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DOJ INVESTIGATION INTO TENNESSEE’S MOST DANGEROUS PRISON REMAINS IN LIMBO >> PAGE 8

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BLINDSPOT How Nashville is addressing death and design on city roads BY ELI MOTYCKA

WITNESS HISTORY In his acting debut as the “Sweet-Faced Gambler” in the 1994 film Maverick, Clint Black cheats with these playing cards to the soundtrack of his own song—“A Good Run of Bad Luck. From the exhibit Clint Black: The Hard Way on Purpose artifact: Courtesy of Clint Black artifact photo: Bob Delevante

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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

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CONTENTS NEWS

7 Nashville General’s Veronica Elders on the Safety-Net Hospital’s Future Newly named leader pleads for investment from city, plans to ‘level up’ BY HANNAH HERNER

7 Pith in the Wind This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

8 The DOJ Investigation Into Trousdale Turner Remains in Limbo The CoreCivic-run Middle Tennessee prison continues to face reports of violence, fatalities and assault BY JULIANNE AKERS

COVER STORY

11 Blind Spot

How Nashville is addressing death and design on city roads BY ELI MOTYCKA

17 CRITICS’ PICKS

James Austin Johnson, WNXP Summer Line Series: Blondshell, Bootsaroo: A Windows on the Cumberland Celebration, The Piano, The Altered Statesman, Nashville Opera: Jukebox Live, Chance the Rapper, Shades of Black Theatre Festival and more

FOOD AND DRINK

23 Date Night: Pont Neuf, Hattori Nori and Harding House Brewing

Kim Unertl (right) and family biking in Germantown • PHOTO BY ANGELINA CASTILLO

A park-once, three-spot evening out in L&L Market

32 The Spin

BY DANNY BONVISSUTO

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Big Thief at the Ryman

BOOKS

BY JULIANNE AKERS

26 Earthlight Nashville’s Eiman Jahangir combines his and other astronauts’ stories in A Heart for Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Achieving the Impossible

FILM

35 Panic Room

ON THE COVER:

Nashville filmmaker Brock Bodell on his claustrophobic new horror film Hellcat

BY HANNAH HERNER

CULTURE

Photo: Eric England Map: nashfatalcrash.com

BY LOGAN BUTTS

29 If You Sell It, They Will Come

36 Punitive Damages

Reporting from this year’s Stimulate, a sexual wellness trade show and conference that celebrates female pleasure BY NATASHA SENJANOVIC

Coyote vs. Acme picks a fight with corporate America BY KEN ARNOLD

MUSIC

31 That’s the Ticket! The 5 Spot’s Todd Sherwood brings DIY ticketing to Five Points

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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

NEWS

NASHVILLE GENERAL’S VERONICA ELDERS ON THENewly SAFETY-NET HOSPITAL’S FUTURE named leader pleads for investment from city, plans to ‘level up’ BY HANNAH HERNER DR. VERONICA ELDERS

DR. VERONICA ELDERS, the newly named CEO of Nashville General Hospital, is a nurse first, she tells the Nashville Scene. With nearly 30 years of experience in the medical field, she was appointed chief nursing officer of Nashville General — the city’s safety-net hospital — just one month before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Elders also stepped into the role of interim CEO during a trying time. Her predecessor Joseph Webb resigned after the hospital board voted not to renew his contract in February 2025, following an audit finding that the hospital’s leadership had approved more than $4 million in contracts without seeking board approval. Elders’ task is to get more patients to the hospital — especially those who can pay to help offset the care for uninsured patients, a key part of the hospital’s mission and charter. She’s also working to secure a new or improved building for the hospital after plans have stalled for several years. The mayor’s office has said it will create a task force on the matter following Nashville General’s renewed professional services agreement with Meharry Medical College in September. “Healthcare should be a right, and it’s not,” Elders tells the Scene. “It’s a commodity, and how do people choose us? We have to be worthy

