinary site.” In addition to libations the event will host a bevy of vendors and food trucks. Returning an energetic hum to the airpark, music will be performed by local bluegrass bands along with an exciting DIY component welcoming patrons of

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

all abilities to bring their own instruments and join the entertainment. The Pickin’ Party will be the first in a series of events aimed at raising awareness and funds to provide proper rehabilitation for the airpark’s existing structures, with the hope that through their preservation the structures can be repurposed a wide variety of events and activities. Scurlock sums up the event this way: “The Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party is absolutely a family-friendly occasion. The party will be well lit, safe, and a great way to meet people and unify the community.”

—Allison Avalon

This Ain’t No Suburban ‘Shed’

THE SKYLINE OF NASHVILLE IS NEARLY half buildings and half cranes this summer. Driving over the Veterans bridge into the chaos of downtown is like driving into a different city, a city that seems to morph into a different version of itself every few weeks. For a longtime East Nashvillian like myself, we tend to pride ourselves on staying on our side of the river as much as possible. But for us musicians, most of the music venues in town are across the river, and we venture often into the “other” Nashville. My first show in town was opening for fellow Memphis singer/songwriter Cory Branan in 2004 at The Sutler, a few years before I moved to town. Since then I have played

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probably a dozen rooms in town: The Basement, 3rd and Lindsley, Mercy Lounge, The Rutledge, TPAC, Cannery Ballroom, Exit/In, The Ryman, and others. Ten years ago, like most touring acts, I feared when the tour came home to Nashville for a night. It always felt as if the crowd acted more like American Idol judges than fans — arms crossed, critiquing my songs, pitch, and stage presence. That reality and reputation have long

since faded away. Now, the rooms are full of earnest music-loving immigrants from California to Florida and everywhere in between, many of whom have either been on those stages themselves or hope to be. There are lots of voices in town with opposing opinions about the rapid growth this city is experiencing, but this change in the live music scene has been nothing but great. This summer marks the opening of the new

Ascend Amphitheater, which, in my humble opinion, is an incredible addition to the city, giving bands who are too big for the Ryman, but don’t want the arena confines of the Bridgestone, a home in Music City. I am opening for my good (and severely underrated) friends Needtobreathe on Aug 14 at the Ascend. We’ve played amphitheaters across the country all summer. Most of them are in unimaginative suburban landscapes, nowhere near the beating heart of the city they inhabit. But Nashville got this right. As our city grows, a lot of the powers that be are making cultural investments a significant part of the growth. As much as I am excited to play the new Amphitheater, I think I’m more excited as a fan to go see a show there. The lineup right now leans heavily towards veterans, but I am pretty thrilled imagining the prospect of riding a bike across the bridge later this summer, and hopefully dancing my ass off under the evening sun to Earth Wind and Fire playing “Let’s Groove.”

—Drew Holcolmb

Good Wood for Green Room

UPON PURCHASING A 102-YEAR-OLD Victorian home in East Nashville, Dave Puncochar encountered a rather difficult task. While restoring the home’s magnificent floors he discovered they were made of old growth poplar, a beautiful and rare wood. It was the noble quest to match and repair these floors that led to the conception of Good Wood Nashville. Since opening their doors in 2012, Good Wood Nashville has been contracted to craft walls, floors, and custom furniture for several exciting residential and commercial projects. Currently, Good Wood Nashville is constructing the Green Room for Ascend Amphitheatre. “We are using an extremely unique kennel-dried, tongue-and-groove wood from old barns in Middle Tennessee,” says Puncochar. “The reclaimed wood makes a potentially cold, concrete, and steel room organically warm and welcoming.” Although the majority of Puncochar’s artistry will be enjoyed solely by Ascend Amphitheater’s distinguished lineup, there will be elements of Good Wood Nashville’s organic flair in furniture and accent pieces throughout the public dining area. Puncochar remarks, “I am honored to be a part of this project. The amphitheater is truly tremendous.”

—Allison Avalon

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for ticket giveaways to shows throughout the inaugural season of Ascend Amphitheater. 26

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Astute OBSERVATIONS James “Hags” Haggerty

Salads, cartoons, and rock & roll “Later in the evening, As you lie awake in bed, With the echoes from the amplifiers Ringin’ in your head, You smoke the day’s last cigarette, Remembering what she said, Here I am, on a road again … There I go, turn the page.” — Bob Seger, “Turn the Page” (1973)

es, indeed, East Nashville, I am on the road and writing to you from a hotel room in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., just outside of Detroit. In a few hours, I’ll be onstage at The Magic Bag with my old pal Josh Rouse, formerly of Nashville, currently of Spain, along with fellow East Nashvillian and my musical brother of the last 25 years, Marc Pisapia, on drums and the fine Spanish musician Xema Fuertes on la guitarra. We’ve been soft rocking our way on a month-long tour from — to paraphrase Steve Miller — “Phoenix, Ariz., all the way to Tacoma, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and L.A.” Tomorrow, we will be headed to Toronto and on down the East Coast before heading south and home to Nashville. We’ve followed the Steve Miller route down through the Badlands, seeing a big ole chunk of the USA — and let me tell you, Boston and Bachman Turner Overdrive are on the radio all day long in every state of the union. Cheers, fellas. Also, Marc came up with a great slogan for modern country radio, “Today’s country is yesterday’s rock!” Or “Def Leppard with Steel.” CRS, you’re welcome. I last toured with Josh in 2009. Since then, I’ve been at home, making my living in the studio, with live gigs peppered in. The last time we were at The Magic Bag was about 12 years ago. That show was fueled by Jameson Irish Whiskey, courtesy of the audience who sent shot after shot to the stage. Tonight will be fueled by a Cobb salad, maybe a Miller Light or two after the show, and some late-night Cartoon Network. The road is different at 40 than it was at 30. I like today’s version better. So does my liver. What remains the same is the thrill and satisfac-

tion of playing for an audience. Making music in the moment with your friends, guys you’ve played with for years. Those shared experiences, seeing the world through music, maybe that’s what creates chemistry — I don’t know. Musical chemistry is fickle and mysterious, but I am lucky enough to share it with these guys, and it is a beautiful thing. That’s what I’m being reminded of on this tour. Playing the songs each night, getting deeper and deeper into the grooves, the nuances — that is the magic. Back home, I play on records for people, or I overdub a bass part and send it through cyberspace to someone somewhere at an email address, and that’s it. The artist goes out on the road and sells their record (hopefully), and it’s on to the next project. But when I awoke this morning and began to write, I found myself thinking about Detroit and nearby Ann Arbor. I was thinking about Motown and my bass hero, James Jamerson. I was thinking about MC5, The Stooges, and The White Stripes — all that great music that came out of here and continues to. And that’s when what I really wanted to share with you hit me. My astute observation is simply this: I love music. I love recording, playing live, listening, studying, learning, and enjoying it. It’s what makes me feel normal. It is how I communicate best. It is my art, and it is the art of Nashville. East Nashville, we have an incredibly vibrant, creative scene in our community. I am truly grateful for the inspiration and the opportunities you provide. And I’m looking forward to getting home and firing up a batch of welcome home marinara. See you around the neighborhood!

Hags is a part-time bon vivant, man-about-town, and contributor to The East Nashvillian. His full-time gig is anchoring the low-end as a bass player. Summers can be slow for full-time bass players, so any cash donations made to the Hags Foundation will be accepted with gratitude. No checks, please.

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July | August 2015

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simple PLEASURES By Sarah Hays Coomer

Booth people

have a confession to make: I possess a crippling phobia of artisans at craft fairs, farmers at farmers markets, and owners of small shops. I have come to affectionately refer to them as “booth people.” Essentially, I am afraid of being in small, enclosed spaces with anyone who wants to sell me something. Unfortunately, this fear seems to crop up regardless of how much I may or may not want to purchase their wares. I’ve felt this way for as long as I can remember, but I think it probably began when I was living in New York City in my early 20s, frequenting street fairs with no intention of buying anything at all. I was flat broke, browsing among displays of pottery, artwork, and tables piled high with hot-pink, leopard-print granny panties. Whether dodging verbal attacks from aggressive vendors or being disheartened by my inability to support truly exquisite artists, every encounter was a source of stress. So I was beyond dismayed when my 3-year-old son recently dragged me through the door of Meg and Bret MacFadyen’s Art and Invention Gallery on Woodland Street. “Can we go in there? Can we?” My heart pounded with dread. This was a recipe for disaster. I didn’t have my wallet with me, so even if I wanted to buy something, I couldn’t. We stepped inside and I was relieved to find a solid contingent of five or six people browsing casually. Meg was deep in conversation with one of them. I sized her up. She was sinister in her overalls and red T-shirt. We steered clear, making our way around the perimeter of the store, which I am ashamed to admit I had only visited one time in the nine years I’ve lived just blocks away. As my son honed in on a handknit teddy bear, I attempted to avoid a pair of earrings that embodied everything I adore about twisted metal. I don’t fall in love with clothing or jewelry very often, but there was no denying those earrings. If I didn’t buy them, I would be thinking about them for the next six months. The pull was too great. I was going to have to speak to the overalls lady.

I ventured an overly casual comment, nosing in on her conversation about gardening, of which I know nothing. My anxiety was approaching a fever pitch when my son chimed in, wanting to know if she had any “real” animals in the shop that he could hold. Unphased, Meg got down on his level with stories of kitty rescues and free candy. She had no agenda. I don’t think she really cared whether we were planning to buy anything or not. She was just there, welcoming the community into her second home, one of many local artists and small business owners who make up the heart and soul of this neighborhood. I’m the idiot who has been going to the mall for the past nine years, bemoaning the fact that everything seems to be made of either plastic or polyester. I shop on Etsy but am always unsure what will arrive by mail. Meanwhile, in an alternate universe just steps from my house, an artisan mecca was waiting for me all along, a paradise populated with every gift I could ever hope to give. Did I mention I’m an idiot? We came back the next day for the bear and earrings, and I managed to make small talk without my blood pressure going sky high. My eyes have been opened, and there’s no turning back from here. I’ve always known there are hundreds of adorable, small shops scattered throughout East Nashville, but I convinced myself I wasn’t missing much by avoiding them. I couldn’t have been more wrong. They’re doing fine with or without my 50 bucks – and with good reason. The stuff they’re selling is exquisite. I’m the one who was losing out by not supporting them. I have resolved to crush my phobia with immersion therapy, one shop at a time. East Side Story is next on my list, and maybe someday, if things get wacky, I’ll make it more than four inches through the door at Any Old Iron. I may need reinforcements for that one, though. It’s way over on Shelby Street with less reliable foot traffic. I’ll have to bring the 3-year-old along for cover, in case the situation demands a hasty exit.

Sarah Hays Coomer is a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach, and prenatal fitness instructor. She kinda likes to exercise, kinda not, and loves all things sugared, salted, fried, or dipped in dark chocolate. She runs a free wellness group in East Nashville for anyone looking to raise a glass to good health, and her book on wellness will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2016. You can find her at www.strengthoutsidein.com or on twitter @strengthoutside.

July | August 2015

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Artist in Profile

Stacie Huckeba East Nashville photographer finds herself on a new stage BY TOMMY WOMACK

“E

verything is so new right now!” Stacie Huckeba says, settling in at Bongo East on a warm June morning. A bright, brassy lady with auburn hair, fun glasses, and a ready smile, she nurses her coffee and muses on her career as a photographer and filmmaker, her blogging success and nascent public speaking career that’s come out of nowhere, and what it’s like to be half the person she used to be, at least by how the bathroom scale measures things. • PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAUREN HANSON

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Artist in Profile She’s bobbing in the waves of a massive sea change. For 10 years, she’d been a successful photographer and filmmaker in East Nashville, and that’s all she’d wanted to be. Then one of her blog posts went viral, and she wound up being offered a job writing for The Huffington Post — not taking photos, writing, a whole ’nother line of work. From that have come offers from the TED world to tell her story. And on top of all that, she finds herself physically redefined; no longer 350 pounds of heavenly joy, she’s discovering how everything changes when you lose 170 pounds. Huckeba moved to Nashville to pursue her photography and is now a veteran of shoots for everyone from Motley Crue to Tom T. Hall. She has shot Billy Joel, Don Was, Rod Picott, the Wild Ponies, and Sarah Potenza, as well as having had a long professional relationship with Todd Snider, shooting his “Unbreakable”

out of them, some facet they don’t just walk around and show to the public. A shoot unfolds like a relationship. In the beginning everyone is nervous, but as it progresses a level of trust develops and in the end, for at least one frame, you find a soul mate.” For years, Huckeba had blogged on her own WordPress page. In one entry, she came close to nailing East Nashville artistry in a short paragraph: “Awesome people don’t walk around trying to pretend that they or that anything is ever going to be perfect. Awesome people walk around with their scars hanging out right in the open. They will show them to you and talk to you about them if you ask. And they desperately want to know about yours, too. Awesome people understand that part of true beauty comes from those parts of us that are the ugliest, darkest, and most flawed.” She blogged about anything and everything, but a thread of existentialism ran through most of it

“

‘My God! It’s the same thing here!’ And then the political aspect seemed to touch people, because I wrote ‘You all have to tell me how you get the government to make it where you’re the only ones who have access to high quality stuff, because if I can just shut down all the other photographers in town, I’m in business!’” With that one blog, Huckeba went from speaking for herself to speaking for millions. Editors at The Huffington Post took notice of her sharp, no-bullshit writing style and came calling, and before she knew what was happening, she found herself blogging for them with carte blanche to write about anything and everything. “I didn’t expect the blog to happen in the way that it did, and I didn’t expect it to reach people in the way that it has,” she says. “The weird thing for me is transitioning from that place behind the scenes, behind the camera, to this thing where people are paying attention to

I try to always look at scenes and scan them for the things that others wouldn’t notice. music video and his The Storyteller Live performance video. He calls her the real thing — artistic, professional, and a great hang, too. Elizabeth Cook thinks she’s artistic, focused, and funny as hell. She counts Sony, Gold Mountain, and the Americana Music Association among her clients. She produces video memoirs of rock legends for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (for which she spent a riotous afternoon with Grace Slick), and is currently partnered with Richie Owens on a long-form documentary on his kin, the Partons, and their titular matriarch, Dolly. Huckeba photographs people. Not sunsets. Not bowls of fruit. People. More specifically, musician- and singer-type people. It’s her favorite thing in the world to do. She captures people in live performance at full throttle, and in her photo studio she coaches them, cajoles them, and seeks to unlock that inner self that ordinarily dances off one’s face for the world to see, but disappears precisely when a camera enters the equation. “When I shoot, I’m digging around inside of people,” she says.“I really work hard to get to that real place with people, to pull something

— who we are, who we posture ourselves to be, who we are to others. Then one day, filled with the fury reserved for self-centered leviathans, she penned an open letter to Comcast, and existentialism had nothing to do with it. Wickedly funny, sharp and damning, it was a love letter brimming with facetious admiration for Comcast’s flawlessly duplicitous, crap customer service, their downright dishonesty, and the apathy birthed of their own monopoly. She begs for tutelage on how she herself might harness the havoc wrought in the souls of those who stand up to be counted, only no one cares to do the counting. In one purgative screed, she blew up the Death Star. The post got over 100,000 hits, and then a million, then two million. It was the righteous wrath of two million people slapping their foreheads and saying, “You go girl! Preach it!” “It wasn’t just about Comcast,” she says of the response she got. “It resonated with people on a lot of different levels. On a customer service level, it resonated with all cable subscribers. It didn’t have to be Comcast, it could be Time Warner or Cox cable. People were like,

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

me. And that’s where I get a little bit awkward right now.” The observer is now being observed. The adjustment is complicated and ongoing. For this article she had her first photo shoot in which she was in front of the lens as opposed to in her comfort zone behind it. It was agonizing to allow another photographer to dig for the very stuff in her that she seeks to reveal in her own subjects. “The idea of doing that with someone I don’t really know, another photographer, was almost paralyzing to me,” she confesses. Indeed, she wound up micromanaging her own photo shoot to the extent that it fell apart, and Stacie’s assistant wound up doing the final shoot. “I’m happy for her,” she says, “I’m sure the pictures are going to be beautiful, but there’s a part of me that says I should have just sucked it up and let the photographer take my picture. Eventually, I’m going to have to do that if this keeps going. Somebody else is going to have to take my picture, and I’m going to have to trust that process.” Her wariness has as much, or more, to do with her dramatic weight-loss as it does with feeling the heat of the klieg lights. She

•

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“ Artist in Profile

Our flaws make us beautiful. freely admits that she doesn’t quite know who she is right now. Her weight had long shaped how she saw the world because it informed how the world perceived her. She long ago took note of how no one helped her if she dropped something in the grocery aisle, or how it was harder for a fat person to get waited on. “If you’re heavy, you won’t be bothered because nobody wants to have anything to do with you. So it’s a safe place to be. You can’t get hurt. People don’t just walk up to somebody who’s 350 pounds in a bar and start a conversation.” She is painfully aware now that people are looking at her differently. And it doesn’t feel great like the Jenny Craig commercials might imply it should; perhaps because the weight loss was not borne of years of counting calories and visualizing herself lithe and winsome. “I wanted to be a better human being,” she

remembers. “A better friend, partner, lover, photographer, artist, writer, and person. I started walking the dogs because I wanted to be a better dog mom to Earl and Peanut. The pounds just naturally followed. If that makes any sense at all.” It’s changed how she behaves on photo shoots, too. “I feel like I’m having to relearn or modify my behavior,” she says. “When you’re that large, you’re clumsy because the world is made for small people. You naturally bumble and bump into things. And people don’t like to say it, but it’s true — when you’re that big, there’s just something sort of shocking about it, so you learn to maneuver a certain way. You use a lot of humor, and make jokes about your clumsiness. We like our fat people either really funny or really talented — you’ve gotta be either John Moreland or John Candy. That’s

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

how we like our fat people. And for me, it was easier to be funny to break down some of that discomfort with my appearance.” But that doesn’t work now, she says. Something has changed, and she’s still so in the thick of it that her perception of the change is still blurry. “Now when I’m doing shoots, being so much thinner, my humor can come off as hyper or off-putting somehow, for some reason, because I come in a different physical form now. It’s something I’m very much still struggling with.” The impetus driving her towards public speaking was a particularly polarizing blog entry on The Huffington Post this past January. The article, “Real Women Have Back Fat,” is in itself innocuous enough, focusing on the time-honored notion that men are not the CO N T I N U ED ON PAGE 117

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KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION

For the Record District 5

District 7

District 6

East Nashville’s candidates for Metro Council share their positions on the most important issues

ou’ve seen the yard signs, watched all the advertisements. You’ve heard the pithy, one-sentence campaign slogans. You’ve been told over and over again that your vote matters more than ever. This election is not only about 2015, but also about the future of Nashville, a sleepy Midsouth Gotham on the rise.

What you’re not hearing — at least with any sort of depth — is how the many candidates for office feel about the big-picture issues facing our city. With election day rapidly approaching (Aug. 6, to be exact), you’ll be seeing a whole lot more signs, radio and TV ads, and last-second, direct-mail blitzes in the days to come. Many of these will concern the highly contested mayoral race. While certainly of great importance, what is often overlooked are the many Metro Council races, the races which hit us closest to home in our very own neighborhoods. To that end, The East Nashvillian asked the candidates competing in the three East Side council districts (Districts 5, 6, and 7) to share their positions on issues that concern us all. Six candidates responded to our questions: In the District 5 race, incumbent Scott Davis and challenger Sarah Martin; in the District 6 contest, incumbent Peter Westerholm and challenger Brett Withers; and in the District 7 competition, incumbent Anthony Davis and challenger Stephen Clements. At press time, Pamela Murray (District 5) and Randy Reed (District 7) had not replied to The East Nashvillian’s queries.

By Timothy C. Davis July | August 2015

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION Here are the questions we asked the candidates and their responses:

TRAFFIC: By some estimates, close to a thousand people are moving here weekly. As the East Side is justifiably loved for its neighborhoods, how do we keep our major thoroughfares (Gallatin, Douglas, Trinity, and Eastland, to name but a few) flowing and/or prepared for more cars, and what can be done to avoid congestion and parking problems on our side/neighborhood streets? District 5

Scott Davis: I meet with our city’s traffic and parking engineers quarterly to evaluate and address parking concerns, and request that they attend neighborhood meetings and hold phone conferences with residents. Community input along with expert knowledge allows us to solve current problems and address future concerns. We have added four-way stops, new turning lanes, crosswalks, and other traffic-calming and -flowing improvements to side streets and major thoroughfares and helped eliminate demand for parking on side streets. Sarah Martin: Various people constantly repeat this buzz line: “One million people are moving to Nashville.” Let me be clear: these numbers, estimated by the Metro Planning Organization, actually speak to the growth of the 10-county Cumberland Region. The projection for Nashville is just under 100,000. Do we need to add some density to accommodate new residents? Yes. However, I don’t subscribe to the idea that density must disrupt the rhythm and flow of our historic neighborhoods. Major corridors are much more suitable for density, and as they become denser, we must

ensure neighborhood infrastructure keeps pace — that’s something that hasn’t happened under the current administration. We are also decades behind in public transit, and with one million people coming to Middle Tennessee, efficient regional mass-transit will become even more necessary. I think, in hindsight, we learned a few things from the Amp. Specifically, the public cares about a transparent planning process that involves their input.