of the choice, but there has to be an investment into the hospital.” Elders sat down with the Scene to discuss her vision for the hospital. What is your long-term vision for the hospital? Our long-term vision is to be a strategic partner in the healthcare ecosystem here in Nashville. We are the city safety-net hospital, and one of the things that’s just very concerning, I think, for hospital leaders across the ecosystem is the number of uninsured patients that we’re going to continue to have as legislation and some of these work requirements take place. You’re wanting to see more patients come in. How do you compete with other hospitals? We’re not in competition with anybody. The other hospitals are full. They typically have patients that are waiting for beds, but we have capacity. So how do we partner with them in order to help alleviate some of that strain? It goes back to the lack of investment in our infrastructure, the lack of investment in our capital, because patients have to choose. We did an assessment of what it would take to renovate this building in 2023, and it was $395 million in 2023. If you think about inflation, now it’s probably about $500 [million].

Are you planning to renovate the current space or build a new space? We’ll be in partnership with the mayor’s office and also [Meharry Medical College president James] Hildreth to determine what that looks like. The one thing that they’ve said about renovating this building is it’s almost cheaper to do something else. I’ve talked to Dr. Hildreth about a new facility outside of this building. … I think we are in alignment. The relationship with Meharry is really good, and we both want to see Nashville General have a future and a future in training our future physicians as well. Is there a motto that you go by in your leadership? We have to level up. I would use that. Just in healthcare, COVID did something to our workforce. Getting back to that deep caring about patients is truly important to me. We need to be giving the care that we want for ourselves or we want for our family, and so as a nurse, that is my number one goal, but [we also need to] provide this workforce with an environment that’s caring — a great place to work. I keep saying that this could be a great place to work, and that’s what we’re shooting towards. In your time as interim CEO, was there something that came up that surprised you? The scrutiny that we encountered right off the heels of Dr. Webb. … You think you turn the page, and now it’s time for us to work on our processes, and we weren’t able to. It was just tense, it was very stressful. In that crisis of trying to fix the financial infrastructure, fix our human resources, just the regulatory oversight — it was a lot. We are still in the state of recovering. I think if you look at all of the media that happened with Dr. Webb, we took a hit. To be a trusted healthcare provider, you don’t want to be in the news, and we were for quite some time. The amount that Nashville General has requested from Metro has gone up over the past several years, from $43 million in 2021 to $70 million this year. What is the reason for that? We take our projection for uncompensated care, and that’s what we request in our subsidy. It has gone up, but also supply costs have gone up, inflation has gone up, pharmaceutical prices have gone up. We have to take all of that into account. It’s never going to be stagnant. The charter says we take care of the underserved. We take care of those who don’t have insurance. That is the amount that is required to do so. And so, as bread and eggs have gone up, so has the price of healthcare. ▼

PITH IN THE WIND NASHVILLESCENE.COM/NEWS/PITHINTHEWIND Several Metro councilmembers and other local government and community leaders held a press conference at Connection United Methodist Church Friday expressing their intention to prevent the opening of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security enforcement call center in Davidson County. A $63 million federal contract was awarded to Alaska-based company Koniag Government Services for the center, which is now planned for Donelson. DHS encompasses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda told reporters she and her colleagues “are currently looking at legislation that would look at any zoning and permitting at this time.” The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition is hosting an event on Aug. 27 related to “taking action against this ICE call center.”

Speaking of DHS, Nashville is among four municipalities suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over the Trump administration’s withholding of public safety funding to the local governments that don’t implement certain federal election policies. The requirements oblige states to use DHS’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify the citizenship of poll workers and registered voters, mandate changes to electronic voting systems and impose a 5 percent manual audit of paper ballots. The complaint — filed by Metro Nashville; Columbus, Ohio; and the Texas counties of Harris and El Paso — alleges that the new requirements are arbitrary and in violation of the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers.

Tennessee has selected a team of builders to construct toll lanes along 26 miles of Interstate 24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro. The Transportation Modernization Board voted last week to select DriveTN to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the $9.2 billion project. Choice Lanes will add lanes that motorists will have the option to use for a price. State officials said construction on the Choice Lanes could begin in 2027 and be fully operational within eight years. Construction is also expected to result in the use of eminent domain, which could displace single-family homes along the corridor. House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) spoke during the board meeting’s public comment period, contending that the Choice Lanes will be a detriment to working-class families, saying transit should be the state’s focus instead. “The people I represent want forward-thinking, real modernization plans that include passenger rail and more public transit,” Clemmons said. “This is not modernization. This is wrong.”

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

NEWS

THE DOJ INVESTIGATION INTO TROUSDALE TURNER REMAINS IN LIMBO The CoreCivic-run Middle Tennessee prison continues to face reports of violence, fatalities and assault

PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

BY JULIANNE AKERS

IT’S BEEN TWO years since the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into one of Tennessee’s most dangerous prisons. But violence, deaths, and harmful and inhumane conditions have continued to plague the facility, and the status of the investigation has largely been kept quiet. On Aug. 20, 2024, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division — then under the control of the Biden administration — announced an investigation into Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a penal facility in Hartsville, roughly 50 miles northwest of Nashville and run by Brentwood-based private prison operator CoreCivic. The federal investigation was prompted by numerous reports of violence, fatalities, sexual abuse, mismanagement and chronic understaffing at the 2,500-plus-bed prison. “Publicly available information suggests that Trousdale Turner has been plagued by serious problems since it first opened its doors,” Henry Leventis, then-U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in 2024. “This includes reports of staffing shortages, physical and sexual assaults, murders, and a 188 percent turnover rate among prison

guards just last year. Although CoreCivic owns and operates Trousdale, the State of Tennessee is ultimately responsible for the safety of the people incarcerated there. This investigation seeks to determine whether Tennessee is meeting its constitutional obligations.” At the time, this appeared to be a major step toward justice for people incarcerated at Trousdale Turner and their families, who have long pleaded for reform at the facility. But just a few months after the investigation launched, Donald Trump was elected. The Trump administration asserted control of DOJ operations in January 2025, leaving many unanswered questions surrounding the status of the Trousdale Turner investigation. Reuters reported in 2025 — just a few days after Trump took office — that the DOJ ordered the Civil Rights Division to pause any unresolved litigation from the Biden administration. It’s unknown whether that freeze is ongoing. The Scene reached out to the DOJ asking whether the investigation remains ongoing or has been closed. In response, the DOJ sent an email reading, “We will decline to comment on the status of an investigation.”

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson with CoreCivic, tells the Scene: “We have not received any updates on the status of the DOJ investigation, nor do we have any timeline on when they anticipate finalizing things.” In the past nine years, the prison has cycled through nine separate wardens — four of them in the past two years. The facility has seen multiple recent deaths, along with a string of lawsuits reiterating claims of gang violence, physical and sexual assault, extortion and medical neglect. “There is a well-settled custom at CoreCivic facilities, and TTCC particularly, that inmate-on-inmate violence was and is tolerated and accepted, with no meaningful recourse for the victimized inmates or their families,” reads one 2025 lawsuit. A riot at the prison in June 2025 resulted in injuries to both correctional officers and incarcerated individuals. Since the riot, more than 500 people have been moved out of the facility. But according to Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, the riot was the result of shortcomings by Trousdale Turner correctional officers — not CoreCivic. Strada,

along with many other state officials, has continuously referred to CoreCivic as a “good partner.” While federal intervention does not seem likely anytime soon, there have been a handful of state-led efforts to increase accountability in CoreCivic-run prisons, including a particular focus on Trousdale Turner. The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill this year to create a one-year body camera pilot program at Trousdale Turner. The bill allows for correctional officers and employees of the prison to be equipped with body cameras, an effort lawmakers say will increase safety and transparency at the facility. Strada expressed his opposition to cameras being brought into the prisons, citing the technology’s cost if implemented in all of the state’s facilities. The state legislature also passed legislation to create a state family advisory board made up of family members of people who are currently or were formerly incarcerated in Tennessee. Almost a year ago, CoreCivic opened a candidate processing center in Hartsville, the aim of which is to speed up the hiring process at Trousdale Turner. The company also says it has seen an increase in hiring since increasing the hourly pay for correctional officers. Meanwhile, CoreCivic — a multibillion-dollar-corporation — has capitalized on incarcerating tens of thousands of individuals across the U.S. The company’s recent profit surges have come from its contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to open immigration detention facilities, including an agreement with the West Tennessee town of Mason. The company’s political action committee and its former CEO Damon Hininger donated to President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump’s inauguration committee. CoreCivic and its leaders’ campaign donations extend to other major Republican politicians, including Tennessee gubernatorial frontrunner and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Gov. Bill Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and state House Speaker Cameron Sexton. ▼