District 6 Peter Westerholm: All of Nashville is growing, and East Nashville is certainly one of the most desirable parts of town (for good reason). This trend will continue. Without the ability to expand our roads, we must find ways to move more people along the roads more efficiently. We must present convenient mobility options and the infrastructure, technology, and service levels to make them succeed. In my first term, I’ve been the council’s leading advocate for mass transit, sidewalks and bike lanes (over six miles added in District 6), bike sharing (three B-cycle stations added in our district), car sharing, and other bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, such as enhanced crosswalks. I’ve made seven intersections safer for everyone by making them all-way stops, and initiated a number of traffic studies for areas seeing higher traffic volumes. A street that’s safe for walkers is safer for cars, too. East Nashville is an urban neighborhood, and there will be more users on our roads in the years to come. My goal is to make these areas safe for everyone, but my priority starts with the joggers, the strollers, and families riding bikes together. Studies conclude that a walkable neighborhood has higher property values, better health, and lower crime. That’s why I worked with other

councilmembers to bring $25 million in new money for sidewalks in this year’s capital budget; I’ll work to make more investments like this, as well as work to get funding for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure included in any discussion about a dedicated funding source for mass transit. Brett Withers: East Nashville is attracting unprecedented growth. I favor shaping that growth in ways that preserve the character that has drawn people to our neighborhoods in the first place. Some recent project approvals have been justified by a drive to increase density without ensuring that infrastructure improvements have kept pace with that growth. This unrealistic planning is the opposite of “smart growth” and has directly contributed to traffic jams along our interior neighborhood corridors. It has created an environment that actually undermines pedestrian and bicycle safety and our quality of life. Gallatin has the infrastructure to handle density and the traffic that results from it: at least four lanes, sidewalks, plentiful bus service, and traffic signals. Other neighborhood streets, notably Eastland, may be “collector streets,” but have much less infrastructure assets and should not continue to be treated like Gallatin for zone change approvals.

District 7 Anthony Davis: We certainly have to keep up with infrastructure needs here in East Nashville. The major and collector streets are built well and fit for growth, and I think Metro is doing as best it can with paving. Sidewalks, we are way behind on, especially from the bad economy years. This year’s capital fund has $25 million for sidewalks, but that is countywide and only a drop in the

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KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION bucket. With congestion and parking problems, we have to grow sensibly. If we all decide to change zoning and allow for density, it has to make sense and be well-thought. With most density allowances, though, you have to be able to park it. But with future growth, we will have more on-street parking issues, and to me, the issue is continuing to become more walkable. I think our major streets are fine and ready for growth. Let’s keep the growth on those streets and more minimally as you dive deeper into a neighborhood. Stephen Clements: Two things: make using the buses actually a realistic option for more people, and do a better job of planning how we grow. First, some people got ahead of themselves in the push for mass transit and overlooked one important thing: how do you expect people to get from their house to the bus? Are we supposed to walk in the road? Dodging cars is not fun, so we should start installing the sidewalks the mayor and council have not given us for the past 50 years, which will make the East Side more pedestrian friendly and remove the first obstacle people have when deciding to take the bus or not. For a relatively small amount of money, we can increase the number of buses and crosstown routes to make using the bus a reliable option for more people. Second, our neighborhoods and infrastructure are already established: we do not have room to expand our roads to accommodate a dramatic increase in drivers. We welcome new neighbors, but have to keep new development in line with the infrastructure capacity we have.

CRIME: Where are we? What have we been doing right? What can we be doing better?

District 5

District 6

Scott Davis: Crime has decreased 10 percent in District 5 every year during my tenure — this despite my district having the largest number of people returning from prison regularly. The East Precinct has improved its response time; officers regularly attend community meetings and continue to assist our most vulnerable citizens with crime prevention measures. Jobs also help to reduce crime. My neighbors and I have recruited several businesses to District 5: Restaurant Depot, Emmitt Technology, Grayline tours, and TopGolf, which will add 450 positions and has agreed to target District 5 residents to fill these positions. These businesses have agreed to open employment opportunities to our citizens returning from correctional facilities. I voted for the Ban the Box initiative when the measure came before the city council last year, because I believe that our fellow citizens deserve a second chance.

Peter Westerholm: Crime has been on a steady decline in East Nashville during my first term as councilman. One of the biggest reasons for this improvement has been the communication and trust that’s been established between the East Precinct and the community. At every neighborhood meeting, a police officer is present to provide a crime report, offer safety tips, and answer questions. In addition to relationship building, I will work with the next administration to improve the lighting on our streets and sidewalks. Many cities are taking advantage of improvements in LED technology, and the cost savings are growing steadily as well. This is an opportunity to save the city money while making our streets safer for everyone.

Sarah Martin: It is true that crime rates are trending downward across the county, so it’s easy to forget we still have a long way to go. One long-term resident called some of our high-crime trouble spots “black eyes” and asked that I not forget that several still exist in our community. We are very fortunate to have a great partnership with East Police Precinct. Our community affairs officer is extraordinarily communicative with our neighborhoods and is quick to address concerns in an effective way. Our community is currently in the process of organizing a neighborhood watch, of which I will be a part, regardless of whether or not I am elected on Aug. 6.

Brett Withers: Crime disproportionately affects the poor and most vulnerable, who have fewer resources to recover from a theft or to remove themselves from unsafe environments or unhealthy relationships. Strong communication and partnership with the East Precinct has made our community safer. After experiencing break-ins myself, I helped coordinate East Nashville Night Out Against Crime events and included nonprofit and faith-based organizations in order to match neighbors with volunteer opportunities that heal our community. Those events complemented Bob Acuff ’s ongoing weekly crime prevention luncheons at Beyond The Edge. But there is still work to do. What I think we can do better is to focus on the root causes of crime by reducing poverty and improving educational outcomes.

July | August 2015

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KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION District 7

District 5

Anthony Davis: Crime continues to decrease every year in East Nashville, and does not appear to be near the issue it once was. East Precinct is incredible to work with; they attend our neighborhood meetings, and they communicate effectively. There is always work to be done, but I am very confident we will only continue to get better and see crime reduction in East Nashville into the future.

Scott Davis: My fellow council members and I put five million dollars into the Barnes Affordable Housing Fund. I work with Rebuilding Together Nashville, local businesses, and builders to fix and maintain the homes of working class and senior citizens. These efforts have helped save over 90 homes in our neighborhoods. I have connected Rebuilding Together Nashville with an additional funding source/ partnership with LIV Development, allowing us to save an additional 10 homes. I passed an inlaw apartment law in Cleveland and McFerrin Park neighborhoods. Metro must expand our property tax relief programs to all citizens making under $40,000 a year and change the current Homestead Laws to provide protection from property assessment increases. These tools along with financial literacy seminars, inclusionary zoning, and increased job opportunities will allow us to address affordable housing.

Stephen Clements: We are better than what we were 10 years ago, but we are nowhere near as safe and burglary-free as we could be. Our Metro Police force has done an excellent job being responsive when called (when I was robbed at gunpoint near 5 Points, they were there within minutes and did everything they could think of to help), but they cannot be everywhere or see everything. That is where we come in: we need more neighborhood watches. I founded the neighborhood watch for my area (Madison Park), and it has been great for educating and empowering our neighbors on what they can do regarding crime, and if they need other kinds of help from Metro. One success story we had came from simply placing Neighborhood Watch signs in mine and a neighbor’s yard: we used to have a drug dealer working our street almost every day, but when he knew we were watching him, he never came back. I am currently assisting our East Precinct community liaison officer to bring that method of telling criminals “we’re watching you” to East Nashville.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

With gentrification being what it is all over East Nashville, what can we do to safeguard existing affordable housing, and what can we do to help create new affordable housing?

Sarah Martin: At the YWCA (my day job), we serve survivors of domestic violence, and I see firsthand that housing can be a huge barrier to safety and self-sufficiency. Quality housing that is affordable is a key to lifting up our most vulnerable individuals and keeping Nashville diverse and inclusive. This is a complicated problem. We have a fair amount of low-income housing in East Nashville, but we’re quickly losing workforce housing — housing that is affordable to those earning the median income, about $46,000. Moving renters into home ownership is one strategy that hasn’t been a huge part of the affordable housing conversation. I’d like to see that addressed through homebuyer incentives and income-based tax abatements for individuals. I would also like to see Metro partner with

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and fund nonprofits that provide free or subsidized home repairs to long-term residents who wish to stay in their homes.

District 6 Peter Westerholm: In my first term, I was proud to sponsor legislation creating the Barnes Fund for Affordable Housing. In addition, I helped place part of the fees from short-term rentals towards the Barnes Fund, and I will continue to find ways to make the fund even stronger. I support tools such as inclusionary zoning and shared equity programs. I’ve worked to expand the areas where accessory dwelling units (alley flats, garage apartments, etc.) are permitted though four conservation overlay expansions, and by allowing these affordable units in other areas. In new developments, I’ve protected the diversity of our community by ensuring that units are available at different price points. For the past three years, I’ve been working with Metro Development and Housing Authority on the Envision Cayce project. This project will ensure the same number of affordable units, and be built in a phased manner to prevent displacement of residents. At this point, approximately 10 percent of the total units will be workforce housing, and 40 percent will be market rate. Mixed-income, mixed-use projects offer a great opportunity to rebuild and reconnect our neighborhood in a meaningful way. This will be a long-term process, and I’m committed to continuing to advocate for this project. If we’re serious about affordable housing, increased density is a necessary part of the solution, but this should be done in a way that respects our neighborhoods’ character. Focusing density along major roads and neighborhood centers allows developments more affordable units and brings higher service levels of mass

KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION transit. Connecting affordable housing to transit is important for young workers, senior citizens, and other riders, saving them more money for other needs. Brett Withers: My work with overlays has been inspired by the need to safeguard existing housing that is relatively affordable. New houses tend to cost more than the ones that they replace. So East Nashvillians have used conservation overlays to guarantee that we keep the housing stock that makes us unique. Because protected historic houses cannot be demolished in most cases, they get renovated instead. I support dedicating more funding to creating new affordable housing. I also believe that Metro’s surplus property sales should be designated for affordable housing in partnership with some of our established nonprofit affordable housing providers. I support Community Benefit Agreements as negotiating tools. Additionally, property tax incentives or relief could help some of our vulnerable neighbors stay in their current homes. More study is needed for inclusionary zoning. Councilmember Fabian Bedne has introduced enabling legislation for inclusionary zoning. If passed, much analysis and negotiation would follow to craft a final ordinance. My experience working with councilmember Walter Hunt and the Planning Department in negotiating with builders to pass the Duplex and Contextual Overlay bills last year will lend itself well toward finding whether a practical, common-sense solution can be reached for inclusionary zoning.

District 7 Anthony Davis: Affordable housing is a conversation going on right now, and I have been working with the current council, MDHA,

planning, and other stakeholders to try and come up with solutions. Currently we have a bill filed that will give us enabling legislation from the state to use bonds for the Barnes Fund, which we created and funded some last year, for affordable housing. We can continue to increase units with MDHA, we can utilize the Barnes Fund to keep people in their homes (“Rebuilding Together”), and we can create new affordable stock with new development through density bonus programs and affordable requirements. Inclusionary zoning policy is currently on the table, and we are working through the details of how this could work for Nashville. Stephen Clements: The cat is out of that bag: more and more people want to live in our neighborhoods, and unless an unrealistic amount of new housing stock appears, the housing we have will continue to increase in price. The ideas coming from the Metro Council will not change that: artificial price controls put in place by law will only restrict housing stocks, distorting prices upward in an already pricey market. In order for Metro government to be able to force home prices downward, laws would have to be enacted to take away people’s right to sell their property as they see fit, taking away their ability to profit from an investment they made and their freedom.

ARTIST HOUSING: Speaking of

gentrification, what can we do to keep and help support our creative community, many of whom helped make the area what it is? With more and more development, many of these folks — who, along with your typical hard-working families, help make the area what it is — are being priced out of the area and forced to move ever further from the city core.

District 5 Scott Davis: The solutions I have provided around affordable housing begin to address gentrification. We need to create more artist housing similar to the Ryman Lofts and be more welcoming to housing investors offering creative financing opportunities for homeownership. Residents have formed a partnership with local businesses to create performance spaces and galleries to give artists more options in District 5 to showcase their art. Good examples are Paro Studios, Queen Avenue Galleries, Charlie Bob’s, Hound Dog Commons, and Kesha’s Ballroom Sarah Martin: It is important to ensure Nashville has jobs for our artist community. I like the initiative the Planning Commission took to preserve Music Row. The Arts Commission has a small grant program (“Thrive”) to fund public art for our communities to enjoy. Incentives for our local film industry is something that might be worth exploring. All that being said, I still argue that affordable housing is the most important piece of the puzzle.

District 6 Peter Westerholm: I’ve been impressed by the success of the artists’ housing in Rolling Mill Hill, and would like to find ways to bring more projects like that to East Nashville. I’ve been a longtime supporter of the arts, and I’ve promoted our vibrant arts community at every occasion (such as painting the street tomato at our incredible Tomato Art Festival). Other than projects that specifically target housing for artists, artists often face the same challenges of affordable housing as teachers,

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KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION hospitality workers, and others. I’ll work to create more affordable housing, whether as a part of inclusionary zoning in a larger project, as a part of accessory dwelling units, or new ideas such as exploring appropriate locations for tiny houses. Brett Withers: Affordability was a key component in making East Nashville the diverse area it is today. Already some of our valued East Nashville artistic community members have been displaced, and there is a real threat we will lose more if we do not change course. We need to ensure that we can attract and retain a healthy mix of neighbors and businesses. I will work for strategies that preserve and add housing options for a variety of income levels.

District 7 Anthony Davis: Hopefully our artists continue to make a home here. East Nashville would not be where it is today without these neighbors creating the vibe, starting businesses, doing public art projects, etc. I think having affordable rental stock, places like the Litton apartments in my district, helps us keep diversity. Those artists that have bought homes, just stay! That’s their property, and their decision, if they want to sell they certainly can and have earned a profit they helped create. But I hope they will stay. And for artists wanting to move in, we just need to continue to try and provide some affordable rental units. Stephen Clements: Artists of all stripes make their money selling what they do best: making something beautiful. What Metro can do to help them do that is to make it as easy as possible to do business and turn a profit at that

business, with sensible business regulations. A good friend of mine has been trying to reopen an East Nashville hot spot for the artsy and the weird, and the kind of illogical regulations Metro has thrown on him have cost an extra $100,000 on top of the renovations he already completed. How is he going to provide a sales venue or performance space for our crowd of unconventional conventionalists, if our legal environment is so difficult and expensive for people trying to bring us something new and different to succeed? Fortunately, a bunch of us pulled together and that place will be open soon.

SCHOOLS: How can we make our hodgepodge of schooling options (public/private/ Montessori/charter) work for the average family looking for the best, cost-effective schooling for their child? Moreover, is there a way to simplify the process where the average person can understand the myriad, jargon-laden literature that’s out there now? District 5 Scott Davis: My wife and I want our daughter to attend a good school within the community. Fortunately, our child lives with two parents who help her daily with her studies and meet with her teachers. However, many of the children in the district come from single, foster, and grandparent-led homes. We are working hard to increase parents’ participation in their children’s education. Our community is using nonprofits, businesses leaders, and faith-based organizations to assist parents with choosing the right schools. These groups, a dedicated group of faculty, staff and principals and I have helped

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our families understand their options and advocated for great schools. With help of privately funded freedom schools and great community volunteers, we have kept all District 5 schools off the priority school list. Sarah Martin: I feel East Nashville has somewhat of a unique problem. Our community is saturated with schools and school choice — to such a high degree that some charter schools have open seats; some of our highest performing zoned schools are under capacity and fear closure; faculty and staff knock on doors to recruit students; and the school board has adopted a sort-of moratorium on new schools in our area. Our schools once united our communities — they were activity centers. Parents, community members, and alumni invested in their schools. My husband and I don’t have kids, but I’m fully invested in and committed to the success of our public schools. Each child’s success benefits us all, and as a council member, I will always advocate for more resources in our schools. I will also encourage community support of our schools to help resources stretch further. Our public schools need a champion. Whenever parents ask me about our public schools, I tell them this: Ultimately, you have to do what you, as a parent, think is best for your child. But don’t make a decision without visiting your community school — it might surprise you.

District 6 Peter Westerholm: Over the past four years, I’ve worked with school leaders to make our schools better and make the community aware of these improvements. We’ve seen many schools in our neighborhood get better, and more are on the way, such as the $6 million coming to

KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION Rosebank Elementary in this year’s capital budget. Communicating the various options and pathways to parents is something that we can improve as well. Last fall, when MNPS announced a new plan for East Nashville schools, I made sure community meetings took place that allowed parents and teachers an opportunity to vet the plan, and I helped create an advisory committee that was represented by a diverse cross section of our community, which crafted a plan reflecting input from the community. Brett Withers: I am concerned about the number of young families considering moving out of our neighborhoods because of uncertainty about schools. I value the public education I received growing up. I earned an academic scholarship that allowed me to be the first person in my family to graduate from college. That’s why I have fought to build strong neighborhood relationships with our schools, which should be the anchors of our community. I would consider it my obligation to be a resource to parents seeking the information they need to make important educational decisions for their children. Additionally, I would ensure our tax dollars are used wisely to provide a quality education to every child.

have lots of great choices here in East Nashville, great and improving public schools (Stratford and Maplewood clusters), the magnet cluster of East, and some high-performing charters. Every parent needs to do what is best for their child, and I would never question that. But for those of us engaged parents, if we continue to band together and create the school we want to create, and have the right leadership/ principal in place, we will succeed beyond our wildest imagination. Stephen Clements: I do not know that there is: bringing a child into the world is a big responsibility, and choosing how that child will be educated almost equally so. As your next councilperson, I will do everything I can to help our parents find the right choice for them, but the information is out there and I cannot make that choice for them.

AVAILABILITY: How do you plan to be available for the average voter to express his or her concerns? Social media? Community forums? Weekly or monthly sit-downs? Or, if you’re already in office, what have you done to this effect, and what would you like to do more/different in the future?

District 7

District 5

Anthony Davis: I am a believer in public, especially neighborhood schools. I recently chaired the East Nashville Advisory Council, in partnership with Dr. Register and MNPS, to get the dialogue in East Nashville moving in a productive manner. I think we accomplished that, and we submitted a full slate of recommendations, which was approved by the school board. We

Scott Davis: I attended all seven District 5 monthly neighborhood meetings before I took office, including co-chairing one association, and I continue to attend these meetings on a regular basis. I constantly make myself available to my constituents, encouraging them to reach out to me via social media, instant messages, text, email, and phone. I also make myself available

for home visits to my neighbors who cannot attend association meetings. During my tenure, I have been active in neighborhood churches, schools and community centers. I have hired out of my own pocket a part-time assistant to help my senior citizens with daily concerns and issues. I am rolling out a general information website and newsletter available through email, text, and print. The majority of my constituents are not on social media and don’t have access to the Internet. To remedy this, I have sponsored legislation for Google Fiber Web access and advocated for funding to bridge the digital divide and information redlining. Sarah Martin: I am very accessible via neighborhood meetings, social media, website, email, and by cell phone, and I plan to continue that level of accessibility beyond the election. Accessibility and responsiveness of elected officials are cornerstones of good, representative government. As far as something I would do differently from our current representative, I would improve communication around neighborhood issues. I want to make sure I always communicate clearly and encourage our neighbors to be involved in decision-making.

District 6 Peter Westerholm: For the past four years, I have been a constant presence at neighborhood meetings and other community meetings that arise, as well as organizing meetings as needed. In addition, I am consistently presenting information to neighbors through social media and Listservs, responding to phone calls and emails, and am always glad to make myself available to meet for coffee or a beer.

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KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION Brett Withers: As a five-term neighborhood president, I can share my practical experience that there is no such thing as too much communication. The short answer is All of the Above. I have publicized my personal phone number and email address so that neighbors can contact me even if they cannot attend a community meeting. While there may be only 20 people at a meeting, there may be 100 people who are interested but have a scheduling conflict. They deserve to have phone calls and emails returned. When our neighbors expressed an interest in overlays, I organized community meetings, provided information to property owners and joined my neighbors in knocking on doors to answer questions and learn opinions. By contrast, my opponent sat on the sidelines relying on the work of others. Then after the overlays passed their public hearings with strong constituent support, he removed areas from the overlay boundaries without letting anyone know with certainty which areas he was removing or why. This lengthy track record of failing to communicate, especially in the midst of zone change applications, has eroded his credibility among Metro Council members to a degree that threatens his ability to get legislation passed. Recently, he was forced to withdraw an ordinance to down-zone several properties in the 5 Points area and was subsequently unable to get the 5 Points Redevelopment District land use plan amendment approved by the council without first being forced to accept an amendment by an at-large councilmember. I have demonstrated that I know how to keep stakeholders informed throughout the process of passing ordinances.

District 7

My personal phone number is on my card and website, and I answer it.

COUNCIL SIZE: Some would argue that the Metro Council system, as it’s currently constructed, is unnecessarily crowded/has too many moving parts. Would you be in favor of fewer representatives in the council, if not less representation? Or is it fine as it is, perhaps with a few tweaks? District 5 Scott Davis: Even though our system could be improved, we should not decrease the size of the Council. As more people move to Nashville, our districts are growing. Less representation is the wrong way to go. Decreasing the size of the Council will also decrease the number of women and minorities that represent our city. Sarah Martin: It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, decreasing the size of the Metro Council makes it harder for people like me — candidates without donors who have deep pockets — to win. Bigger districts mean winning will cost more money, which potentially invites more special interests into local elections. Decreasing the size of Metro Council also means representatives serve more constituents and may therefore be less accessible. On the other hand, in some districts, it’s difficult to recruit capable, dynamic candidates to run — does that mean the districts are too small? I would love for the Metro Council to be more efficient and have more autonomy. Will this referendum accomplish that? That remains to be seen.

Anthony Davis: My neighbors know I am everywhere. I attend my neighborhood meetings, I return calls, and email is always the best and fastest way to communicate with me. I am all over Facebook and Twitter too, so never hesitate to reach out! I just plan to continue to be easily accessible and keep my head down and work hard for the area. I try to stay on the ball and communicate (especially on Facebook, my email newsletter, and the neighborhood Listservs), and will continue to work at it.

District 6

Stephen Clements: I am a regular on the East Nashville and Inglewood Facebook pages, and I run a monthly political coffee talk in East Nashville already, where anybody is invited to come see me and share their ideas. I frequent our American Legion Post, Masonic Lodges, and as many churches and neighborhood associations as I can. I have gotten so into the habit of going door to door to meet voters that I plan on continuing to do that once elected, whether to ask for input on big topics or just to say hello.

Brett Withers: The voters will decide the appropriate size and term limits of the Metro Council in an upcoming vote. There is a much larger issue at play here for District 6. We have a legacy of strong leadership on the Metro Council. We have lost that. I will fight for our share of city resources. I will continue to build coalitions that achieve results benefitting East Nashville. I will work hard to restore your voice on the Metro Council regardless of the size.

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Peter Westerholm: I believe the current council system functions well. To the extent representatives are reduced, the councilmember must serve more constituents, leading to less representation. This could adversely impact minority groups, which represent a growing, important voice in our broader community. I believe the proposal to shrink the council will lead to ill-conceived outcomes.

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KNOW your NEIGHBOR SPECIAL EDITION District 7 Anthony Davis: No, that campaign doesn’t make sense to me. I do agree with the Charter amendment for three terms (which won’t affect any of us currently in office), but I am not in favor of shrinking the council. I do admit we have a large body, but we have a large county and we have always worked with combined city/county government, and some people credit Nashville’s huge success to that. Our county keeps growing; let’s not make district councilmembers less accessible or have to represent even broader areas. Unless we make the position a full-time job, then a reevaluation of how many members would certainly be on the table. Stephen Clements: The problem our Metro Council has is not “how is it composed,” but rather “what can it do?” At the moment, if the mayor wants to pass a budget that 100 percent of the council votes against, by charter, he is going to get his way; if the school board or superintendent wants to do something 100 percent of the council does not want, they are powerless to stop it. Two charter amendments I will propose are: the Metro budget has to be approved by the council before becoming law (with monthly continuing resolutions to continue funding until approved), and that a majority of the council voting in agreement with the mayor can make substantial policy decisions regarding our school system. The councilmembers are the representatives closest to the people we have, so they should have the power to collectively set the agenda on anything Metro government does.

NEWCOMERS:

Let’s say someone is considering moving to our fair burgh. What would you say to them by way of recommending East Nashville?

District 5 Scott Davis: We welcome newcomers to 5th District. We have a variety of housing options available from working class to high-end. We still have affordable housing stock. Since I was elected, about 2,000 new residents have made District 5 their home. We have new retail businesses, restaurants, and commercial opportunities. We have great restaurants, from nationally acclaimed dining establishments to down-home Southern cooking. We have great churches, music venues, and Little Harpeth, the best brewery in town. No schools in our district are on the priority list. A large portion of our business owners and builders live in the neighborhood. Our goal is to make District 5 East Nashville’s most desired community Sarah Martin: I never felt like part of a community until my husband and I moved to 48

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Cleveland Park. I love this community and its people. When a neighbor has a problem, I’ve always seen the community respond with genuine concern and eagerness to help. In East Nashville, your neighbor across the alley is your best defense against a thief. The entire community will wrap their arms around you when your home catches fire. Your neighbor down the street will help you fix your bike or give you some milk or flour when you’re out. A dozen people will pitch in a few dollars each to buy a pricy bottle of whisky to cheer you up when your loved one passes away. Your nextdoor neighbor will look in on you to make sure everything is okay when you accidently set off your alarm. People are neighborly here. There’s just really no place else like it.

District 6 Peter Westerholm: There are a lot of great communities throughout Nashville, but if you want to live in the one with the best restaurants, best greenway, best parks, best festivals, best music, great neighbors, and best quality of life, you should choose East Nashville. Brett Withers: Choosing East Nashville to be my home was one of the best decisions I ever made. East Nashville reshaped itself against some incredible odds through faith and persistence over several decades. It is a special place with great businesses and opportunities and dedicated neighbors.

District 7 Anthony Davis: First, I would tell them East Nashville is my favorite place on Earth. It is home, I love it. I tell them how proud and fiercely loyal East Nashvillians are to their area and their neighbors. Then I would probably go on and on about locally owned restaurants, craft beer, retail establishments, friendliness, lack of snobbery, and that we are a little bit “grungy” still and trying to stay that way. Stephen Clements: If you want to live in a place with the best vegan cupcakes you’ll ever have, the best deli sandwiches you can make, more craft beer breweries than most cities hold, the most delicious Mediterranean and Hispanic restaurants and bakeries in town, an embarrassment of good bagels and coffee, more live music, comedy, and alternative entertainment choices than you will ever have time to go to, churches and community groups that take their roles seriously in caring for their neighbors, living among people who are committed to restoring and preserving beautiful homes and architecture left by our ancestors, all while being minutes from downtown and the rest of the county, then this is your place.

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tomato art fest COVER

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• • • • 2015 • • • • July | August 2015

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the love apple ••••••• Thousands to celebrate the ever-delicious veggie — er, fruit — at Tomato Art Fest BY REBECAH BOYNTON

•

er love affair began sometime in the mid-1980s while on a European vacation with her parents. Back then, she was a bright 20-something fresh from the University of Tennessee, and on this particular afternoon, Meg MacFadyen sat in a café in Florence, Italy, deciphering the descriptions on her menu. As a vegetarian, MacFadyen had spent agonizing stretches during her trip in regions where her food options were low (particularly in Germany, she recalls). So, in an attempt to order something sans meat and somewhat edible, she took her chances on an unfamiliar Italian dish that sounded promising. To hear her retell the story today, you would think she was recollecting the name of an Italian lover, not a salad. She speaks in soft, broken syllables with eyes tightly shut, as if remembering facial features or wavy hair. She whispers, “Insalata Caprese,” a plate of sliced ripened tomatoes and soft mozzarella cheese, flecked with sweet basil leaves and drizzled with vinegar and oil. Thereafter, she admits, she ate it for every meal. It was true love-at-first-bite and marks the moment MacFadyen, cofounder of the Tomato Art Festival, began her passionate love affair with what would one day be known as East Nashville’s most signature vegetable, and what one early European naturalist had named poma amoris — the Love Apple. Now, for sake of delineation and all things scientific, it should be noted the tomato is indeed a fruit. More accurately, it is the berry of the plant species Solanum lycopersicum — a sprawling vine native to the Peruvian Andes. The motto of the Tomato Art Fest, “The Tomato: A Uniter, Not a Divider — Bringing Fruits and Vegetables Together,” is accurate when considering the remarkable effect food has on uniting cultures, particularly in the American South. And some do argue that since the tomato is cooked and prepared in vegetable fashion, it should be considered a vegetable (hence the confusion). But

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the rules of botany are quite clear in terms of what constitutes a fruit. MacFadyen’s salad in the Italian café is something most of us are well-familiar with, but in the mid-’80s in Tennessee, a taste-worthy tomato was in scanty supply — unless you grew your own. The standard store-bought American tomato at the time was a dastardly, flavorless version, bred to ship and bred to sell. It could be accurately described as a shiny red baseball, if baseballs had the flavor of the mealiest heart of the vilest beast. Yet, those Italian heirloom varieties sliced fresh on MacFadyen’s plate were derived from the wildest of vines growing thousands of years before. The fruits were asymmetrical, fleshy, irregularly ripened, and delectable — striped, splotched, cracked, vibrant, and mottled. MacFadyen would hold an affinity for these gnarled gems and carry it for decades. Friendships would be forged over it, and ideas would be exchanged. Festivals would be created, communities bridged, and art would be made. It would be another 15 years or so from the time this love affair began before heirloom varieties unfurled in East Nashville gardens, but unfurl they certainly did. After an idea was sparked by a fellow tomato-loving friend, MacFadyen and her husband, Bret, owners of the Art & Invention Gallery, created the most iconic food and art festival in Nashville, The Tomato Art Fest. What began as a small tomato art opening with a community recipe contest has grown to attract crowds in the tens of thousands beneath the sweltering August sun. Many arrive in full costume for the festival’s parade, a slew of contests, a day and night of music on two stages, and the city’s beloved tomato art show. The 12th annual Tomato Art Fest will be returning to East Nashville’s Historic 5 Points area, Aug. 7-8. Come and celebrate our most treasured garden wonder.

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tomato art fest • • • 2 0 1 5 schedule of events

J U LY 1 – A U G . 5

W E D N E S DAY A U G . 5

Chicken Costume Contest

Tomato Story Time at The Inglewood Library

Contestants are invited post pictures of chickens in a tomato theme to the Davidson Farmers Coop Facebook page from which four finalists will be chosen. Attendees can then cast votes for their favorite feathered finalist at the Fest. The winner receives a canvas print of the chicken photo and a Davidson Farmers Co-op gift basket. WHERE:Davidson Farmers Co-op Facebook page WHEN: July 1 – Aug. 5

The Inglewood Library will host an entertaining story time in celebration of the “great uniter” with stories, songs, and a craft for children ages 2–5, all featuring our juicy garden friend, the tomato. Don’t miss this fruit and vege-bration! WHERE: Inglewood Library | 4312 Gallatin Pike TIME: 10:30 a.m. COST: Free CONTACT: Mr. Andrew at 615.862.5866

Tomato King & Queen Contest Hosted by Apple Road The contest is limited to 16 contestants who will be judged in two categories: Creative Costume and Tomato Q&A. The fee for entry is $20, with over $400 in prizes going to the winners. Don’t want to compete? Then come watch the show, have a cold beer, and cheer for your favorites! WHERE: The Crying Wolf | 823 Woodland St. TIME: 8 p.m. COST: Free to attend / $20 entry fee per contestant CONTACT: kristyn@appleroad.com

T H U R S DAY A U G . 6

F R I DAY A U G . 7

Tomato Wine Dinner at Marché Hosted by Marché Help kick off the Tomato Art Fest at Marché Artisan Foods. The evening’s menu features a multiple course tribute to the tomato with accompanying wines and beers. How does it get any better than that? WHERE: Marché Artisan Foods | 1000 Main St. TIME: 5 – 9 p.m COST: TBA (reservations not required but highly recommended) CONTACT: 615.262.1111 | info@marcheartisanfoods.com

Tomato Art Preview Party Sponsored by Art & Invention and Whole Foods Market A wonderful night of sights, sounds, and flavors. And a garden’s worth of tomato art. WHERE: Art & Invention Gallery TIME: 6 – 9 p.m. COST: $25 (reservations required) CONTACT: 615.226.2070 meg@artandinvention.com TICKETS: tomatoartfest.com/the-art

Kids Tomato Art Show Opening Reception Sponsored by YMCA artEMBRACE Attendees will enjoy a wondrous and unique collection of Tomato Artwork created by several budding tomato artists (ages 1–18 & family entries)! WHERE: YCAP | 1021 Russell St. TIME: 5 – 6:30 p.m. CONTACT: Leslie Gregg at 615.256.9622 ext. 72555 | lgregg@ymcamidtn.org

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TOMATO ART FEST AUGUST 7 & 8 | EAST NASHVILLEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FIVE POINTS

High school students can earn up to 45 hours of college credit prior to graduation. Choose from electives such as engineering, audio production, video production, graphic design, and numerous dual enrollment and AP courses! Award winning fine arts programs, championship athletic teams along with the addition of swimming and wrestling teams this year. A NEW robotics lab will be provided for students in elementary and middle school. Outstanding academic teams, and a variety of clubs and organizations offer many opportunities for students to excel!

Serving students of all faiths from 12 months to 12th grade. Tours every Tuesday 9 till 1 without appointment or call Ted Bloodworth at 868-2600, ext. 212 to set up a visit.

Building Confidence, Intellectual Growth and Spiritual Strength.

Bus transportation available from Gallatin, Hendersonville, Springfield, Pleasant View, Joelton, Mt. Juliet, and Old Hickory.

619 Due West Ave. Madison, TN 37115 | www.goodpasture.org

S AT U R DAY AU G . 8

East Nashville Tomato 5K Hosted by the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA Registration is $35 per runner until Aug. 6, and $40 on Aug. 7 – 8. WHERE: 5 Points CONTACT: Tim Wyckoff at 615.228.5525 twyckoff@ymcamidtn.org

Decorate Your Bike for the PARADE! Hosted By Eastside Cycles Stop by Eastside Cycles to decorate your bike for the ride in this year’s Tomato Art Fest Parade. You’ll be cruising in style! WHERE: Eastside Cycles TIME: 8:30 a.m. CONTACT: 615.469.1079 bikeseastide@gmail.com

PARADE! A New Orleans Style Second Line The parade starts at the corner of 13th & Holly Street and ends in the center of 5 Points. Team Tomato wants you to participate by building a float that can be pushed, pulled, carried or worn on your body. Entries for the parade are limited, so sign up early. TIME: 9 a.m. CONTACT: caleb@jdeventsandfestivals.com

Tomato Art Festival

KidFest Hosted by East End Methodist Church Fun for children of all ages — inflatables, a water slide, hair painting, popsicles, crafts, and good ol’ storytelling will be provided. WHERE: The park at the corner of 12th & Holly TIME: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. CONTACT: Kim Kennedy at 615.715.4164 kjkennedy23@yahoo.com

Over 200 vendors will arrive early to tempt and delight you with their wares! Come experience this wonderful collection of artists, small businesses, and fabulous food. WHERE: 5 Points TIME: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. CONTACT: www.tomatoartfest.com for a list of vendors and vendor map

Family Fun Open House

Art and Music at The Building Hosted by The Building Enjoy music and art at The Building. Proceeds will benefit Best Buddies Nashville. WHERE: The Building TIME: Beginning at 10 a.m. and continuing throughout the festival CONTACT: thebuilding@thebldgnashville.com www.bldgnashville.com

Hosted by Y-CAP YMCA Community Action Project (Y-CAP) staff and kids will be providing games & fun activities for families to enjoy inside the Ann Ragsdale Recreation Center located behind the Y-CAP Building on Russell Street. WHERE: Y-CAP | 1021 Russell St. TIME: 10 p.m. – 2 p.m. CONTACT: Rachel Folk at rfolk@ymcamidtn.org

Tomato Art Show

Kids Tomato Art Exhibit

Hosted by Art & Invention Gallery We think there is no finer collection of tomato art to be found east of the Mississippi, and maybe even in the entire tomato-eating world! WHERE: Art & Invention Gallery TIME: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. COST: Free CONTACT: 615.226.2070 meg@artandinvention.com

Hosted by YMCA artEMBRACE Children’s tomato artwork will be on exhibit during the Tomato Art Festival where visitors will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite individual as well as their family entry in the very popular “People’s Choice Award” Winner Showdown. WHERE: Y-CAP Chapel TIME: 10 p.m. – 3 p.m. (voting ends at 3 p.m.) CONTACT: Leslie Gregg 615.256.9622 ext. 72555 | lgregg@ymcamidtn.org

July | August 2015

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

Bobbing For Tomatoes & Tomato Toss

Biggest | Littlest | Ugliest Tomato Contest

Hosted by Wags & Whiskers Bobbing for (real) tomatoes, tossing (faux) tomatoes at a target, prizes, treats for the pooches, wading pools to cool hot paw … fun for pets and those who love them! WHERE: Wags & Whiskers TIME: 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. CONTACT: 615.228.9249

Hosted by Art & Invention Gallery Enter your Ugliest Tomato, Biggest Tomato, and Littlest Tomato to our booth for a chance to win PRIZES! WHERE: Art & Invention Gallery TIME: Drop off entries between 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Winners announced between 1 – 1:30 p.m. CONTACT: meg@artandinvention.com

Bike Valet

Tomato Art Fest Cornhole Tournament

Hosted by Tomato Art Fest Why drive & struggle with parking, when you can bike to the festival? Members of Walk/Bike Nashville will park your bike while you enjoy the festival. WHERE: Choose from two locations: The corner of 11th & Forrest, or the corner of 11th & Russell. TIME: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Faux Paw Fashion Show Sponsored by LSNA If you like to dress up your pet, and parade it around town, then this event was made for you! More details about registration will be available soon. WHERE: The Contest Stage TIME: 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. COST: $10 entry fee (Proceeds go to support EAST C.A.N.)

Two players tossing bags of corn at a 6-inch hole 10 yards away. Sound easy? Don’t be fooled! Come show off your skills and walk away king of the Cornhole toss. TIME: 11 a.m. – until a champion is crowned!

Theater Bug Performance Sponsored by The Theater Bug Come watch these budding artists perform a cabaret of musical acts from past productions. You’ll be glad you did. WHERE: The Contest Stage TIME: Noon – 12:45 p.m.

Giant Ice Cream Sundae Extravaganza Sponsored by Pied Piper Calling all kids ages 2–10 to help build the largest ice cream sundae in East Nashville! WHERE: Pied Piper Creamery TIME: Noon CONTACT: 615.227.4114

Beautiful Tomato Contest

Haiku Winners Take the Stage! Sponsored by Tomato Art Fest Be sure to take the time to come by and hear the winners of the Tomato Haiku Competition read their award-winning poetry. Whether they are serious or hilarious, these haikus are just good fun! WHERE: The Contest Stage TIME: 11:30 a.m.

Hosted by the shops at The Idea Hatchery Costume contest for your tomatoes. Entries must be submitted by 1 p.m. to be eligible. WHERE: The Idea Hatchery TIME: 1 – 2 p.m. (Entries must be at Alegria by 1 p.m. to be eligible) CONTACT: 615.227.8566 | alegriagifts@yahoo.com

July | August 2015

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Traditional Health Care

Bethany Sanders Certified Nurse Midwife

with a Holistic Approach

Cole Family Practice locations are now affiliated with Certified Nurse-Midwives from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. We offer well woman care and prenatal care with the option to deliver at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Cole Family Practice feels that it is important to provide women the option of holistic midwifery care in their communities and are excited to serve you and your families!

Annie Sorensen Certified Nurse Midwife Women's Health Nurse Practitioner

Wellness Care

Physical Exams for Men, Women & Pediatrics Sports Physicals • DOT Physicals • Nutrient Testing Hormone Testing (Men & Women) • Vitamins & Supplements B12 Injections • Weight Loss Program • LipoB Injections EKG & Stress Test • Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy Natural Hormone Pellets • In-House Labs

We Treat the Following Chronic Illnesses: Diabetes • High Cholesterol Hypertension • Hypothyroid • Asthma & more Skin: Laceration Repair • Acne Care Ingrown Toenail • Mole & Skin Tag Removal

Amy T. Cole Certified Family Nurse Practitioner Certified Nurse Midwife

Women’s Health

Paps • Colposcopy for Abnormal Paps • Mirena® Nexplanon® • Birth Control • PMS & Menopause Care STD Testing

Aesthetics

Botox • Juvederm • Chemical Peels • Latisse Organic Skin Care Line • Spider Vein Treatment ALSO PROVIDING HOLISTIC PRENATAL CARE WITH CERTIFIED NURSE MIDWIVES

Annie Cole- Bradley Certified Family Nurse Practitioner

ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS & MOST INSURANCE.

615.732.1030 • 1406 B McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN 37216

615.874.3422 • 4962 Lebanon Pike, Old Hickory, TN 37138

colefamilypractice.org

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

Red Head Competition Sponsored by Tomato Art Fest Just show up with your tomato red locks! This contest is open to all red heads- men, women, boys, girls, and those whose red hair is just NOT REAL! WHERE: The Contest Stage TIME: 2 – 3 p.m.

Recipe Contest Sponsored by the Nashville Farmer’s Market The best tomato salad recipes in East Nashville will duke it out in this year’s contest. Entries are limited to the first 25 who contact us, so email Nashville Farmers Market today to reserve your spot! WHERE: Margot Café TIME: Drop off entries between 1:15 – 1:45 p.m. (judging starts promptly at 2 p.m.) CONTACT: jolie.yockey@nashville.gov

Story Telling

Music LINEUP

Sponsored by Explorastory Explorastory of Rock Castle is dedicated to the art of the oral tradition of storytelling and bringing stories to our community. Come hear our tales, so you can find a yarn of your own to share later. WHERE: The Contest Stage TIME: 1 – 1:30 p.m.

F R I DAY A U G . 7

Xfinity Main Stage

Bloody Mary Competition

8 p.m. Discover the best Bloody Mary in town at the place where everybody knows your name. WHERE: 3 Crow Bar TIME: 3 p.m. CONTACT: 615.262.334

9:30 p.m.

DANIEL ELLSWORTH & THE GREAT LAKES NEULORE

S AT U R DAY A U G . 8

Xfinity Main Stage 10 a.m.

HALFBRASS

11 a.m.

BOY NAMED BANJO

12 p.m.

FANNY’S HOUSE OF MUSIC PRESENTS

1 p.m.

MAGNOLIA SONS

2 p.m.

FLORALORIX

3 p.m.

NEW CITY SAVAGES

4 p.m.

KYLIE MORGAN

5 p.m.

KINK ADOR

6 p.m.

MYZICA

8 p.m.

THEM VIBES

Edley’s Bar-B-Que Stage

July | August 2015

11 a.m.

CAROLINA STORY

12 p.m.

JESSICA DAWN

1 p.m.