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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

BLINDSPOT How Nashville is addressing death and design on city roads BY ELI MOTYCKA GNARLED FENCE ON GREENFIELD AVENUE PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

AS EACH NAME is read, discussion pauses briefly at the Howard Office Building downtown, the centerpiece of Davidson County’s administrative nerve center nestled on Rutledge Hill. There are more Vision Zero Advisory Committee members sitting at the dais than there are people in the audience — excluding a Metro cameraman, who is filming but does not actually plan to post tonight’s entire proceedings online. For three months, Chair Charlie Weingartner has recorded the meetings with his own tripod setup, bringing each deliberation to a dedicated Vision Zero Nashville YouTube channel and its handful of subscribers. Six people — Martin Villagomez Jr., Jason Bungarz-Kinney, Madeline Mitchell, an unnamed driver on East Trinity Lane and two pedestrians — died between the group’s last meeting on July 14 and the day of this meeting, Aug. 11. Among those was the death of an Australian tourist in a high-profile incident on Lower Broadway that also injured three other pedestrians and has renewed calls to close the bustling party street to vehicles. The 87-year-old driver, who ran a red light around lunchtime on Saturday, Aug. 1, was among those taken to the hospital with critical injuries.

Part vigil, part analysis, part advocacy, the 14-person committee was tasked more than three years ago to “coordinate with Metro staff” on the shared goal of eliminating roadway deaths by 2050. Monthly meetings and work sessions are a chance for passionate citizens to get involved in civic life, but as many in the transit community admit privately, the body has little real power and sits low in the Metro pecking order. Other groups like the Advisory Committee on Transportation (ACT), which helps influence projects under the city’s Choose How You Move transit umbrella, and the catchall Bike and Pedestrian Access Committee (BPAC), relaunched in part by then-Councilmember Freddie O’Connell months before his mayoral win, get more attention. Advocates speak with awe about the nine-member Traffic and Parking Commission, which can actually change speed limits. Since then-Mayor John Cooper signed on to the five-year Vision Zero plan in February 2022 — also at the urging of then-Councilmember O’Connell, who on the mayoral campaign trail often cited his formative years navigating Nashville without a car — the city has trended in the wrong direction. According to data gathered by Weingartner, in 2017, Nashville suffered 73 road-

way deaths; then 80 in 2018, 105 in 2019, and eventually, 136 in 2023, the deadliest year of the past decade. So far this year, three times as many people have died by cars in Davidson County as by gunshot wounds. Increasingly deadly roadways have plagued many American cities in recent years. Cars have gotten bigger. More people are walking and biking. Residents living outside, and frequently navigating the city outside, have also grown in number and are overrepresented in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. Any local driver needs only to look around at a red light to grasp how frequently people operate vehicles and their phones at the same time. Other factors weigh more particularly on Nashville, such as its carfriendly street grid, designed around major multilane pikes like Nolensville, Murfreesboro, Charlotte and Gallatin, most of which move drivers between their namesake suburbs and downtown. These “stroads,” along with the ringed connectors that link them — Old Hickory Boulevard, Trinity Lane, Haywood Lane, Harding Place — make up much of what’s known as Nashville’s high-injury network, where historic data clearly lays out the city’s predicted and predictable high-speed tragedies.