SHANNON LABRIE

2 p.m.

THE HIGHJIVERS

3 p.m.

NATHAN BELT & THE BUCKLES

4 p.m.

DON GALLARDO

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

It All Comes Out in

THE

WASH J Jamie Rubin’s impossible dream gets a team By Holly Gleason

amie Rubin stands onstage with compadre Chris Autry, taking in the avocado-colored walls and far more open space at 610 Main St. He looks at his friend, smiles and nods, then, bringing his right hand down on his guitar, the pair launches into “I’m Goin’ In,” one of Rubin’s originals that he performs with his band, the Carpetbaggers Local 615. •

Photographs by Eric England

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

Lords of the new Wash

Mitchell Fox, Robert Camardo, Jamie Rubin, & John Stephenson

Lords of the new Wash Mitchell Fox, Robert Camardo, Jamie Rubin, and John Stephenson

July | August 2015

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Even with expanded space, hours, and menu, the new Wash still comes down to one thing: Rubin’s gregarious, empowering nature. Sure, there’re 12 beers on draft running the gamut of local and imported, and four batch cocktails on tap, as well a tap for four white wines (one sparkling) and three reds. But don’t let the fancy fool you. Beyond the quirk, the funk, the “please excuse” note from Patty Griffin for musicians coming late to a gig from a recording session, The Family Wash really comes down to one

thing: Jamie Rubin. Music lover, bon vivant, go-to counsel, and dream empowerer, his personality permeates everything he touches. “Wherever Jamie goes, it’s going to be The Wash,” says Reeves Gabrels, who’s known the fast-talking Rubin since they started out in bands around Boston. “The idiosyncrasy follows him. ... He’s going to have to buy more strands of Christmas lights to cover the ceiling. The Wash has a sound desk (laughter), but if someone was to blindfold you, spin you around, you could still find everything, you’d

just have to walk a little more.” Gabrels, a longtime creative foil for David Bowie, has spent the last few years between Nashville and London as guitarist for The Cure. But going back to his tenure in Jinx, a Pat Benatar-leaning heavy metal band, where he met a kid who looked like Mark Bolan, playing a 12-string bass — like Tom Petersson — in a Cheap Trick cover band, he recognizes Ruben’s passion and relentless pursuit of music as a driver for what made The Family Wash so special. “The first couple times I played Nashville, I played there,” Gabrels recalls by phone from London. “It was the only place I could play; he was the only guy who’d book me. I remember playing for 20 people some nights, but he didn’t care. The last few times, it was packed — and people were leaving ’cause they just couldn’t get in. And it was like that with [Rubin’s other band] Sons of Zevon, too.

“

Wherever Jamie goes, it’s going to be

The Wash.

The idiosyncrasy follows him. — Reeves Gabrels

”

“So, what do you do? I’d bugged him for years … . ‘You’re only open 6 ’til midnight. You could be doing so much more.’ He had help, but it was really a one-man operation — and that’s a lot. Now he has partners — he can stay open, do breakfast, lunch, interesting things.”

Jamie Rubin 64

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

amie Rubin, the journeyman musician and beloved barista from Fido, decided he wanted something more, wanted to stake his claim. He never intended to create the epicenter of hip at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Porter Road when he opened a local dive he hoped would become a neighborhood watering hole. Of course when your friends include Audley Freed, Jen Gunderman, Chris Autry, Elizabeth Cook,

and Gabrels, it won’t be long ’til you’re the cool place to congregate. Suddenly his joint for a pint ’n’ pie turned into a destination. The destination’s momentum turned into a clamor. Freight-packed many nights, regulars grumbled they couldn’t get in, sound had to be run from the stage, the backup singers had to stand in the hall by the bathroom because the stage was too small, and there was never enough room when it was full. It created a chaotic, over-stuffed, Max’s Kansas City vibe. There were troubles with the aggressive surprise health inspection that scared off customers. The building was in sketchy shape. But it was where everybody came. What else could one do? Enter Brett McFadyen, who said, “You should talk to my friend Christian Paro,” recalls Rubin, sitting in Fido several weeks ago as the new Wash is being finished out. “He’s bought a new building with creative suites upstairs — and he’s looking for a restaurant.” Bigger, newer, needing a build out. The salt-and-pepper-haired, compression-built rocker knew this was bigger than he was. But always one to walk through the doors that presented themselves, it wasn’t like he didn’t know people. Talking to longtime Kentucky Headhunters manager and his once-upon-a-time Fido customer Mitchell Fox, they started looking at larger framing. Fox knew Garage Coffee’s Robert Camardo — the notion of a hybrid seemed to open up the possibilities. Camardo bought in. Beyond the bar fare and live music, which had been staples, Garage Coffee would open an outpost in the “new Wash.” Upon entering the building, a counter devoted to Garage’s single blend of coffee would greet patrons, making a coffee shop within the larger whole. “It’s the same bar as The Wash, but where you make the turn, that’s where the Garage/ Wash separate counter is,” Rubin enthuses. “And there’s a second bar, where one side is counter height and the other is standing, so you can grab your coffee and sit there. You can have meetings, or hang out.” Indeed, the new seating order — with the giant community table specially built for the new enterprise in the front — will allow a modularity the original Wash couldn’t provide. In the main room, there are banquettes along the back and far walls, and tables in the middle that can become one giant table for large parties. And yes, the stage — built by Chark Kinsolving — is still right there. Given the rock passionista’s conviviality, everything about the new and expanded Wash will contribute to an environment where friendships will still be born and hanging out encouraged, but now there will be room to breathe while you do it.

eeing the concept of strength-in-numbers, especially with the burgeoning population explosion all over the 6-1-5, Rubin realized The Family Wash could stay the genius local tavern/dive and expand its cozy, quirky reach in new and different ways. It made sense, and if you’re going to dream, dream big. Though The Wash served other things, who ate anything but the shepherd’s pie? A classic comfort food, hearty meat-and-potatoes fare, it was the standard — and often the other

reason — people trekked from West Meade or Franklin to the cramped room with the tchotchkes everywhere. Suddenly, Rubin & Co. realized they could keep the pie and reach for the sky. Always friendly with John Stephenson, Fido’s longtime executive chef, general manager, and creator of the near-legendary Local Burger, Rubin reached out in a more concrete way. “I’d always gone to John for advice — about the kitchen, staffing,” Rubin explains. “He’d been coming in to Fido as I was leaving,

•

Mitchell Fox July | August 2015

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The Family Wash’s new chef wants people to RECONSIDER THEIR FAVORITES J

John Stephenson

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

ohn Stephenson didn’t necessarily start out to be a chef. Growing up around Nashville, he produced records, managed bands, taught high school English, but through it all he loved to cook. Indeed, he found making food gave him a place in the pack that brought people together and made them happy. But working with New Orleans chef Steve Scalise, he realized there might be more to rustling pots and pans then he’d thought. “Food, fun, people, and good music, it all came together – and I liked that,” Stephenson says. Wanting to get serious, the sandy-haired chef went to England for formal education at Leith’s in London in 1999. “Pru Leith is England’s version of Julia Child,” he explains. “She’s very French-oriented, very classic in her teaching.” Armed with his certification from the one-year intensive course, Stephenson could write his ticket to anywhere. “I’d lived in one of the world’s great cities and had had that experience, but I kinda wanted to marry this girl.” Modern love’s gain was also Fido’s culinary pivot. Not long after returning to Nashville, Stephenson teamed up with Bongo Java founder Bob Bernstein to anchor the kitchen at Fido. It wasn’t long before locally sourced food combined in innovative ways began defining the breakfast/brunch and lunch/dinner menus at the coffee shop in Hillsboro Village. From the beef and lamb Local Burger with the slather of fig preserves and flash-fried onions to the freshest seasonal soups and daily specials calibrated to the produce local farmers were bringing in, food became a reason to go to Fido as much as the creative coffee drinks they served. Rising to executive chef and general manager over his dozen years there, Stephenson was one of local food’s most exciting — if unrecognized — presences in 21st century Nashville. Now with the new Family Wash, the quick-smiling chef is able to conjure and expand on his already well-defined take on cooking. Health-conscious, but slightly naughty, he will provide classics — and turns on classics. “Making something that feels familiar, but is fresh, is a big part of it,” he says. “I want people to have their favorites, but reconsider everything they think about it. I don’t want to give too much away, but I can tell you we’re changing things up in some really unique ways. I can’t wait for people to taste them!” —Holly Gleason

but we had this relationship — and he’s so smart about food. When I saw what this new space was becoming, I wanted him to be part of it.” Stephenson was ready to embrace the larger context of cooking. Exiting Fido, the Nashville-born former record producer/ band manager/high school English teacher wanted the opportunity to build a kitchen to his vision, create a menu that leaned into his local food-driven, creative-pairing oriented sensibility. Simple things — like potatoes — come in staggering variations. Butter-poached, deepfried new potatoes, fresh potato chips, but especially sweet potato gaufrettes (wafers) with a walnut-horseradish sauce speak to the creativity going into a menu where breakfast/lunch/snacks/dinner are served all day, every day.

elevated way. But beyond the Garage Coffee, the new bar, the improved kitchen, and focused menu, as well as the room to breathe, The Family Wash is destined to remain what is above all: a place for locals and music lovers to congregate in the name of a good time. “Jamie created a spot he thought was cool,” Gabrels reflects about the unlikely hotspot’s origins. “That it became the musicians hangout in East Nashville — that was not his intention, but that’s also Jamie! He draws musicians to him, because he is one — and

he understands. So by creating a place that’s a lot like his parents’ basement [where the two recorded as young men], he made a spot where we were all happy. It felt comfortable to hang there.” Considering the history, it’s a little more than that. Rubin gets it, even if he’s shy about owning the real estate of being “that place” in the bull’s-eye of hipster cool. “A lot of things were born there — just from some stupid little conversation. Somebody would have an idea, and I’d say, ‘DO IT!’ CO N T I NUED ON PAGE 118

“

A lot of things were born there just from some stupid little conversation. Somebody would have an idea, and I’d say,

‘DO IT!’

”

A family man among family men, Stephenson and Co. agreed not to insult kids with a children’s menu. “Rather than do that, we’re going to just do smaller portions at a smaller price for kids,” he says. “I’d rather treat children like real customers and give them that respect.” The Wash will also give people soon-tobe staples like semolina and spinach green biscuits with fried green tomatoes, cheddar/ Havarti pimento cheese and grilled jalapeno mayo, grits ‘n’ (sausage or herb) gravy, chicken pot pie, fish sticks, or a simple fish dinner. “We’re going to source from the neighborhood as much as possible,” Stephenson reports. “We’re trying to figure the balance out on desserts, because it’s a compact kitchen — and there are some great bakers here. But for the most part, what you eat is prepped, cooked, and prepared here.” The menu is versatile, classic, basic in an

Robert Camardo July | August 2015

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

The buck stops here. ... Chark Kinsolving at The Basement East, for which he provided both design and build services. Photograph by Eric England

design, build,

PLAY

When it comes to music venues, Chark Kinsolving does it all By Randy Fox

July | August 2015

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

n October of last year, Chark Kinsolving got a call from his friend Mike Grimes. Grimes, along with business partner Dave Brown, were looking at the former B&B Silkscreen building on Woodland Street, and the business partners had some big plans for what would become The Basement East. “They wanted some advice,” Kinsolving says. “At the time, the building was mostly just a big empty space. There was a small office area up front, but everything else was open. We looked at the building. They ran their ideas by me and asked what I thought. I said, ‘Forgive me guys, but that’s a terrible idea. Here’s what I think.’ I ran them through my concept. They thought it was great, and God bless ’em, they basically gave me carte blanche to build it as I saw fit.” There’s a good reason Kinsolving was brought in for his advice. As a working musician, building contractor, and nightclub owner and manager, he’s well-versed with the ins and outs of music venues. As the co-owner and designer of Mercy Lounge, The Cannery Ballroom, and The High Watt, he helped save a historic building that was once a treasured venue during the ’80s rock scene, while retooling it for 21st century rockers. Born and raised in Nashville, Kinsolving was bitten by the rock & roll bug at an early age, spending his younger years mastering the guitar

and playing in several garage bands. While rock & roll may have been his first love, his profession was a steadier paying and more concrete pursuit. “I worked in commercial construction through most of the ’80s,” he says. “I really didn’t get into the Nashville music scene steady until about 1993 with the blues rock band Mother Jones. It was always a tug of war between music and construction. In a band, you’re out late nights playing shows, but you’ve got to get up at 6 a.m. because you’ve got a job to run. I would go back and forth. If I had a great band going, I’d end up quitting the job and focusing on the band. Then when the band would fold, I’d go back to work for another construction company.” By the mid-’90s, Kinsolving was playing with the blues rock combo Spoonful that featured several up-and-coming musicians including drummer Keith Brogdon, bassist Dean Tomasek, and future Americana star Will Hoge. As the new century began, Kinsolving was ready for a new challenge. “I had kind of run out of options,” he says. “I was sick of working construction, and I wasn’t in a band at the time. Mike Grimes is actually to blame for me opening the Mercy Lounge. I saw the Slow Bar and thought, ‘This is awesome — I could do this.’” With his business partners Brent Woodard and David Gehrke, Kinsolving set his sights on the old Cannery building just off 8th Avenue

South. Built in 1883, the grand brick building served as a flour mill and coffee mill before gaining its nickname in the late 1950s as a cannery for the Dale Food Company. In the 1970s, it was transformed into a restaurant and country music theater, eventually becoming one of the premier music venues for Nashville’s rock scene in the ’80s. By 2002, The Cannery had fallen on hard times. “It was in shambles,” Kinsolving says. “It was just falling apart. We signed a lease in March 2002, and it took us 10 months to do the build out and to get through all the codes issues. We rebuilt the stage where it had been, but I never wanted it to be a live music venue. It opened as the Mercy Lounge in late January 2003, and we operated for the first six months without any shows, just running it as a bar.” The original plans for it “just being a hangout” eventually changed due to dramatic events. “In August 2003, we were blasted with a heavy burst of wind, and the building was struck by lightning,” Kinsolving says. “Most of the third story collapsed. I was in the building at the time, and the whole thing shook like an earthquake. We were closed for six or seven weeks. When we reopened, we needed some income, so we started booking shows. The next thing you know, it turned into a music venue, then eventually a second venue, and then a third venue.” The second venue arrived in 2005. Located on the main floor of the building, the roomy Cannery Ballroom quickly became a favored stop for midlevel touring acts. “Someone was trying to lease the space to an antique mall or indoor flea market,” Kinsolving recalls. “We looked at it from the viewpoint of we didn’t want neighbors. We signed the lease Jan. 1, 2005, and I spent 45 days, mostly by myself, working 14-16 hours days, building everything.” Five years later, the third venue, the smaller and more intimate High Watt, opened in the rebuilt third floor of the building. “We took on a stupidly ambitious remodeling project that cost a ton of money, but it turned out great,” he continues. “We redid The Cannery Ballroom and added some structural steel supports so we could remove some of the poles. Then we went in and started on The High Watt, making it a small mirror of Mercy. I’m very proud of how it turned out.” With the three venues in The Cannery complex completed and successful, Kinsolving found his interests turning back to music.

n 2010, legendary rock & roll sax player Bobby Keys (Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, B.B. King, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many more) tapped several Nashville-based musicians, including Dan Baird, Mike Webb, Steve Gorman, Tomasek, and Kinsolving, to form The Suffering Bastards. The band became a semiregular gig for the next four years, ending all too soon with Keys’ death on Dec. 2, 2014. In the meantime, Kinsolving decided it was time to move on from

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

”

I wasn’t really looking to build The Basement East. They originally called me just asking for suggestions. being a nightclub owner and manager. “In mid-2013, the opportunity came to sell my partnership out to Todd [Todd Ohlhauser, who had replaced Woodard and Gehrke as a partner in the business],” he says. “We came up with a deal and shook on it. I left at the end of 2013. I spent the next year taking some time off and remodeling a vacation cabin at Center Hill Lake that my family had owned for a long time. It was a great way of getting my head together and figuring out what I wanted to do next.” The next thing turned out to be a return to the design and construction of first-class music venues. “I wasn’t really looking to build The Basement East,” Kinsolving says. “They originally called me just asking for suggestions. Then they asked if I could design and build it, and we did it in an insanely short amount of time — less than four months. “It turned out great, and I’m real proud of everything we did there. With the Mercy Lounge and High Watt, we had to work with the

structure that we had. Everyone hates the support columns in those venues, but they have to be there for structural reasons. It was really fun to go in a completely blank canvas and design it the way you want. There is that one support pole in the main room. Apparently in Nashville, you can’t open a music venue without there being a pole somewhere.” One of the most outstanding features of The Basement East is its custom-designed stage. Thirty feet wide, 16 feet deep, and 3 feet high, the stage has already received compliments from both musicians and audience members. “The stage is completely free floating,” Kinsolving explains. “It’s not actually attached to the floor. Every post rests on a one-inch rubber pad, so vibration from the stage is absorbed by the pads, instead of the concrete floor. It’s also completely stuffed with fiberglass so you don’t get any type of bass trap or weird feedback issues. It’s a really good sounding stage.” As the word got out about Kinsolving’s work

on The Basement East, he got a phone call from another friend. “Jamie Rubin called me for suggestions about the stage at the new Family Wash, and then he asked me to build it. It’s a much smaller version of what we built for The Basement East.”

hile Kinsolving wasn’t planning on becoming a full-time contractor, the quality of his work in such high-profile locations has led to a new career. “Word has gotten out, and I’m taking on other jobs,” he says. “I’ll be building out the new pub that will be part of The Basement East, and I’m working on another bar now, in addition to some residential projects around East Nashville.” With the “throw-’em-up-cheap-and-quick” methods being followed by many contractors in Nashville right now, it’s refreshing to hear Kinsolving talk about his philosophy — balancing creativity with practicality. It’s a mixture that leads to both great guitar work and awesome music venues. “It’s all about working with what you have and what was there before,” he says. “You want to make it a great experience for the public and the bands, but you also want to make it great for the people that work in that space. Being able to learn from what you’ve done in the past and then translate it into something new is always pretty cool.”

Suffering Bastards Brad Pemberton (drums), Chark Kinsolving (guitar), Robert Kearns (bass), Bobby Keys (saxophone), Michael Webb (keyboards), and Dan Baird (vocals, guitar) July | Lounge August 2015 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM Photographed by Robert Clifford at One, above the Mercy

going

BIG ‘The Beast’

is released on Woodland

ast September, Dave Brown and Mike Grimes, co-owners of Nashville’s own “Cellarful of Noise,” The Basement, were standing in a cavernous building on Woodland Street. With nearly 7,500 square feet of open space surrounding them, the two business partners realized they were at a crossroads. •

By Randy Fox

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2015

With the opening of The Basement East on Woodland Street, Mike Grimes and Dave Brown mark their return to the thriving East Side music scene in which they played such a pivotal role originating. July | August 2015 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM 73 Photograph by Eric England

Grimes looked at Brown and said, “I’m scared to death.” “We have to do this,” Brown said. “We talked about this. We found this place. Of course it’s daunting, but what the hell else are we going to do?” Eight months later, Brown and Grimes are standing in the same spot, showing off The Basement East. Already dubbed “The Beast” by local music fans, the recently opened music venue lives up to its nickname with 3,000 square feet of space in the main room, a 30-foot-long stage worthy of a classic theater, a lengthy and well-stocked bar, and a roomy deck running nearly the length of the building. “Since we had an empty space to work with, we built it to functionality from not only a bartender’s perspective, but also from a musician’s point of view and for the audience,” Brown says. “The original Basement has certain limitations because of the building, but this was an open canvas, so we could build it exactly how we wanted it.” “People walked in the first night and said it doesn’t feel like the first night,” Grimes says. “It feels like it’s been open for a while. That’s a real compliment.” There’s a very good reason The Basement East seems like an old favorite rather than a new, untested venue. Brown and Grimes have decades of experience attending rock shows,

playing music, booking bands, and managing nightclubs. More important than the accumulated experience is the pair’s firm devotion to great live music. For both, running a great music club isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life. Grimes is very specific about the moment his life’s calling revealed itself in a blaze of rock & roll glory. Pulling up an image of a mid-’70s KISS concert poster on his phone, he points at it enthusiastically. “That’s it,” he says. “Aug. 27, 1975, the Owensboro (Ky.) Sportscenter — that was the moment when it happened. I was 12 years old, had a $5 ticket, and I was standing just a few feet from KISS, with the stage just about as high as the one we have here. The fireworks were going off, and they almost burned down the Sportscenter. That’s when I knew I was going to either play music or work with music. It had to be one or the other.” After high school, Grimes left his native Owensboro to attend Western Kentucky University, spending time in Bowling Green’s small indie rock scene before making the move to Nashville in the late ’80s. “I did anything I could to stay close to music,” Grimes says. “Worked in record stores, interned at publishing companies, worked in promotions for Sony — anything that could lead to some better-paying, music-related job. All the while, I was also playing music.” After bouncing through several local rock

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bands, Grimes formed the early ’90s rock combo The Bis-Quits with fellow Nashville rock scene vets Will Kimbrough, Tommy Meyer, and Tommy Womack. He moved from that group to playing guitar with Bobby Bare Jr.’s band. After two-and-a-half years on the road with Bare Jr., he was ready to move on to other challenges. “I quit and thought I’d get in another band, and it just didn’t happen,” Grimes says. “A friend of mine had started a vintage clothing store in Berry Hill. She suggested I open a record store in an available house across the street from her. I had about 6,000 records and CDs. I wasn’t a collector. I just amassed records from yard sales and had tons of great music to listen to. So I took every record I had, stuck them in the house I rented and put my name out there. I figured even if it failed, people would drop by and hang out.” In December 1999, Grimey’s New and Preloved Music opened. While far from a megasuccess at first, the store did moderately well, and its status as a hangout for music lovers and fellow musicians spread. After a few months, Grimes stumbled upon an opportunity to take the “cool hangout” concept to another level. “David Gehrke and I were recording with Josh Rouse at Woodland Studio,” he says. “We had tracked three or four songs and wanted to get a beer. Across from Woodland, there was this place on the corner of 5 Points called Shirley’s. We went over, had a beer, and started talking about starting our own bar on the East Side.” The next day, Grimes and Gehrke decided to see if Shirley was interested in selling the bar. “I don’t know why we thought we could walk into a place that already existed and just buy it from her,” Grimes says. “But we asked Shirley how long she had been there and she said, ‘17 years, and I’m ready to get out!’ ” After verifying that they could take over the lease, Grimes wrote Shirley a check for $10,000, the sum total of his savings at that point, and the newly rechristened Slow Bar officially opened for business on Nov. 17, 2000. At first, the only major change was the addition of a well-stocked jukebox. With limited space and only a beer license, the bar had its limitations, but it didn’t take long for the word to spread about a hip, little hangout in 5 Points. “It was still in the prerenaissance or whatever you want to call that period for East Nashville, and it just became this thing,” Grimes says. “The word got out to a lot of younger people about this ‘dangerous’ part of East Nashville and this cool little bar. We weren’t doing live music yet, but people went to shows at other bars and then at 1:30 a.m., 60 or 70 people would show up.” Although the Slow Bar was never intended to be a live music venue, had no PA system,

Slow Bar daze ... Grimey, Brian Beckett, and Niko Gehrke

and only a small raised platform that barely qualified as a stage, Grimes soon found bands were eager to play. The bar opened at one of the lowest points for live rock music since the birth of Nashville’s alternative rock scene in the early ’80s. The Exit/In had closed temporarily, leaving only a handful of music venues open to local groups and up-and-coming rock bands on tour. The first shows were by local acts or musicians just looking to play a show while in town to record. “Phone calls started coming in,” Grimes says, “Wheat, Japancakes, The Postal Service, Kings of Leon’s first two shows, The Shins, My Morning Jacket, Alex Chilton, The Dirt Bombs. I got a call from The Black Keys. I’d never heard of them. They sent me their CD and they were awesome, but they wanted a $100 guarantee, and I had to think about that.”

Between 2001 and 2003, the Slow Bar ruled the indie rock scene in Nashville with a string of classic shows. It also helped spark a renaissance in the 5 Points area as other bars and restaurants began to open. But Grimes soon realized that hip rock cred wasn’t much help when it came to paying real-world bills. Closing its doors on Sept. 1, 2003, Slow Bar’s location was eventually taken over by new owners and renamed “Three Crow Bar.” “The Slow Bar was my school of hard knocks,” he says. “I didn’t know what I was doing. About a year and a half in, I had to buy out my partner because things weren’t working out. We had made some mistakes that carried through to the end of our three-year lease. But it taught me I love booking music, and I love helping up-and-coming bands.” Grimes wasn’t the only one discovering a passion for booking live music. Just three

blocks away, Dave Brown was handling the same duties for Radio Cafe. Opening in 1995 on the corner of Woodland and 14th Street, Radio Cafe was a pioneering music venue in the early days of East Nashville’s revival. The club’s original owner, Mac Hill, closed it in 2001, but a new owner reopened the small cafe in 2003. “The Radio Cafe reopened about six months before the Slow Bar closed,” Brown says. “It was just going to be a neighborhood cafe with no live music, and I was hired as a bartender. The cafe part didn’t go over that well, so to save my own skin, I started booking music. At first, I was so envious of what Mike was doing with the Slow Bar. He kicked my butt on a nightly basis.” Although Brown was still learning the art of booking live music, he had years of experience working in bars and restaurants.

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A native of Chattanooga, his turning point came while he was attending college in San Antonio, Texas, in the late ’80s. “I was an advertising major, and I hated it,” Brown says. “I was having horrible visions that I would be middle-aged, have 2.3 kids, live in the suburbs, and hate my life. That was the way I grew up, and it frightened me because I was terrified of being bored. “A really close friend of mine was raped and murdered, and it forced me to really think about life. It might sound hokey, but I made a promise to myself that when I died, I would be able to look back and say I did what I wanted to do.” After dropping out of college, Brown hitchhiked across the U.S., working in restaurants and bars, and living in locales as varied as Alaska and New Orleans, while also playing music on his own and with various bands. After three years of roving, Brown made his way back to his home town where he worked for nine years at one of Chattanooga’s oldest and most popular pubs, The Pickle Barrel. “I learned everything about the business from Nick Bowers, the owner,” Brown says. “He taught me that to build a great bar or restaurant, it has to become your life. It’s a labor of love, and if you don’t love it, you need to do something else.” Brown eventually found his way to Nashville

in 2001 — a path that led to his position as music booker for Radio Cafe. With the early aughts’ drought of live rock venues, Brown focused on the local punk and rock scene. “I was booking music seven nights a week, bartending six, did all the managerial stuff and was sleeping five hours a night,” he says. “The neighborhood was really rocking hard back then. It’s almost a forgotten chapter now. The rest of Nashville was afraid to come to the East Side and they just left it alone. Every night, there was something going on. I’d finish what I was doing at the Radio Cafe and then make the circuit. The Alley Cat was open then, and The 5 Spot and the Family Wash were both going great.” Brown continued at Radio Cafe until 2005. Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, events had been in motion that would lead to Brown and Grimes uniting their business acumen. In May 2002, while Grimes was still running Slow Bar in East Nashville, he sold a half interest in his record store to Doyle Davis, a former manager at The Great Escape. The new partners kept the cool kids hangout vibe of Grimey’s, but also began transforming it into a new and used indie record retail powerhouse. By early 2004, the business had outgrown the tiny house in Berry Hill, and Grimes and Davis were looking for a larger

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space. That’s when they discovered a renovated Victorian mansion on 8th Avenue South that just happened to have a live music venue in the basement. “I thought the space (for the store) was perfect,” Grimes says. “I went back and told Doyle, and he said, ‘You just want that space because there’s a club underneath.’ But when he saw it, he was sold.” Grimey’s relocated to their new location in June 2004, and by early 2005, Grimes, along with bartender Geoff Donovan, had taken over the lease and management of The Basement. Although limited by space and the odd layout of the venue, The Basement quickly gained a reputation with inventive booking of local bands and lower- to mid-level national acts. Their success soon led to the need for an extra bartender. “When my job at the Radio Cafe had run its course, Geoff Donovan offered me a job bartending at The Basement,” Brown says. “I started working one night a week, on Saturdays. I believed so much in what they were doing that every other job I got had to work around my schedule at The Basement. I soon went to two nights a week and convinced them to open on Sundays so I could go to three nights.” After five years, Donovan was ready to move on to other ventures and sold his shares to Grimes and Brown. The new partners continued refining their business. “I took what I had learned from my days at Pickle Barrel and applied it to The Basement,” Brown says. “That’s when we started to blossom as a business. I really pushed the idea of doing a 7 o’clock show. Even if you only do $200 at the bar, when you multiply that out three times a week and then into a year’s worth of revenue, that’s $30,000 that you weren’t making. Having earlier shows also gave us flexibility with good bands that might not be able to draw the number of people that we need for a 9 o’clock show. Say they bring in 40 people, it’s a good show for the band and it helps the bar.” Although Brown and Grimes continued to refine their business at The Basement, they both knew it was time to expand. “We had been talking about expanding for a while,” Grimes says. “We looked at three or four places, but all fell short because of location or timing. Some were cool, but really small. We wanted it to be in the right neighborhood, and it had to be big enough for a proper stage.” “It all came down to the best luck of my life,” Brown says. “We had an early listening party at The Basement. I usually drive up Davidson Street, but I was low on gas that day. I went to 5 Points to gas up and was coming down Woodland and saw the for rent sign. The landlord had just put it out that morning.” “Dave called me,” Grimes says. “He had to go to work, but I drove over right then. I

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He taught me that to build a great bar or restaurant, it has to become your life. It’s a labor of love, and if you don’t love it, you need to do something else. couldn’t get inside, but I looked through the windows and called the owner. He came over and showed it to me that day. It was huge. I made arrangements for the next day so Dave could look at it. I asked my wife that night, should we go big or go home, and she said go big.” Although Grimes and Brown both thought the space was perfect, finding the funding to bring their dream to fruition was another matter. That’s when the pair learned the true value of a good reputation. “I told the landlord, ‘Look, we don’t know how we’re going to do this, and we don’t even know if we can do this, but we’ll put earnest money down so you’ll know we’re serious,’ ” Grimes says. “We were lucky the landlord liked us. We were just two guys saying how much we wanted the place.” Their good fortune continued when Grimes ran into a friend who had funds he

was looking to invest, and two other investors were soon added. With financing in place and the lease signed, a marathon run of design and construction began. They turned to another friend, Chark Kinsolving, the designer, builder, and former owner of Mercy Lounge. “Chark is incredibly insightful and knowledgeable,” Brown says. “What he did with the Mercy Lounge is amazing. It’s a landmark. There were so many times he said, ‘No, you should do this and here’s why.’ And the light bulb would go off in our heads — of course!” Current plans for The Basement East include an adjacent pub and extended deck area in the rear portion of the main floor that are scheduled to open this fall. Brown and Grimes also plan to continue operating the original Basement under Grimey’s, while making big plans for the club’s East Side brother. With a solid 10-year lease on The Basement East and an option to buy, they are eagerly looking

forward to the long-term success of their rock & roll palace on Woodland. “A big part of this was coming back to East Nashville,” Brown says. “I’ve lived over here the whole 14 years I’ve been in Nashville, and it has a special place in my heart. It means a lot for us to come back and be a part of a neighborhood and scene that we really, truly love so much. “One of our partners asked us when we would know that it’s going to be a success. I said two years because of what I know about the failure rate of new businesses, but Mike instinctively said, ‘The first night!’ That’s why we make great business partners. I’m thinking about all the things that can happen, and you have to be so careful, but Mike is just, ‘No, we’ll know. If people come out and dig it the first night, we’ll know.’ ” “And it was great,” Grimes says. “It was so rock & roll.”

A quiet moment at Radio Cafe Skip Litz and Dave Brown July | August 2015

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Ernie Winfrey receives instructions on southpaw guitar techniques.

Left to right: Paul McCartney, Buddy Killen, Ernie Winfrey, Tony Dorsey, Linda McCartney â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Courtesy Ernie Winfrey

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‘We

Cut a

LOT

of Hits’ The Sound Shop Story By Randy Fox

rnie Winfrey still recalls the night a Beatle walked through the door. It was a warm June evening in 1974, and Winfrey was in his usual place, behind the mixing console at Sound Shop studio, just off Music Row. “Buddy Killen and I were working with [soul singer] Paul Kelly in the studio one night, and Paul and Linda McCartney just walked in the door,” Winfrey says. “They waved and sat down in front of the console. After we finished, Buddy introduced me, and Paul said, ‘It really sounds good in here.’ ” McCartney was hardly the first musician to appreciate the sound he heard, and he was far from the last. From 1970 until January 2015, thousands of musicians, songwriters, hitmakers, celebrities, and wheeler-dealers passed through the doors of the cement block building at 1307 Division St. They produced groundbreaking music, classic hits, and jingles that sold everything from groceries to good citizenship. In 1970, Nashville’s music industry was ushering in a new era. Just a decade earlier, Music City’s recording industry was concentrated primarily in two studios — RCA Studio B and Owen Bradley’s studio on 16th Avenue South, aka the Quonset Hut. When Bradley sold his studio to Columbia

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Left to right: Producer Buddy Killen, Ernie Winfrey, and the legendary Wilson Pickett —Courtesy Ernie Winfrey

Records in 1961, two major labels had a lock on the majority of studio time in Nashville. With the demand for studio time increasing, many new independent studios opened, recording far more than just country music. Pop, rock, soul, and gospel sessions all filled Nashville studios, along with a growing market for commercial radio jingles. Between 1968 and 1970, five major independent studios opened their doors for business in Nashville — Woodland Sound Studios, Jack Clement Recording, Creative Workshop, Quadrafonic Sound, and Nashville Audio Recorders, the studio that would become famous as “Sound Shop.” The brainchild of Nashville producer and musician Danny Davis, Nashville Audio Recorders was established in the fall of 1969 on Division Street, about two blocks east of 16th Avenue South. The property, co-owned by Nashville songwriters Dallas Frazier and Billy Mize, had briefly been the home of the Nashville Musical Instrument Company, manufacturers of Gower guitars. Davis planned a state-of-the-art recording studio and full production complex to accommodate any type of recording session. To help foot the bill, he enlisted several non-music industry investors. The studio had more than 3,000 square feet of space and was paneled with costly Pecky Cypress wood that not only provided excellent sound insulation, but also gave the studio a very distinctive appearance. Billy Sherrill — no 80

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relation to the prominent Nashville producer with the same name — was a 22-year-old graduate of Murray State University in Kentucky who was hired as an assistant engineer before the studio opened. “I started around Thanksgiving 1969,” Sherrill says. “They were still hammering nails and building the studio, and we held the first session on Jan. 1, 1970. Danny was producing some people and doing his Nashville Brass stuff, but we were also cutting independent sessions. Thomas Wayne did all the booking and oversaw the studio, and Harold Lee was on staff as an assistant engineer.” Sherrill recalls steady business for the new studio through the first 18 months of its operation, but by July 1971, there were financial troubles behind the scenes. Davis’ partners wanted out, and it didn’t take long to find interested buyers. The interested buyers — who soon became the new owners — were prominent Nashville producer and publisher Buddy Killen, producer Bob Montgomery, singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro, and commercial jingle producer Kelso Herston. As Sound Shop, Inc., the four partners closed the deal in August 1971, paying slightly over $300,000 for the studio and equipment and $130,000 for the building and land. “I remember them coming down and looking at the studio,” Sherrill says. “The next thing they were the owners. We were already fairly busy, but it just got busier.”

Photo from English singer-songwriter Allan Taylor’s sessions for his 1973 record, The American Album.

Front row (left to right): unknown, Bucky Wilkin, Allan Taylor. Second row (left to right): Tommy Cogbill, Reggie Young, Harold Lee, Billy Sanford, Billy Lee Riley, Billy Sherrill, Nik Venet, Ernie Winfrey. Back row (not visible): David Briggs, Jerry Carrigan. —Courtesy Ernie Winfrey

Along with the new owners and name came a new head engineer, Ernie Winfrey. A native of East Nashville, Winfrey began his music career while still in high school as the drummer of one of Nashville’s pioneering rock & roll combos, The Monarchs. By 1968, Winfrey was at Woodland Studios as an assistant engineer where he worked with all four of the Sound Shop partners. “I finagled my way into working with Buddy Killen,” Winfrey says. “I had known Buddy since the early ’60s. He was producing Joe Tex sessions at Woodland, and R&B was my forte. Buddy told Bob Montgomery about Woodland, and I started working with him and Bobby Goldsboro, and then I worked with Kelso Herston on jingle sessions. I don’t remember which one of them offered me the job at Sound Shop, but I jumped at it.” With all four of the partners using the studio, and outside producers booking time, Sherrill and Lee soon moved up from assisting to working as full engineers. Eventually, they handled the majority of the country sessions, while Winfrey worked on pop, rock, and R&B, including many sessions with Joe Tex, such as his 1972 pop crossover hit, “I Gotcha.” “Joe Tex’s sessions were always interesting,” Winfrey says. “He insisted on recording his lead vocals while the tracks were being cut. He didn’t like overdubbing. He felt his vocals keyed the feel of the

musicians. He would get into the song and start boogieing around, moving back and forth from the mic. I had to constantly adjust the mic up and down to follow his vocals.” R&B producer Brad Shapiro was also a frequent Sound Shop customer. For some artists, including James Brown and Wilson Pickett, Shapiro recorded tracks in Muscle Shoals or other locations, then overdubbed and mixed at Sound Shop. Veteran rock producer Nick Venet (The Beach Boys, The Hondells, and Stone Poneys) was another frequent Sound Shop customer. In an October 1972 issue of Billboard, Venet sang the praises of the Sound Shop engineers, saying, “They’re deeply involved in both music and technology. They function like associate producers. Their efficiency saves me a lot of money.” In addition to cutting great records, Buddy Killen’s love of publicity ensured that the Sound Shop name made frequent appearances in both the trade press and mass media. He brought in photographers to document sessions and actively pursued record deals for many Hollywood celebrities, including Burt Reynold’s notorious 1973 “so bad it’s good” album, Ask Me What I Am. With studio time in high demand, some projects were divided between various Nashville studios, such as Grand Funk Railroad’s 1972 album, Phoenix, which was recorded at Sound Shop and then

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It only took one visit to the studio to convince McCartney to ‘give it a go.’ mixed at Quadrafonic Sound. The album, which produced the Top 40 hit “Rock ’N Roll Soul,” proved to be a turning point for the band as they consolidated the trademark sound that led to their first No. 1 single, “We’re An American Band,” the following year. The Sound Shop’s most famous brush with rock & roll celebrity came in the summer of 1974 when McCartney brought his entire family and his band Wings to town. Lee Eastman was Killen’s attorney, as well as McCartney’s father-in-law and business manager. He asked Killen to find a country retreat near Nashville McCartney could lease for several weeks for a country vacation, sightseeing, and rehearsals for Wings’ upcoming tour of the U.S. After failing to find a suitable location for a reasonable price, Killen talked songwriter Curly Putman into renting his 133-acre farm located just outside Lebanon. With McCartney footing the bill for a Hawaiian vacation for Putman and his wife, the former Beatle moved his entourage to Tennessee the first week of June 1974. “They weren’t going to cut here, but Buddy was thinking, ‘Hmm, I’ve got a studio … ,’ and his plan worked,” Winfrey says. It only took one visit to the studio to convince McCartney to “give it a go,” but not everyone in his entourage was convinced at first, as the engineer recalls. “Alan Crowder, his road manager, pulled me aside and very seriously asked me if we could record rock & roll,” Winfrey continues. “I don’t know what was going through his mind. I think it was the simple fact that he didn’t know if we were capable of it. I said, ‘Hell yes, I do it at every opportunity I can!’ ” The McCartney sessions took place during the first two weeks of July. The band cut the songs “Junior’s Farm” and “Sally G,” which became a double-sided hit single for Wings that fall. They also recorded the Denny Laine composition “Send Me the Heart,” as well as “Walking in the Park with Eloise,” a Dixieland-style instrumental written by McCartney’s father that was released under the nom de plume, The Country Hams. Overdubs for several songs they had already tracked in London were also recorded, including “Hey Diddle,” “Bridge on a River Suite,” and “Wide Prairie.” Despite the thrill of working with McCartney, Winfrey says it wasn’t that different from other Sound Shop sessions, at least at first. “Paul’s limo would come to the back of the building so they could unload their gear,” Winfrey explains. “They would come in and leisurely set up their stuff. They had a 82

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Grand Funk Railroad stays on track at the Sound Shop

Standing left to right: Grand Funk’s roadie (name unknown), Mel Schacher (bass), Billy Sherrill, Mark Farner (guitar, lead vocals), Gene Eichelberger, and Ernie Winfrey. Kneeling left to right: Craig Frost (keyboards) and Don Brewer (drums). —Courtesy Ernie Winfrey

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The Ballad of ‘EINRE YERFNIW’ O

ne of the most eye-catching features of Ernie Winfrey’s photos from the Paul McCartney Sound Shop sessions is his one-of-a-kind, “EINRE YERFNIW” baseball shirt. Currently on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as part of the Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City exhibit, the shirt, like many aspects of the Sound Shop story, has a tale of its own. In the spring of 1974, singer-songwriter Jeffrey Comanor was in Nashville recording his first album for Epic Records. Comanor, who is best remembered for his role as a member of the versatile and malleable vocal trio “The Juicy Fruits/Beach Bums/Undead” in the 1974 rock & roll cult movie classic, The Phantom of the Paradise, surprised Ernie with a special and “useful” gift. “After the sessions we would go out and hit the bars,” Winfrey recalls. “He came in with that one day, and he said, ‘Take this shirt and put it on when you go to bed at night. When you wake up the next morning, you can look in the mirror and remember who you are.’ ”

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roadie-type guy helping them, but Paul always carried his own guitar. “Buddy tried to keep it as quiet as he could, but somehow word got out. After a few days, we ended up with people outside the building trying to see Paul — front, back, everywhere. The limo driver had to pull down the driveway and all the way around to the back with people all around the car. Paul said he had learned how to handle crowds as a Beatle. He said you just have to walk slowly and smile. The important thing was not to run and scare them into a panic.” Veteran Nashville musicians joined the band for some of the McCartney sessions. Sherrill recalls they made quite an impression on McCartney. “He got Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, Lloyd Green, and some others in the studio,” Sherrill says. “Paul played them the song on the guitar once, and Chet started making out a numbers chart (the simple and efficient musical chord charting system used by Nashville session players). Paul asked him if he wanted to hear it again, but Chet said he had it and kept writing. Paul wanted to know what he was doing, and Chet started explaining the Nashville number system. Paul was just shocked. He’d never seen anything like that before, and it freaked him out, which I thought was very cool.” Winfrey recalls McCartney was impressed with not only Nashville’s musical shorthand, but also the pure skill of the Nashville cats’ ability to adapt to challenges. “On one song, Paul was playing an ocarina, and Lloyd Green was on steel guitar,” he says. “Ocarinas are notorious for being slightly out of tune, and Lloyd had to tune his steel ever so slightly whichever way that ocarina wanted to go.” Although the McCartney sessions brought rock & roll flash to Sound Shop, as a studio and production facility, its best and busiest days were still ahead. By the start of 1975, Killen had bought out his partners’ interests and become the sole owner of the building, equipment, and production company. “I think Buddy just wanted the studio for himself,” Sherrill says. “He was really busy, and the others guys would get hacked off if they couldn’t get studio time. It was just one of those things.” Although Killen now had primary say, he also recognized the importance of the income from the commercial jingle business. In February 1975, he forged a new partnership for the Sound Shop production company with experienced jingle producers Craig Deitschmann and John Shulenberger. They brought many prestigious clients with them, including Budweiser, Lincoln-Mercury, Bell Telephone, and General Electric. In the spring of 1975, Sherrill left Sound Shop for a position at Jack Clement Recording. Not long thereafter, Mike Bradley, a fellow Murray State graduate, looked him up for advice, and Sherrill sent him to Sound Shop. “I met with Craig Dietschmann, who was the studio manager at the

time,” Bradley says. “He said we’ve got big plans over here, we want to build another studio, and you’re welcome to hang around until there’s a reason to staff somebody. That’s what I did. Ernie Winfrey was doing most of the big record sessions at night. I worked a security job in the daytime, and then I would hang around and watch over Ernie’s shoulder all night. After a few months, Craig offered to let me run the dub room.” Within a year Bradley was a full-time engineer, mostly working on jingle sessions. “At that time, a lot of guys didn’t like to do jingles, but I had a ball doing them,” Bradley says. “I got to work with so many different musical styles. I would work with 25 different singers every week. I got to know people rapidly, and the speed I developed would be valuable later on.”