“Every morning I wake up and check the news to see if someone has died,” Weingartner tells the Scene days after the Vision Zero meeting. “There’s levels to this: There’s people that are killed, there’s people that are hit and injured, and there’s lots of other collisions that happen daily that nobody will ever know about.” Weingartner — who privately runs his own interactive dashboard, “Nashville Fatal Crash Map” — considers his volunteer work sitting through Vision Zero meetings among a larger effort to reengineer streets to slow cars and accommodate more walkers, bikers and buses. Many physical streets have changed dramatically since Mayor Freddie O’Connell — “an ally, but maybe not as much as everyone had hoped when he took office,” according to Weingartner — took office in 2023. He has clearly reoriented the mayor’s office around transit, starting with the overwhelming 2024 Choose How You Move referendum victory that secured dedicated transit funding off a 0.5 percent sales tax bump. New bus stops, bike lane bollards and sidewalks adorn most crosstown routes while CHYM and the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure line up a yearslong project queue.

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

“I think that we are undergoing a transformation, and yes, that transformation is happening while some of the city throws a tantrum, but we have to do this work,” Weingartner continues. “This transformation is our only option for sustained success as a city. Not just as a tourist destination but for the longevity and vitality of Nashville. It has to happen.” On Aug. 11, as the Vision Zero Advisory Committee combs through slide decks and data with NDOT planner Valeria Martinez and Metro Nashville Police Department Traffic Division Capt. James Williams, committee member Kim Unertl makes a point to break up talk about intersection size and vehicle speeds with the full names of each data point that represents another fatality. Outside, the parking lot is mostly empty, besides two charging electric vehicles. The bike racks are full. The meeting lets out in time for Unertl and her colleagues to beat the sunset.

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

“Somebody in the bike community said there were all these boards in Nashville that dealt with bikes and pedestrians, so I threw my name in and sort of forgot about the whole thing,” Unertl, a biomedical engineer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, remembers. “And then Dot Dobbins got killed over on Third Avenue. I was so angry.” Unertl gestures toward Morgan Park, blocks from the Germantown home she bought more than 20 years ago — she liked the sleepy neighborhood’s wide brick sidewalks and convenient location. “I’d gone through that intersection hundreds

of times, and I had stopped using it because it felt so dangerous to me,” says Unertl, whose household recently gave up its only car. “Anybody who had ever gone through that crossing knew it was a dangerous crossing. You had traffic coming, they weren’t looking, they weren’t slowing down, and it just felt like a situation where something was gonna happen. That motivated me to get a little bit more involved.” Unertl often commutes by bike with her teenager, letting him continue to school while she heads to campus. Constrained and homebound as COVID-19 threatened public gatherings, Unertl looked to cycling to get outside and meet people. She liked the new perspective on Nashville but navigated daily physical danger and outright hostility from drivers. Both pushed her to advocacy and, eventually, Vision Zero. Country singer Conner Smith fatally struck Dorothy “Dot” Dobbins, a family attorney, on June 8, 2025, with his Chevy Silverado in a marked crosswalk across Third Avenue North. The crossing linked Morgan Park to the Germantown greenway. Like the names of many other people — including 31-year-old cyclist Blaise Schaeffer, killed by a speeding driver in a hitand-run, or 62-year-old Carlos Lyons, killed by a speeding Ford Raptor that careened onto the sidewalk — Dot’s name has accumulated meaning among transit safety specialists. Each death communicates its own lethal combination of factors that were not addressed in time. These cases’ key details — broad daylight, specified pedestrian zone, walkable urban area, high-hooded pickup truck that weighs more than 2 tons — drew attention to drivers’ deadly power and responsibility. When the Davidson

KIM UNERTL AND FAMILY BIKING IN GERMANTOWN NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

County District Attorney’s office charged Smith with a misdemeanor, brief public outcry reflected an appetite for a harsher penalty. (In February, all charges were dropped at the request of Dobbins’ family.) State law directly prescribes punishments for vehicular crimes in more detail than in almost any other area of public conduct. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Gilbert tells the Scene his options exist entirely within Title 55 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. “In Title 55, there’s a crime called ‘failure-toyield,’ and it’s got all these different subsections, and what it basically means is you didn’t drive as safe as you could,” Gilbert explains to the Scene from his office. “The law books go on and define that in countless different ways, but it’s just unsafe driving. If you have unsafe driving that resulted in a serious bodily injury or a fatality, then that should be prosecuted, but it needs to be limited to a misdemeanor according to the state legislature.” Gilbert explains a “three-part continuum” that starts at simple unsafe driving, like running a red light. It jumps up to a class-A misdemeanor if that action injures or kills someone. The third level increases penalties from a simple failureto-yield into a felony, the highest category, which includes reckless driving and vehicular homicide by intoxication. (The latter carries a required penitentiary sentence.) Punishments focus on drivers. Drunk, high or otherwise intoxicated? Speeding or distracted? Driving recklessly, with “willful or wanton disregard” for their surroundings? These questions determine legal recourse, as does the driver’s impact on the victim. Legally,