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I don’t know about Bill, but that Hillary, she’s the one to watch. Bradley worked on many well-known jingles, including the popular and fondly remembered “Tennessee Trash” campaign for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Sound Shop was one of the busiest production houses for commercial jingles in the U.S., and Bradley worked with many celebrities — Hollywood actors, sports figures, and even a future president. “We did the campaign for Bill Clinton when he was running for governor of Arkansas,” Bradley says. “Craig went down there and spent a couple of weeks with them out on the campaign trail. When he came back he said, ‘I don’t know about Bill, but that Hillary, she’s the one to watch.” By 1977, Sound Shop’s business was evenly divided between record production and jingle work, with the jingle sessions usually being held in the mornings or late afternoons and record sessions starting around 6 p.m. and often going into the late-night hours. With the studio running at full capacity, a $300,000 upgrade and expansion was undertaken. The main entrance was relocated to the side of the building, and a smaller Studio B was added along with a reception area between the two studios; a second floor for additional office space was also added during the build out. Although R&B and rock records were still cut at Sound Shop, including hit albums for R&B singer Millie Jackson and some tracks for Neil Young’s 1978 LP, Comes A Time, the growth in country sales during the late ’70s and into the early ’80s meant that country sessions were becoming more prevalent in the studio. “We cut a lot of country records during that time,” Winfrey C O N TIN U E D O N PAG E 1 2 0 July | August 2015

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TheNonbattle of Nashville How one of the biggest prizes of the Civil War was taken without a shot â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and how East Nashville was at the center of it all

By Randy Horick

This page and facing page: Nashville streetscapes circa 1864. These photographs were taken near the State Capitol building. Source: Library of Congress

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ost Nashvillians, even the newer arrivals, know a Civil War battle took place here. It’s hard, after all, to drive through certain parts of the city and not notice the historical markers. Fewer know what history records as the Battle of Nashville occurred near the end of the war and involved invading Confederate soldiers. And perhaps an even smaller number realize that the December 1864 battle was not the decisive engagement that some have claimed, but rather the ugly anticlimax to the bloody, ruinous Pickett’s Charge-in-miniature that had taken place two weeks earlier during the Battle of Franklin. The truly decisive Civil War event here — the nonbattle of Nashville — happened in February 1862. No one was killed. Not a shot was fired. The only fighting was between Confederate troops and the local population for food and resources. Yet this nonbattle set the course of the entire war west of the Appalachians. Ultimately, Nashville would become the most heavily fortified city in Union hands next to Washington, D.C., and the supply base that provisioned Sherman’s march to Atlanta. And when the nonbattle unfolded, East Nashville was at its center.

The Role of Nashville When the Civil War began, Nashville ranked as one of the South’s largest and most sophisticated cities. Then, as now, its location made it a major transportation hub and distribution center, and its commercial district was booming. Only Philadelphia had more medical schools. Its homes and muddy streets were lit by gas, and the city had its own ice plant. Of Nashville’s roughly 30,000 inhabitants, about 6,000 were black, and 1,000 of them were free. The present route of the inner interstate highway loop (I-265) roughly delineates the city’s limits west of the Cumberland River circa 1861. The Dominican Convent in Metro Center stood at the northern fringe of town. The station for the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad was in The Gulch, just six blocks from the western edge of town. The terminus of a railroad that ran to Decatur, Ala., was located at what is now Broadway and Sixth Avenue (various lines had their own stations, much as London still has today). The old Howard

School and the University of Nashville were near the south end on Rutledge Hill On the east bank stood the unincorporated village of Edgefield, already gaining appeal among affluent homebuyers. The two sides of the river had been connected for barely a decade. An elegant suspension bridge, constructed in 1850, had become part of Nashville’s skyline. Then in 1859, a gleaming new railroad bridge went up to serve the L&N and the Edgefield and Kentucky lines. Edgefield itself extended only a few blocks beyond the river, bounded on one side by present-day Main Street and on the other by Fatherland Street. In order to reach Nashville from the north by land, the only route was through Edgefield. When Tennessee became the last state to join the Confederacy in 1861, Nashville figured prominently in Rebel plans. It became the supply base for Confederate armies that formed a rough line across southern Kentucky. The provisions and equipment that went north from Nashville by rail came through Edgefield. Confederate troops camped on the east side of the river before heading north and northwest along the same routes that today mark Dickerson, Gallatin, and Whites Creek Pikes. For all its strategic importance, Nashville itself had no real defenses. Instead, the Rebels concentrated their efforts downstream, near the Kentucky border. Fort Donelson, just outside Dover, Tenn., had guns capable of repulsing Union gunboats that came up the Cumberland from the Ohio River, and a formidable garrison to match. Fort Donelson’s companion, Fort Henry, on the other side of what is now the Land Between the Lakes, guarded the Tennessee River. By mid-February of 1862, Nashville eagerly awaited the daily reports from Fort Donelson, under assault by Union forces after Fort Henry fell. The news was good until it wasn’t. First, Nashvillians heard how Fort Donelson’s batteries had turned back Federal gunboats, badly damaging their flagship. Then, on Friday, Feb. 14, they cheered dispatches describing how so many dead Union soldiers lay outside Fort Donelson’s earthworks that a man could walk across the field without touching the soggy ground. But the celebration wouldn’t outlive the weekend.

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We found the town in a perfect tumult. —local newspaperman John Miller McKee July | August 2015

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This series of photographs was taken in 1864 during the Union armyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s occupation of Nashville. Clockwise from top: Railroad yard with the State Capitol in the distance. The view from Rutledge Hill looking northwest; the Cumberland River is visible in the center of the photograph. A downtown streetscape near the Capitol. Source: Library of Congress

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The Great Panic Sunday, Feb. 16, brought news of disaster: Donelson and roughly 13,000 Confederate troops had yielded to U.S. Grant, who earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” from the battle. Nashville, for the time being, was defenseless. As word advanced almost virally on that cold, rainy morning, panic seized the city. Churches abruptly dismissed their services. Some worshippers said their ministers had warned them to prepare for a bloody slave insurrection. One local girl, Rowena Webster, recalled “a reign of terror and confusion” as women and children scrambled home from church and “darkies smiling at the scene.” Rumors spread that 35,000 Union troops were already in Springfield, just 25 miles away, and would arrive in Edgefield by nightfall. Union gunboats supposedly had passed Clarksville and would begin shelling Nashville later in the afternoon. Around 11 a.m., another rumor took off: Gov. Isham Harris had decreed that all women and children should be out of the city within three hours. According to an account by local newspaperman John Miller McKee, “We found the town in a perfect tumult.” Supporters of the Rebel government hastily threw belongings into bags and jammed Nashville’s train stations. Some who couldn’t

secure seats rode atop passenger cars. Wagons jammed the roads. Hiring a private conveyance suddenly became impossibly expensive. Many left on foot, carrying trunks on their backs or bundles in hand. Before the afternoon was over, the Bank of Tennessee had hauled its gold and silver to the safe remove of Columbia. Gov. Harris and the legislature fled for Memphis. V.K. Stevenson, president of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, left town by private train, shirking his duties as a Confederate officer in the quartermaster corps. Maggie Vaulx, age 17, was also among the refugees. Her parents dispatched her from their suburban estate on Franklin Pike, in what is now the Melrose area, to stay with cousins 20 miles south near Triune. “Oh! What a miserable, wretched day I have spent,” Vaulx wrote in her diary. “This night our city will be surrendered to the Yankees, and how many peaceful and happy homes will be made desolate!” No Yankees appeared by Sunday night; instead, thousands of Confederate troops arrived from Bowling Green, which they abandoned after Fort Donelson’s fall. That night, Nashville Mayor R.B. Cheatham crossed the suspension bridge and called on the Rebel commander, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, at his Edgefield headquarters. Johnston told Cheatham he intended to leave Nashville; attempting to defend it would put the city and its inhabitants at risk. Johnston suggested when the Federals arrived, Cheatham should place the city under their protection. Cheatham returned to an eagerly waiting crowd at the public square (today, the parking lot in front of the Metro Courthouse) and reported the news from Johnston. He also announced that whatever food the Rebels couldn’t take with them in their haste would be distributed to residents. The next day, shops and businesses across the city were closed. Nashville’s numerous newspapers ceased publication. Train stations remained packed with frantic citizens. Johnston, who would be dead within two months at Shiloh, had already marched his army south. Their place was taken in Edgefield by retreating Confederate units under the command of Gen. John Floyd that had fought past Union lines at Fort Donelson and escaped. In tow they brought a group of Union prisoners, some of whom were wounded. One of them, A.F. Gilbert of the 17th Volunteer Illinois Infantry, recalled being tended by Mrs. John Bell, whose husband had carried Tennessee in the presidential election of 1860 under the banner of the Constitutional Union Party. Had her husband won, Mrs. Bell told the Yankees, there would have been no war. Fresh rumors continued to alarm the locals. One began with a troop of Texas Rangers, who allegedly vowed to burn the city rather than let the Yankees have it. Already on edge because

of the Rangers, residents were abruptly awakened when fire bells sounded in the middle of night on Monday. From their windows, it appeared the whole riverfront was in flames. At the lower wharf, near where Broadway ends at the river, the Confederates had been converting two steamboats into gunboats. Fearful that the boats would fall into Yankee hands, the military authorities set them ablaze. While the city had been in no danger, the fire exacerbated the sense of panic among Nashvillians. The next night brought two more fires. After the remaining Rebel troops crossed into Nashville from Edgefield, and despite pleas from city leaders, the Confederates torched both bridges over the Cumberland. The twoyear-old railroad trestle had been constructed with $250,000 from local investors, who lost everything. The fine suspension bridge had been designed by Nashville architect Augustus Heiman, now a Union prisoner with the rest of his regiment at Fort Donelson. All week, the scene at the riverfront warehouses bordered on riot, as crowds with wheelbarrows and baskets pressed forward in the rain to receive promised distributions of food. With local markets closed, the demand for food became more urgent each day. Other Nashvillians, employees of the Confederate government who had gone weeks without pay, saw the food as their rightful compensation — which was just as well, since Confederate money became practically worthless during the Panic. On Wednesday, amid heavy rain and thunderstorms, Gen. Floyd, whom Johnston left in charge, ordered a halt to the giveaway. With no Federals yet in sight, Floyd concluded that more supplies could be evacuated than had previously been assumed. Before leaving town himself, Floyd tasked Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, whose cavalry also had escaped Fort Donelson, with getting the 250,000 pounds of bacon, flour, clothing, and ammunition from the warehouses near the river to the railroad depots across town. For the effort, which took three days, Forrest commandeered wagons, mules, and people (both slave and free). A bank president was among those impressed into service, apparently at random. As the crowd clamored, the troopers charged recklessly into their midst, swords brandished. It was the only time during the week that weapons were drawn in hostility. Fearing a massacre, Mayor Cheatham called out the city’s steam fire engine and directed the fireman to pump frigid, brown water from the Cumberland and douse the crowd. “The effect was magical,” wrote one eyewitness. The riot was averted with no loss of life. Meanwhile, the heavy rains had slowed the Federals, who seemed to be in no hurry. Forrest, along with the city’s last remaining Confederate troops, was prepared to leave on short notice. He used the lull to full

July | August 2015

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Siting the SURRENDER

➵

here is no marker noting precisely where the surrender of Nashville took place on Feb. 25, 1862. It fell to historian Debie Oeser Cox to find the spot. Cox, who writes a blog on Nashville history, received a forwarded query from a man hoping to find out the Edgefield address of one Charles A. Fuller (upper right). The man’s wife was a descendant of a Union major who had been present at the surrender — and who wrote a letter stating that Nashville Mayor R. B. Cheatham had handed the city over to Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell (lower right) in Fuller’s home. Intrigued, Cox went to work. First, she found Fuller, a New York-born printer and publisher and a Mason who achieved the rank of Grand Commander. He was 45 at the time of the surrender and died three years after the war ended. Next, Cox searched deed records on microfilm and discovered that Fuller had paid $11,000 for six lots fronting Woodland Street in 1858. Soon after, Fuller sold two of the lots to the Rev. J.B. McFerrin, who headed the Methodist Publishing House. But the records showed Fuller owned a good deal of property. How could one be certain exactly where he made his home? Fortuitously, Cox found that Fuller had executed a trust deed for the remaining four lots on Woodland, in exchange for a cash advance — an early version, apparently, of a home equity loan. In September of 1865, he obtained a deed of release indicating that the money had been repaid. Both deeds — one from just before the war and the other from just after — showed that Fuller’s home was on these four lots. Later in 1865, Fuller sold his two-story, wood-frame home to the Plummer family for $9,000. Cox found an address for the Plummers in a postwar city directory: 612 Woodland (see map). The home stood for another 50 years, until all the houses on that side of the block were consumed in the Great East Nashville Fire of 1916. After that, the Nashville Board of Park Commissioners purchased two square blocks where the ruined homes had stood and turned the land into what is now East Park. Why Gen. Buell chose Charles Fuller’s home for his headquarters remains a mystery.

The arrow points to 612 Woodland St., where the surrender of Nashville took place. Source: Sanborn Insurance Map circa 1888, courtesy of Metro Nashville Archives

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The Battle of EDGEFIELD

hroughout the spring and summer of 1862, supplies for the Union army steadily poured into Nashville by river and rail. Because of its importance, Confederate raiders menaced the city all year, raising hopes of deliverance among the white locals. From Lebanon and Hartsville, John Hunt Morgan’s raiders regularly struck in Gallatin and other points north of the city. In one of their most devastating attacks, they blew up a locomotive in a tunnel, shutting down the rail line to Louisville for months. On Nov. 5, 1862, the city experienced real fighting. As with the surrender, it happened on the east side of the river. In a coordinated action, Nathan Bedford Forrest moved 6,500 Confederates from the Rebel army’s headquarters in Murfreesboro and engaged Federal defenders south of the city. Meanwhile, Morgan’s cavalry dashed into Edgefield to destroy rail facilities and rolling stock. However, upon his arrival Morgan (pictured below) met unexpectedly tough resistance from an Illinois unit; he burned only eight freight cars and an old railroad building. Between the two sides, there were nearly 100 killed and wounded. The engagement in Edgefield might accurately be called the first Battle of Nashville.

Nashville’s strategic importance during the Civil War cannot be overstated. Then, as now, the city served as a major transportation hub. During the war, it was the Union’s main supply depot in the West (lands east of the Appalachians in mid-19th century parlance). Top: U.S. Quartermaster’s repair shops on Nashville Turnpike, March, 1864 Bottom: Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Depot, March, 1864 Source: Library of Congress

July | August 2015

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advantage by arranging for the transport of rifling machinery and other equipment to Atlanta. Methodist minister Holland McTyeire, editor of the Nashville Christian Advocate and later a principal actor in the founding of Vanderbilt University, also capitalized on the weeklong reprieve. Days earlier he had evacuated his family to Decatur, Ala. Then, seizing the opportunity, he returned to his Edgefield home just long enough to burn papers linking him to the secessionist movement.

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The Yankees Arrive On Sunday morning, Feb. 23, Nashvillians witnessed the advance edge of the Union army arriving in Edgefield. No longer able to avail himself of the bridges, Mayor Cheatham crossed the rain-swollen river in a rowboat, intent on placing the city under the U.S. Army’s protection. He was disappointed to find that the highest-ranking officer was only a captain. He returned to an anxious crowd at the Public Square with the captain’s assurance that the

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Union army would preserve Nashvillians’ rights and property. About noon, a Union colonel arrived, and Cheatham rowed over again. The colonel reassured the mayor that the Federals had no intent to liberate slaves. A general, he said, would be along in a day or two to accept Nashville’s surrender. In the interim, Forrest’s men lingered on the west bank. On their final day in the city they blew up what remained in their arsenal, including several thousand rifles the Confederates had previously confiscated from local citizens. After darkness fell, Forrest’s cavalry decamped for Murfreesboro, leaving Nashville an open city. Early on Tuesday, nine days after the Great Panic began, a lookout atop the state Capitol spotted a Federal gunboat steaming up the Cumberland. A crowd gathered to watch the ship stop near the east bank and train its guns ominously on the city. A Union officer reported

that thousands stared in silence as another boat reached the west-bank landing and began unloading a regiment of Ohio troops. Preceded by their regimental band, the Federals marched to “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Yankee Doodle” as they ringed the Public Square. From there, they paraded up Cedar Street (now Charlotte Avenue) to the Capitol. Along the way, they passed citizens who lined the road in silence; one Northern reporter compared it to a funeral procession. Later, the band elicited a cheer when they struck up “Dixie.” The troops also were greeted by some of the few hundred Unionists who had opposed secession and remained in the city. One, who had proudly displayed the Stars and Stripes even after Confederate rule began, took down her flag temporarily out of consideration for her neighbors. But William Driver, a retired sea captain, trotted out the flag that had

once accompanied him to the South Pacific. He presented the banner to a Union officer, requesting that he raise it above the Capitol “to replace that damned Confederate flag set there by that damned Rebel governor.” At 8:45 a.m., Old Glory, as Driver styled it, replaced the Stars and Bars. Later, Mayor Cheatham and nine other leading citizens crossed to Edgefield, this time via steamboat. They were keeping an 11 a.m. appointment with Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell, who had arrived the night before and set up headquarters in a private home next to what is now the East Park Community Center (see sidebar). There, the delegation formally surrendered the city. By evening, nearly 12,000 Federal troops were in Nashville and Edgefield. The nonbattle of Nashville was over. The city was now in Union hands, where it would remain until the war’s end.

2 for 1

mimosas

The first Union dress parade in Nashville. The 51st Regiment Ohio volunteers led by Col. Stanley Mathews on dress parade in Nashville, Tuesday, March 4, 1862. Sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Regt. O.V.U.S.A. Published by Middleton, Strobridge & Co., Lithographer, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1862 Source: Library of Congress

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NOW SERVING

DAILY BRUNCH TUESDAY-SUNDAY ‘TIL 3pm 1313 Woodland St 615.226.1617

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Cookin IN THE ’ ’HOOD Recipes from East Nashville favorites

BY AMY HARRIS

Bloodless Bloody Mary THE RECIPE:

4 ounces clarified tomato juice 1 ounce Referent Horseradish Infused Vodka 1 ounce Absolut Peppar vodka

TO SERVE

Garnish with celery stick, cherry tomatoes, and sweet pickle spears.

he Bloody Mary. What a mysterious and vulgar name — and rather fitting for such a savory and bold intoxicant. So what about that name? Queen Mary I is definitely not the namesake, despite earning the nickname Bloody Mary for her persecution of Protestants in England and Ireland during the 16th century. The origin of the name is not known for certain, but the drink itself was conceived at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris circa 1920. Ferdinand “Pete” Petiot was the mixologist (they were called bartenders back then) of record, and he brought his creation with him when he moved to Manhattan to take over bartending duties at the King Cole Room in the St. Regis hotel. In its role as the iconic brunch cocktail, the Bloody Mary is famously — and erroneously — known for “curing” a hangover. But there is nothing wrong with choosing this drink for a morning remedy, or even as an excuse for a daytime buzz. One of the most versatile cocktails, there are several versions of the Bloody Mary from

which to choose, and it can be loaded with a wide variety of ingredients. Tomato is the singular common denominator, and you can add to that a unique concoction of cayenne pepper, horseradish, hot sauce, peppercorns, balsamic syrup, Worcestershire sauce, and pickled vegetables. Sometimes you might think you’ve ordered a salad. Sipping a thick purée of tomatoes and spices may not be appetizing during the heat of summer. That’s why in lieu of the bloody there is the bloodless, clarified version, meaning there is no pulp. The Bloodless Bloody Mary transforms this drink into a softer, more delicate cocktail with fresh, fruity flavors. The recipe below, provided by Andrew Bryant at Porter Road Bistro, is light and refreshing; a lovely beverage in its own right or even a pleasant introduction to this classic cocktail. Perfect for summertime and a great way to celebrate tomato season and the Tomato Art Festival!

July | August 2015

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR J U L Y | A U G U S T 2015

EMMA ALFORD CALENDAR EDITOR

FOR UP-TO -DATE INFORMATION ON EVENTS, AS WELL AS LINKS, PLEASE VISIT US AT: THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

UPCOMING

one film comprised of three parts. Saturday has enlisted a trinity of local directors (Motke Dapp, Dycee Wildman, and Jonathan Rogers) and each has created a short film for different sections of the album. This unique, year-long collaboration will culminate in private-screening of the film at The Crying Wolf. Copious amounts of food, libations, and celebration to follow. Due to limited space, the event is invite-only. Email Krystyn to request invitations. kristyn@apple-road.com 823 Woodland St.

SUMMER CINEMA AT CHURCH Movies on the Lawn

8 p.m., July 18, Aug. 8, and Sept. 19, Eastwood Christian Church Catch a show in the summer air with the whole family on the front lawn of Eastwood Christian Church. They’re bringing back their summer movie series for your viewing pleasure. Past flick picks include Star Wars and Frozen. A little birdy told us they’ll have old classics and new classics sure to please the whole fam. The best part, it’s free. Film starts rolling at sundown. 1601 Eastland Ave.

SCHOOL OF ROCK

YOU’RE GLOWING

The Glo Run 5K 8:45 p.m., Saturday, July 11, LP Field

Even if you’re afraid of the dark, this 5K has your back. The Glo Run is back this year with the theme “Neon Safari.” The course is set up with plenty of fun, glowtastic decorations along the track — plus your registration fee will score you an event shirt and glo-swag. Party on after the run at the DJ party and costume contest that follow. 1 Titans Way

Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp Showcase

KICKING DUST AGAINST CANCER

2 p.m. Saturday, July 11, Basement East

GARDENING, NOT ARCHITECTURE’S BOUNTIFUL HARVEST

‘Fossils’ Album Release Party and Private Screening Saturday, July 11, The Crying Wolf Sarah Saturday, East Nashvillite and songstress of Gardening, Not Architecture, has harvested quite the unique album experience with her upcoming third release, Fossils. Here’s the DL about Fossils: eight songs, three directors, and

Shirley Temple ain’t got nothing on this. Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp, hosted by YEAH! (Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities), teaches young girls ages 1017 how to rock. This rock & roll boot camp culminates in a performance by the newly formed camp bands. The young Patti Smiths hone their skills and collaborate on songs about the stuff of any tween’s imagination, such as space travel, kittens, and pizza. There is a suggested $10 donation, which goes straight to YEAH!’s scholarship fund. There will be a second performance at Mercy Lounge on July 18 at noon. 917 Woodland St.

Brain Tumor Alliance’s 5K

7 a.m., Saturday, July 11, Shelby Bottoms Park

Shelby Park is hosting this year’s Brain Tumor Alliance’s 5K, formerly named the Moving Toward a Cure 5K. This run/walk promotes the Brain Tumor Alliance, an organization that helps promote brain tumor awareness and assists in finding treatment options and cures for the disease. Lace up those sneaks and support this cause. Onsite registration begins at 7 a.m. with the run kicking off at 8 a.m. S. 20th St.

MY MORNING JACKET WITH MOON TAXI AUGUST 6

STEELY DAN & ELVIS COSTELLO AUGUST 8

PETER FRAMPTON & CHEAP TRICK AUGUST 16

SUBLIME WITH ROME, REBELUTION AND PEPPER AUGUST 18

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW AUGUST 28

ZZ TOP WITH BLACKBERRY SMOKE SEPTEMBER 1

DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE OCTOBER 9

GRACE POTTER OCTOBER 10

JACKSON BROWNE

SEPTEMBER 23

OCTOBER 11

310 1st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37201 • AscendAmphitheater.com @AscendAmphitheater

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Charge By Phone: 800-745-3000. All dates, acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice. Ticket prices subject to applicable fees.

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Defunct Books Buy Sell Trade

is coming to 5 points!

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CATCH THE BUG

Theater Bug’s Audition Preparation for Plays and Musicals July 13-18, Theater Bug

Nothing personal, but Theater Bug wants you to break a leg. If you’ve been busting your acting chops trying to prepare for that upcoming audition, the Bug’s got your back. They’re hosting two one-week classes, focusing on acting and musicals respectively. You’ll practice monologues and songs, cold read, and tighten up your resume to make those casting directors call back. Prepare for your standing ovation. 4809 Gallatin Pike, 615.818.7358

YOU’RE A STAR

Star Party 8:30 p.m., Friday, July 24, and Saturday, Aug 1, The East Room

They call it “Productive Partying.” We don’t know what that means, but we do know this night has a lot of moving parts. For tunes, they’ll host some psychedelic bands and funky DJs. There will also be some type of live experimental theater or performance art. Seems like there is something for everyone here. 2412 Gallatin Ave.

TIME TO KETCHUP AT TOMATO FEST Tomato Art Fest

Aug. 7-8, 5 Points

Chop ’em up, put them in a soup, squish ’em between bread, eat ’em whole, or host a festival in their honor — any way you slice it, we love tomatoes. The Tomato Art Fest is returning in August, redder and better than before. You’ll be able to find a menagerie of live entertainment, choice local tomato art, food vendors, contests, and games. It’s probably the only time of the year it pays off to be a ginger — the brightest of the bunch can enter the fest’s annual Red Head competition. Get there in time to catch the ’mater parade. And if you’ve been eating your vegetables — or fruits — join in on the 5K to kick off the festivities. You can bank on having the tastiest Bloody Mary of the year. Check the fest’s website for details about prefest events like the crowning of the Tomato King and Queen. Plus you can scope out all the other happenings going around at the event on Saturday. You’ll be seeing red. www.tomatoartfest.com

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LION’S LESSON LEARNED

Men’s Event: Are You Ready for a Second Chance? 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 15, Dalewood United Methodist Church

The author of Saved Twice, Andy Peterson, will be speaking at Dalewood United Methodist’s annual Men’s Event. He’ll share the memorable story of how his life dramatically changed after surviving a mountain lion attack. He has spread his message of inspiration on numerous programs, including Oprah and Larry King Live. If you want to hear the captivating story of how he lived to tell the tale, call Dalewood or visit their website for tickets. Tickets will also be available at the door. 2300 Ridgecrest Dr., 615.389.5182

REMEMBERING WWII

World War II Remembrance Day & Encampment Weekend Aug. 15-16, Amqui Station & Visitor Center Madison is paying homage to our military history this August with a special remembrance-day weekend. To kick off the weekend on Saturday, there will be a Stage Door Canteen/USO-style dance with big band music for rug cutting. Don your best 1940s attire for this shindig. On Sunday, Aug. 16, there will be “living history” with reenactors and an encampment, a military vehicle show, plus more exhibits and museum theater. There will also be a recognition ceremony for local World War II veterans. All veterans are encouraged to attend the event with their family and share their stories. The Sunday event is free to the public. The dance is $10 per person, $15 per couple, and free to any World War II vets or active military. 301-B Madison St., Madison, TN 37115 Upcoming exhibits @ KT Wolf Gallery In Two Worlds by Patrick Adams Opening July 11, 6 p.m. Exhibition Dates: July 11-Aug. 2 Scribble by Alic Daniel Opening Aug. 8, 6 p.m. Exhibition Dates: Aug. 8-Sept. 13

EAST SIDE CALENDAR

SHELBY PARK

4-6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 1 All ages, registration required

SUMMER EVENTS & CLASSES

Jazzy Bottoms Sunset Soirée 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 1 All ages, no registration

Check online to learn about more Shelby Park events as they plan them this summer! Paddling TN 7-8 p.m., Thursday, July 9 All ages, registration required Nature Art 1-2 p.m., Friday, July 10 All ages, no registration Creek Crawl 9:30-11 a.m., Saturday, July 11 All ages, no registration Painting & Picnicking 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, July 11 All ages, call or email to register Story Time 10-10:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 15 All ages, no registration Picking Party and Campfire 6-7:30 p.m., Friday, July 17 All ages, registration required Bike Ride to Bicentennial Mall and Farmers Market 9-11 a.m., Saturday, July 18 Ages 12 and up, registration required Body Works 9:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday, July 18 Ages 18 and up, registration required A Rotten Good Time 2-3 p.m., Saturday, July 18 All ages (6+ ideally), registration required Summer Morning Walk 8-9 a.m., Friday, July 24 All ages, registration required Pet Community Center’s Humane Solutions 3-4 p.m., Saturday, July 25 All ages, registration required Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party 5-10 p.m., Saturday, July 25 All ages (inside hangar of Cornelia Fort Airpark) Story Time 10-10:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 29 All ages, no registration Full Moon Mosey 8:30-9:30 p.m., Friday, July 31 All ages, registration required Opening reception for “plein-air translations” by David Wariner

July 2 SPRINGER MOUNTAIN FARMS BLUEGRASS NIGHTS AT THE RYMAN

Sunset Painting Party: Nature Painting Night Series 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 5 Ages 21+, registration required

DAILEY & VINCENT

July 23

Feeding Frenzy Bike Ride 7-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 6 All ages, registration required

SPRINGER MOUNTAIN FARMS BLUEGRASS NIGHTS AT THE RYMAN

ROBERT EARL KEEN with The SteelDrivers

Bird Walk 8-9 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 8 All ages, registration required

July 30 SPRINGER MOUNTAIN FARMS BLUEGRASS NIGHTS AT THE RYMAN

RICKY SKAGGS AND KENTUCKY THUNDER

Edible Native Plants 10-11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 8 All ages, registration required Dog Days of Summer Fest Noon-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 8 All ages, no registration

August 2

DEEP PURPLE

Story Time 10-10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 12 All ages, no registration

August 23

JOHN HIAT & THE COMBO AND THE TAJ MAHAL TRIO

Body Works 9:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 15 Ages 18 and up, registration required Urban Wildlife 2-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 15 All ages, registration required

September 5

CHERUB

Dusk Walk 7-8 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 20 All ages, registration required

September 22

INDIGO GIRLS

Wildlife: The Tragedy of the Trade 6-8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 21 All ages, registration required National Honey Bee Day 1-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 22 All ages, no registration

September 25

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD with Bad Suns and Hunny

Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party 5-10 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 22 All ages (inside hangar of Cornelia Fort Airpark) Story Time 10-10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26 All ages, no registration Meadow Walk 8:30-9:30 a.m., Friday, Aug. 28 All ages, registration required Jazzy Bottoms Sunset Soirée 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 28 All ages, no registration

Fresh • Local • Rotisserie

NOW OPEN Dine-in • Grab & go • 7a-7p

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR

RECURRING Ticket giveaways to Ascend Amphitheater, City Winery, and Music City Roots are available through our newsletter and Facebook page.

TELL ME A STORY East Side Storytellin’ 7 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays of each month, The Post

Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? East Side Story has partnered with WAMB radio to present an all-out affair with book readings, musical performances, and author/musician interviews in just one evening. Look for this event twice each month. If you want some adult beverages, feel free to BYOB. 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 East Side Story ahead of time. 1701 Fatherland St. Suite A, 615.915.1808

OMG, DOGS!

East C.A.N. Monthly Adoption Event 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., first Saturday of every month through summer, OMG

Cute shop, cute dogs, maybe even cute humans — this event is doggone adorable. East C.A.N. will be hosting a monthly adoption event at OMG throughout the summer, with precious adoptable pups on-site in search of their fur-ever home. You can buy the vintage Justin boots you’ve been eyeing and find a fur nugget to chew them up in one stop. Help support both of these great East Nashville staples. Even if you’re not looking to adopt, who can resist giving a pooch a good head scratching? For the month of August, they’re skipping OMG in lieu of Tomato Art Fest, where they will have their pooch booth set up for your petting pleasure. 3701-B Gallatin Pike

CALLING ALL PICKERS

Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party One Saturday each month July 25, Aug. 22, Sept. 19, Oct. 17 Mandolins and flat-top guitars. Banjos and dobros. As long as it isn’t electrified it’s

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welcome at the first season of the East Side’s very own pickin’ party. Head on down to Cornelia Fort Airpark with your instrument and you’ll get a two beers for the $10 cost of admission. Just wanna listen? No worries, you’ll still get a beer for the ten bucks. Ages 12-20 pay $5 since they don’t get beers, and kids under 12 are free. Cornelia Fort Airpark

TAKE ME TO THE PICTURE SHOW

Grassy Knoll Movie Nights 7 p.m., second Sunday of every month, side lawn, Bongo Java East

Bring your own blanket, relax, and enjoy the show. Grassy Knoll movie nights are back! They’ll be playing our favorite cult classics all summer. Get out and enjoy the summer breeze. Who needs IMAX, anyway? Park it on the grass next to Bongo East instead. It’ll only cost you $5 to watch, or $4 with a canned food donation to Second Harvest. Only $1 for the kiddies. Food trucks and local brews will be on standby, so you won’t go hungry or thirsty. Check Grassy Knoll Movie Nights’ Facebook page for what they’re showing each month. 109 South 11th St.

EARFULLS FOR FREE Live On The Green 5-11 p.m., every Thursday, Aug. 20 through Sept. 12, Public Square Park

We’re seeing green again. Live On The Green is back, kicking off Aug. 20. There will be free shows every Thursday through September, ending with a three-day festival Sept. 10-12. The free outdoor concert series has a great line up this year, with performances from Ben Folds, Passion Pit, Cold War Kids, and more. Local acts All Them Witches and Turbo Fruits will also take the stage. Check Live On The Green’s website for the full lineup for each week. 408 Second Ave. N.

ANSWER ME THIS Trivia Time!

8 p.m., each week, 3 Crow Bar, Edley’s East, Drifter’s, Edgefield, Lipstick Lounge

East Siders, if you’re one of the sharper tools in the shed (or not, it’s no matter to us) stop by one of the East Side locales to test your wits at trivia. They play a few rounds, with different categories for each question.

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POOP?!

Let us do the dirty work. We launder & deliver cloth diapers to your door each week.

There might even be some prizes for top scoring teams, but remember: Nobody likes a sore loser. Monday at Drifter’s Tuesday at Edley’s BBQ East, Edgefield Sports Bar and Grill, and Lipstick Lounge (7:30 p.m.) Thursday at 3 Crow Bar

10% OFF

Better for the Earth, Better for Your Baby

facebook.com/SmileMommyTN www.SmileMommy.com info@smilemommy.com 615.810.9113

Smile, Mommy!

™

Diaper Service

SING US A SONG

East Nashville’s Musicians Swap Meet 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the first and third Sunday of every month, The Building

Join Mad Donna’s for their night dedicated to all you songwriters out there (which is most of Nashville, right?). The first half of the night is dedicated to a singer/songwriter set, with an open mic at the end of the night. Check the sweet drink specials out, too. 1313 Woodland St.

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, and there’s always a smattering of various musical odds and ends: guitars, drums, amps, fiddles, 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. 1008-C Woodland St., 615.593.7497

HIP-HOP AT THE SPOT

BRING IT TO THE TABLE

M.A.S.S. (Mutual Admiration Society of Songwriters) 7 to 10 p.m., every other Sunday, Mad Donna’s

The Boom Bap 9 p.m., fourth Sunday of every month, The 5 Spot

Once a month, The 5 Spot brings the beats and you bring the moves. Think of it as a hip-hop roundtable. A mess of DJs — resident hosts and guests — spin their favorite tracks, rotating throughout the night. Let their records bring the ruckus to you. This soiree was so popular it’s spread to other cities, but you can catch it where it started here in East Nashville. 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

EAST ROOM HAS JOKES

Spiffy Squirrel Sundays 6 p.m., Sundays, The East Room

The East Room is making a name for itself in Nashville’s comedy scene in part through Spiffy Squirrel Sundays, started up by The East Room head honcho Ben Jones through NashvilleStandUp.com. Hosted by local comedian Chad Riden, the shows bring in an array of national and local funny guys and gals, and it’s quickly become one of the best places in town for up-and-coming comics to flex their funny bones. If you’re looking for a laugh, check it out. Five bucks gets you in the door. They usually have some music planned for post-laughs, so stick around to see the bands. 2412 Gallatin Ave., 615.335.3137 102

STOP, SHOP, AND SWAP FOR THE SONGSTERS

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Community Hour at Lockeland Table 4 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, Lockeland Table

Lockeland Table is cooking up family-friendly afternoons to help you break out of the house or away from that desk for a couple of hours. Throughout the week, they host a community happy hour that includes a special snack and drink menu, as well as a menu just for the kiddies. A portion of all proceeds benefits Lockeland Design Center PTO, so you can feel good about giving back to your neighborhood while schmoozing with your fellow East Nashvillians. 1520 Woodland St., 615.228.4864

HIT THE OPEN ROAD

Open Road Monday 8 p.m., Mondays, The Building

The Building’s four-year tradition of “Open Road Monday” rambles on. It’s a weekly show that features one or two different bands every week, promptly followed by an open mic sesh. It’s just a $5 cover and BYOB. Check out some of the budding talent The Building is showcasing over here on the East Side. 1008-C Woodland St., 615.262.8899

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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

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

JAZZY BOTTOM FOR YOUR BUCK

East Nashville Jazz Jam 7 to 9:30 p.m., Tuesdays, Fat Bottom Brewery

Q: What’s even better than cheap craft beer and a tasty meal? A: Cheap craft beer, a tasty meal, and a jazz jam. Fat Bottom Brewery offers their $10 pint and entrée special accompanied by a jazz jam hosted by local drummer Nicholas Wiles. It’s a chance to meet some other jazz cats and play your poison. Peruse their menu and beer garden and pick a brew; they’ve got plenty of options for the seasoned beer drinker, and they’re always kegging fresh batches and pouring cold ones. 900 Main St.

DRAG B-I-N-G-O WAS HIS NAME-O

Drag Bingo 8 to 11 p.m., Tuesdays, Mad Donnas

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they’ll have prizes for the first to get to B-I-NG-O, plus drink specials. They’re calling you’re name — and possibly your number/letter combo. 1313 Woodland St.

NO LAUGH TRACK NEEDED

Ultimate Comedy Show by Corporate Juggernaut 8:30 p.m., Tuesdays, The East Room

Local jokesters have taken up residency in The East Room for Corporate Juggernaut, a weekly series of open-mic comedy shows put on by Gary Fletcher, Jane Borden, and Brandon Jazz. 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 growing comedy scene. 2412 Gallatin Ave., 615.335.3137

SPINNING SMALL BATCHES

Small Batch Wednesday and Vinyl Night Wednesdays, Fat Bottom Brewery

Fat Bottom has plenty of things happening on Wednesday nights — reason enough to move your own bottom over there. Each Wednesday they have food specials and a small batch brew release. They’re called small batch for a reason, so get there early enough to sip one. They’ll also have special guest DJ’s every week spinning their own vinyl, but you can even bring your own records if you’ve got a special song request. It’s an excellent way to get through hump day. 900 Main St.

TOAST TO MOTHER EARTH

East Nashville Green Drinks 6-9 p.m., third Wednesday of every month, Village Pub & Beer Garden

Tired of talking sports and gossip every night out? Village Pub has something in mind for the greener East Nashvillian. Once a month, they host an evening for environmentalists to sit down for a drink and discuss ideas for a more sustainable future. Think about it like this: You’ll be saving the planet, one drink at a time. 1308 McGavock Pike, 615.942.5880

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PUG, NOT SMUG Comedy Pug Hugs 7:30 p.m., third Wednesday of every month, Mad Donna’s

Contrary to the name, you won’t see pugs taking the stage with their stand-up routine. You can, however, expect to see a fresh lineup

each month full of local and national funny dudes and dudettes. Nashville comedians Paulina Cornbow and Mary Jay Berger host this pugnacious evening. Performers will show off their storytelling, stand-up, sketch, and musical comedy acts. If the $5 price tag and laughs aren’t enough to make your tail wag, a portion of ticket sales will benefit MidSouth Pug Rescue. 1313 Woodland Ave.

SPITTING RHYMES

Token Notes Promotions Presents: Braggin’ Rights Open Mic Rap Battle 8 p.m., second Wednesday of every month, The Building

Find your flow and head over to The Building for a freestyle, open-mic rap battle sponsored by Token Notes Promotions and PaShun Music Branch. If you think you can lay down a few lines, bring all the bravado you’ve got to this battle. If you just want to see a good show, then come out to hear the rhymes. Ten buckos at the door. BYOB, as always, at The Building. 1008-C Woodland St.

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 to give it a try. Local artist John Cannon teaches intimate art classes at The Idea Hatchery, and the small class size 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. 1108-C Woodland St., 615.496.1259

WALK, EAT, REPEAT

Walk Eat Nashville 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fridays, 5 Points

What better way to indulge in the plethora of East Nashville eateries than a walking tour through the tastiest stops? Walk Eat Nashville tours stroll through East Nashville, kicking off in 5 Points, with six tasting stops over three hours. You will walk about 1.5 miles, so you’ll burn some of those calories you’re consuming in the process. This tour offers the chance to interact with the people and places crafting Nashville’s culinary scene. You even get a little history lesson along the way, learning about landmarks and lore on the Eastside. Sign up for your tour online.

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YES, IT’S LADIES’ NIGHT

“Dame’s Day” Happy Hour 6:30 to 10 p.m., Thursdays, Pomodoro East

Pomodoro East is making a happy hour just for the broads. Gals can grab a Genny Light for $2, bubbly for $3, wine for $4, and wellcrafted Hangar 1 cocktails for $5. They’re calling all contessas and queens — go wet your whistle. 701 Porter Rd., 615.873.4978

It’s ladies’ night and the feeling’s right.

PALAVER RECORDS POW WOW

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, bands an opportunity to promote themselves, and music lovers a cheap show to catch during the week (only $5 at the door). You can see an array of different genres from week to week, and the beer always flows easy at foo Too with $3 Yazoo drafts. 2511 Gallatin Rd.

HONESTLY, OFFICER ...

East Nashville Crime Prevention Meeting 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursdays, 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. 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

BLUEGRASS, BEER, BURGERS

Bluegrass Thursdays with Johnny Campbell & the Bluegrass Drifters 8 p.m. until close, Thursdays, Charlie Bob’s

To celebrate your post-Hump Day, head to Charlie Bob’s and bring your axe along. Watch North Second 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. 1330 Dickerson Pike, 615.262.2244

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$5 Casa Margarita Happy Hour, Mon - Thurs, 4-7pm

Voted best Mexican Restaurant and Best Margarita in Nashville. Open 7 days a week - only 10 minutes from Downtown.

(615) 227-4777 www.rosepepper.com

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1907 Eastland Ave. | East Nashville

@TheRosepepper

EAST SIDE CALENDAR

DON’T BE BASHFUL

No Shame Theater 8 to 10 p.m., third Thursday of every month, The Building

Call it an open-mic night of theater. No Shame gives everyone a chance to show out their material in front of a live audience. The only rules are your act must be no more than 5 minutes long, totes original, and no harm to the audience in the process (physical or emotional, be nice guys). For every installment, 10 slots will be open with sign-ups an hour prior to show time. If you just feel like watching, cough up $8 at the door and BYOB. For you local filmmakers, they also accept digital short submissions. If you’d like to screen something, check their FB page for more details. 1008C Woodland St.

YARNING IS CONTAGIOUS Stitch-n-Bitch 6 to 8 p.m., Fridays, Nutmeg

We all know the quintessential image of an old woman knitting by the fire — so take that, add a few more stitchers and seamstresses, throw in some wine, and you’ve got yourself a Stitch-n-Bitch. It isn’t a new concept, but Nutmeg, a sewing and crafts supplies store in the Shoppes at Fatherland, is. Bring your supplies, or better yet, buy some there. Get hooked. 1006 Fatherland St. #204

ROCKIN’ AT THE SPOT

Tim Carroll’s Friday Night Happy Hour 6 to 8:30, Fridays, 5 Spot

Your local watering hole has rocker Tim Carroll’s band playing their way through happy hour every Friday. It’s a great Spot to grab a beer and hear some tunes to kick off the weekend — drinks are discounted and the music is free. 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

SHAKE YOUR FOOBAR Sparkle City 10 p.m., Friday, fooBAR

Foo’s best dance party with their freshest DJs happens every Friday night. Spinmasters

David Bermudez and Jonas Stein drop the needle on vinyl all night with the numbers that’ll make you shake what ’yer mama gave you. 2511 Gallatin Rd.

DO THE JITTERBUG

Jump Session Swing Dance Classes 8 to 12 p.m., Fridays, DancEast

Grab your partner and swing on over to Jump Session’s swing dance classes at DancEast. They’ll be dipping and hopping all night long to 1920s-1940s jazz. Put on your zoot suit and give it a twirl. If you’re a newbie, they have a beginner lesson from 8 to 9 p.m., with the full-on, dance hall party starting after. You can hit the floor for just $7, or $5 if you have a student ID. 805 Woodland St.

CAN’T FORCE A DANCE PARTY

Queer Dance Party 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., third Friday of every month, The 5 Spot

On any given month, the QDP is mixed bag of fashionably clad attendees (some in the occasional costume) dancing till they can’t dance no mo’ at The 5 Spot, which was coincidentally named the second-best place to dance in Nashville. Help pack out the cozy club, shake a leg, slurp down some of the drink specials, and let your true colors show. 1006 Forrest Ave.

GUFFAW AND GET DOWN

Luxury Prestige III 7 p.m., third Friday of every month, The East Room

The East Room always has you covered for Friday nights. You’ll be able to get all your giggles and grooves in one spot. At 7 p.m., Luxury Prestige III, a scripted comedy competition where the audience chooses the winner, kicks off the evening. (They were selected Nashville Scene’s 2014 winner for best sketch comedy night.) Each month features live sketch and scripted video competitions for prizes, plus a musical guest. Pay $3 to get your kicks. Starting at 10 p.m. after Luxury Prestige III, East Room has bands playing until 1 a.m. 2412 Gallatin Ave., 615.335.3137

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WHOSE EAST SIDE IS IT ANYWAY? Music City Improv

8 p.m., third Friday of every month, The Building

Nashville each month. Every show is different, featuring a healthy mix of shortand long-form improv, plus live and video sketch comedy. Think of it as your own local Saturday Night Live on a Friday night. This gig tends to sell out, so buy your tickets in advance online. 1008-C Woodland St.

Music City Improv proudly puts on their high-energy show at The Building in East

EAST NASHVILLE TOMATO 5K AND KIDS FUN RUN RACE FOR A STRONGER COMMUNITY

Presented by Saturday, August 8 Benefitting the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA Schedule of Events: • Kids Run • 5K • Awards

7:00 a.m. 7:30 a.m. 8:30 a.m.

For more information and to register visit GIVE.YMCAMIDTN.ORG/RACES Our Mission: A worldwide charitable fellowship united by a common loyalty to Jesus Christ for the purpose of helping people grow in spirit, mind and body.

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THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING …

First Time Stories 7 to 10 p.m., first Friday of every month, Actor’s 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 for which such soliloquies are made. They call it “storytelling karaoke,” and 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. Admission is $5 (bring a few extra bucks for the cash bar). 4304 Charlotte Ave.

TURN THIS ONE OVER

Palaver Records Presents at Turn One 9 p.m., Saturdays, Turn One

Palaver Records is casting out its net a little further into the dives of East Nasty. They have their weekly showcase spot at fooBAR and now they’re moving down Gallatin with another evening of music at Turn One. Each Saturday, they will have three bands to get your grooves going. Tip: This haunt is cash only with games galore. Get your shuffleboard on, shoot some pool, or throw darts while you listen to the Palaver lineup. Bring enough dough for the $5 cover and your tab. 3208 Gallatin Pike

STUMBLE ON

East Side Art Stumble 6 to 10 p.m., second Saturday of every month, multiple East Nashville galleries

We don’t art crawl on the Eastside, we art stumble. Every month, local galleries and studios will open their doors after hours to showcase some of the fabulous work they have gracing their walls. Participating venues stretch across East Nashville — KT Wolf Gallery, Red Arrow Gallery, Sawtooth Printshop, and Main Street Gallery, to name a few. You can expect to see a diverse, eclectic mix of art, affording the opportunity to meet local artists and support their work. Local retail stores are stumbling in as well, with some businesses participating in a “happy hour” from 5 to 7 p.m., offering discounted prices on their merchandise to fellow stumblers. Be sure to check out the happy hour deals in The Idea Hatchery.

EAST SIDE CALENDAR

PARTY FOR A CAUSE LightsOut Events 7:30 p.m., fourth Saturday of every month, The East Room

NEIGHBORHOOD

MEETINGS & EVENTS SHELBY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

The East Room is getting a little philanthropic. Every month, the venue hosts a show in partnership with LightsOut Events to benefit selected charities. Four bands perform and proceeds go toward the cause of choice for the month. One of the events most notable benefactors is Notes for Notes, which provides musical instruments and lessons to children. (We know how much you love that, Music City). Come out, and listen to some local acts for a good cause. 2412 Gallatin Ave., 615.335.3137

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

WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME

6 p.m., fourth Monday of every month, Metro Police East Precinct

Desire/Desire/Desire 9 p.m., first Saturday of each month, The East Room

If you’re looking for a place to shake it out to some tunes that don’t include the latest and greatest from Billboard’s Top 100, The East Room fits the bill. They host a dance night solely dedicated to only the most dark and sensual tunes of years past. This party, created for “electric youth and dream warriors,” blends all types of dark pop, including (but not limited to) Italo disco, freestyle, synthpop, lazer soul, hi-NRG, and electro-hop. DJs Baron Von Birk, Grey People, and HYPE lay down the tracks for the evening. 2412 Gallatin Ave., 615.335.3137

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

MAXWELL HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

EAST NASHVILLE CAUCUS

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

CHAMBER EAST

8:15 to 9:30 a.m., first Wednesday of every month, location changes monthly

The Chamber East meets every month for a networking coffee to discuss community updates and how to grow and improve the East Nashville area.

EAST HILL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

936 E. Trinity Lane

EASTWOOD NEIGHBORS 6:30 p.m., second Tuesday of every 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

6:30 p.m., second Wednesday of every month, Metro Police Precinct East 936 E. Trinity Lane

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

610 N. Sixth St., www.facebook.com/groups/ClevelandPark

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INGLEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

7 p.m., first Thursday of every month, Isaac Litton Alumni Center 4500 Gallatin Rd., www.inglewoodrna.org

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 being a mother. Check their website for the MOMS group in your area. www.momsclubeast.blogspot.com

Check our calendar online for the latest lineups at The Basement East, The Family Wash, Music City Roots, City Winery, Ascend Amphitheater, and more.

MCFERRIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

6:30 p.m., first Thursday of every month, McFerrin Park Community Center 301 Berry St.

ROSEBANK NEIGHBORS

6:30 p.m., third Thursday of every month, Memorial Lutheran Church 1211 Riverside Dr.

HENMA

6 to 8 p.m., second Tuesday of every month, location varies

HENMA is a cooperative formed among East Nashville business owners to promote collaboration with neighborhood associations and city government. Check the associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website to learn about the organization and where meetings will be held each month. www.eastnashville.org

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 July | August 2015

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Call

327-8115

IF WE TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL TOMATO, WOULD YOU HOLD IT AGAINST US? GRAFFITI

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focus of the fat-shaming that women have to contend with. A photo was included of Stacie from the back, nude save a strategically placed feather boa. Something, for whatever reason, raised the hackles of chauvinists and fat-shamers the world over. Huckeba had been accustomed enough to the odd nasty feedback, but this was beyond the pale. And it hurt. She retreated into her own self, brought down by the hostile storm and what may have been winter blues giving a heavier pall to it. Then she got a piece of mail that changed everything. “I got an email from a young woman who was planning on taking her own life that day,” she says. “She told me that after reading my blog, she reached out to her mother and sought professional help. And that’s when I realized I had written that blog specifically for her. I also got the feeling that I had something to say.” She reached out to Jen Gunderman, local pianist and Vanderbilt professor, about a place to speak. Laurel McFarland, who Huckeba used to work for on the West Coast, offered to help facilitate bookings, and another career was born. Stacie is readying herself for her TED talk debut, and ideas of self-image are central to her message. “I had a photo shoot yesterday with somebody who’s stunning,” she says. “She’s 40, and is struggling with stuff, and she kept hiding. Hiding behind a hat, hiding behind her hands. I would get close to her, and she was very apprehensive. So much so that I finally said, ‘Okay, stop.’ I pulled out my zoom lens, and I took a photo of her that was literally cropped at her chin and her forehead. And I turned the camera around — to show her the raw file — and said, ‘LOOK at you! First of all, trust me, and second of all, you’re STUNNING! Even in extreme close up. So stop being so worried!’ I think we get so caught up in feeling our physical selves is not enough for the world, or we’re not presenting ourselves in the right way.” The message Stacie aims to take to the stage in her public speaker’s role is one of just such empowerment, and encouraging people to accept themselves because, as she says, “Our flaws make us beautiful.” Expanding on that, she says, “People get so wrapped up in their flaws — like I have a big nose, or I have a big ass, or I have this or that — and the thing that bothers me about that is that they DON’T! But somebody, somewhere, said something to them, or made a comment, or kids were mean, or they got dumped for a girl with a smaller ass or whatever it is — there is some psychological trigger that caused them that sort of anxiety over their physical

characteristics. Your flaws are what make you strong! “When people leave my talks, I want them to feel good about themselves. I want them to look at whatever that thing is that they didn’t like about themselves walking in and

see it differently walking out. I want them to see other people with those eyes, too. And I want more than anything for them to start to change the whole conversation about beauty and self-love when they go back out into the world.”

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It All Comes Out in the Wash CO NTI NUE D F R OM PAGE 6 7

“Hags [ James Haggerty] had the idea about doing a bossa nova night or Jenn sitting at the bar, saying, ‘What would you think about playing the Vince Guaraldi record in its entirety over Christmas?’ … I’m a musician; I know a lot of musicians. I’m fortunate enough to be able to, ‘Yes! Yeah! Great!’ That’s

the fun of this place — and we can do it even more now.” Rubin’s voice rises, takes on speed. He is fired up, and in his sweet spot. “Sons of Zevon was that way,” he continues. “Audley and Reeves were there late one night talking about Warren Zevon. Audley said, ‘The world

Kory Martin, General Manager | The Family Wash

changed when Zevon died,’ how no one ever talks about him. That started it. Then we did Neil Young; six months later, Tom Petty. ...”

ike everything Rubin embraces, enthusiasm follows. His booking practices drew music lovers, word spread, space got tight. Beyond the hassle of the business, there were always friends, music to be played, and his Carpetbaggers Local 615. When the crossroads came, so did an opportunity. Teaming with Fox, Camardo, and Stephenson, his little juke-joint-that-could takes on a new realm and reason. Yes, it is bigger, but in many ways, it’s the same. Yes, it accommodates more people, but for all the nights you crawled over someone to get close enough to the bar to get a beer, the breathing room will be appreciated. Yes, it is newer, crisper cleaner, but it will be broken in, no doubt, by the regulars who are missing their fix of pint ’n’ pie ’n’ conversation. And there’s also the “office,” which will serve as band green room and recording studio. For all the storied music made at the original Wash, now there will be the ability to record — and even video — for the ages, then return to capture overdubs, vocals, or mix. At the end of the day, spontaneity and the moment are still what drive Jamie Rubin. “Every Tuesday night at 11, Jamie gets up and does a set of his own material,” Gabrels says with true affection. “He’s a lifer. For him, it’s still about the music, even though he owns a club. That’s still music, just with food and service and running a business. Music is still the fuel for everything he does.”

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‘We Cut a Lot of Hits’

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says, “T.G. Sheppard, Razzy Bailey, Janie Fricke, Lee Greenwood. It got so we were getting a No. 1 record just about every time.” With the jingle and record production running on overtime, Sound Shop evolved into something more than just a studio, as Bradley recalls. “The thing that set it apart for me was that it became a ‘hang place,’ ” he says. “We had so many people that came through and spent time sitting on the couch, just waiting for sessions to start. Eventually, musicians who weren’t doing anything would stop by and just hang out. Anytime you came out of the control room, there would be four or five of your pals out there. It just became a fun place to be, whether you were working or not.” Winfrey left Sound Shop as a full-time employee around 1979 to become a freelance engineer, but he still chose to do most of his freelance work at his former place of employment. By the late ’80s, Bradley became the studio manager and oversaw another major renovation in 1989. “We gutted Studio A and rebuilt it completely,” Bradley says. “We wound up with a great studio. I think it was the best tracking room in town.” The renovated Sound Shop continued the tradition of scoring hits when producer Don Cook began using the studio for a string of million-sellers by Brooks & Dunn. By the late ’90s, Killen had become a millionaire through his many business interests. After selling his publishing business to Sony Music in 1989, Killen dabbled in many new projects, but kept Sound Shop as one of his favorite holdings, as Bradley recalls. “Buddy told me once, ‘I’ll probably die in the Sound Shop, this will probably be one of the things

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I’ll never sell,’ but he eventually changed his mind and started talking seriously about selling it. I never really wanted a studio, but I didn’t want to see someone come in and change everything. I was freelancing by that time, but Sound Shop was where I did 99 percent of everything I did. I took on Don Cook as a partner, and we worked out a deal with Buddy to buy the studio.” Bradley and Cook operated Sound Shop until 2008, when they sold the studio business, equipment, and Sound Shop name to the Christian

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music production company Riverbend Media. “At that time, I thought they would be a savior for the studio,” Bradley says. “Their plans sounded good. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. I maintained an office and did my work there, so I never really left, but the last six years were difficult because I couldn’t do anything about what was happening.” Studio B was eventually leased to the music production company Destiny Nashville, while Riverbend Media continued to use Studio A for occasional sessions. In spring 2014, it was

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announced that the property was being sold for redevelopment. A final and tearful farewell party was held on June 15, 2014. Dozens of producers, engineers, musicians, and others who held fond memories of the studio gathered to say their goodbyes. Scattered sessions continued through October, while the building served out its time on real estate death row. On the morning of Jan. 28, 2015, Winfrey received a phone call from an old friend saying Sound Shop’s time was up. By the time he made it to Division Street, 45 years of Music City history were already a jumbled pile of rubble. “I didn’t know what to expect when I got there,” Winfrey says. “I was hoping there would be something left that looked like the studio, but there was nothing — just heaps of stuff. A few months earlier, this friend of mine had taken a couple of loose bricks from the entranceway and had them inscribed with the original Sound Shop logo. We were standing there cursing the condo guys, and he snuck around the back and squeezed through a small gap in the fence to get a couple more bricks. It was really bittersweet. There was so much history in that building, and they tore it down just to put up a condo.” Although Bradley didn’t secure any physical souvenirs of the building, his memories are vivid. “I think back on some of the people I got to meet and work with, and it’s incredible,” he says. “There was never a time that I didn’t enjoy being there, and it was common to work 16 to 18 hours, seven days in a row. I look back now and think how in the heck did I do that? But I think that’s true for anybody who really loves what they’re doing in a place that they love.” Sherrill also has his treasured memories of Sound Shop. After becoming a freelance engineer in the 1980s, he frequently worked on projects at the studio he helped to build in 1969. “Most studios are basically alike,” Sherrill says. “Some sound better than others, but Sound Shop was always a place I loved.” Ultimately what made Sound Shop so special wasn’t the brick, mortar, and wood. It was the talent, personalities, sounds, and experiences that created a special time and place where musical magic was captured on slowly unwinding spools of tape. The recordings and memories remain, but the physical connection of standing in the spot where that magic happened is now gone, forever erased from a city that sometimes seems incapable of balancing its past and future. It’s an equation that may fill bank accounts with dollars, but it leaves the cultural soul of Nashville in poverty. “Some of the engineers and artists I worked with call that time between the late ’60s and mid-’80s the ‘Golden Age of Recording,’ ” Winfrey says. “There was so much going on. All the studios were busy, and it was an exciting time. We always had fun at Sound Shop, and we cut a lot of hits.”

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East of NORMAL TOMMY WOMACK I dreamed I was asleep Dear Mom, I don’t know that much about what awaits us in the next world. Wait, strike that, I don’t know anything about what’s to come after we drop our bodies, like you just did. I like to think that it’s a world free of worry. (You always did worry so much.) But I don’t know. Maybe they put you in charge of people still living, and you worry for them. Maybe in Heaven it doesn’t hurt to worry. I do believe in Heaven, some sort of justice, because your last years were staunchly purgatorial. A week ago today I got called to do the two-hour drive home to Kentucky and see you because “it won’t be long now.” Three times the nurses cried wolf inside of two weeks, and three times I made that drive back home. And there you were in that medical bed at the nursing home, your face etched with pain, you more panting than breathing, unable to eat or drink, worn down to nothing, your heart somehow still beating, hands cold, feet like ice. I came, I saw, and I was ready to bid adieu and go back to Nashville, but for some reason I stayed and slept on my sister’s couch. At 2:45 a.m., the phone rang. You were gone. At long last, after years of arthritis, years of being unable to stand, after years of not knowing who anybody was, years of being lonely, trapped in an outlived body and mind, you were gone. By 3:15, I was at the nursing home with bleary eyes, furry teeth, and a greasy face, and I was struck by your face; the pain was gone. All gone. You looked 10 years younger —which, let’s be honest, still left you pretty damn old. Your face was much fuller, your brow no longer furrowed. Who knew that you could improve a body so much just by leaving it? And I swear,

in your gaping open mouth there were the faintest traces of a smile. I preached your eulogy — what was it — two days later? Five days ago? It feels like a month ago. You looked good. They’d put your dentures in and your mouth was stretched a little funny because of it, but your hair was done and your outfit was happening. You’d picked it out ahead of time. Way ahead of time. Like years ago. We chose a casket that looked a bit like the wood the dining room table was made of, a deeply dark cherry or burgundy color. A fellow I don’t know sang a couple of hymns you’d picked out. (Years ago, as well.) He was good. And the preacher at the Brier Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church deep in Muhlenberg County, Ky., served as my opening act and the leader of the closing prayer. There was a lot of food afterward. Every church has a squadron of old ladies who live for bringing food to the church when things like this happen. Southern green beans, chicken and dressing, bean salad, meat loaf, new potatoes, chocolate pie — I get hungry all over again just thinking about it. When you get this age, you have friends tell you about funny things that happened after soand-so died, how little hellos were called out from the other side. I always thought, oh, that’s nice. And then, my first night home, you came to me in a dream. Some might say, “Oh, that’s just a dream,” but dig this: I was dreaming that I was in bed asleep — people don’t dream they’re in bed asleep! You came to my bedside and woke me with your stirrings as you bent over and hugged me. You looked good. Your hair was done and you were even wearing a little makeup. And your outfit was happening.

—Tommy Womack is a singer-songwriter, author, and longtime member of Government Cheese. Their first album of new material in 23 years, The Late Show, has just been released and is available from govtcheese.com.

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PARTING SHOT

EAST NASHVILLE CONDENSED

THE IDEA HATCHERY TOMATO ART FEST 2014

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHUCK ALLEN

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