“THIS TRANSFORMATION IS OUR ONLY OPTION FOR SUSTAINED SUCCESS AS A CITY. NOT JUST AS A TOURIST DESTINATION BUT FOR THE LONGEVITY AND VITALITY OF NASHVILLE. IT HAS TO HAPPEN.” —CHARLIE WEINGARTNER, VISION ZERO ADVISORY COMMITTEE there is no difference between a victim suffering that harm in a crosswalk, on a bicycle or behind the wheel of a Cybertruck. “The DA’s office is oftentimes a challenging place to get data about the macro level of road safety, because we just get the ones that are actually prosecutable — but I will say two things,” says Gilbert, who sees many versions of the same situations. “One: People continue to choose to drive when they’re not sober. Two: reckless driving — people not appreciating the severity of their actions. And I bet you that every person I’m prosecuting for one of these didn’t believe that something bad would happen to them.” Dobbins’ case was rare in that the driver faced any charge at all. Many simply hit, run and avoid any consequences, based on the Scene’s review of every completed investigation into a pedestrian death from June 2025 to mid-July of this year, which excludes about 15 cases still open. Prosecutions rely first on police investigations carried out by the Traffic Division under Williams, the same officer who delivered the MNPD update to the Vision Zero Advisory Committee earlier this month. “We are seeing an increase in drug impairment with everybody involved in fatal crashes,” Williams told that group. “It’s a big change just over the time in my career. It used to be a drunk driver — alcohol, that’s it. We are really seeing what we consider poly-drug impairment — alcohol and something else.” Cocaine, meth, fentanyl, alcohol, marijuana — Williams drove home the point that roadway deaths often include intoxicated drivers. This year, of drivers at fault in fatal crashes, nine tested positive for drugs alone, two tested positive for just alcohol, and seven tested positive for both. Hit-and-run prevalence makes data collection difficult for roadway deaths, which is another complicating factor for Gilbert’s prosecution cases, but many drivers involved in such serious incidents arrive with a long list of documented irresponsible driving. Over several weeks — sometimes months — pedestrian deaths become reports roughly 15 to 20 pages long compiled by investigators within

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Saturday, August 29

Saturday, September 12

SONGWRITER SESSION

HATCH SHOW PRINT

Ana Cristina Cash

Block Party

NOON · FORD THEATER

3:00 pm and 6:00 pm

Sunday, August 30 MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Paul Kramer 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER Saturday, September 5 BOOK TALK

Do My Heart Good with Cleve Francis

2:30 pm · FORD THEATER Sunday, September 6 MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Pitney Meyer 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER Saturday, September 12

SONGWRITER SESSION

Mike Reid

NOON · FORD THEATER

NashvilleAIDSWalk.com Join us fo fforr our 38th annual

HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP Sunday, September 13 HATCH SHOW PRINT

Family Block Party 10:00 am

HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP Sunday, September 13 MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Mac McAnally 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER Wednesday, September 16

MUSIC AND CONVERSATION

Judy Collins

10:30 am · FORD THEATER PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AMERICANA MUSIC ASSOCIATION

WITNESS HISTORY

Wednesday, September 30th Belle Meade Country Club

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

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FULL CALENDAR

8/19/26 10:15 AM

Adopta Adoptable t ble Dogs • Silent Auction • Fashion Show ta o ow • t Cocktails ty Cockta t ils • Catered ta Cate t red Lunch • And More! te Specialty NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

—MEREDITH MONTGOMERY, WALK BIKE NASHVILLE the MNPD Traffic Division. Both Williams and Gilbert praise the extensive expertise within the department, which includes two investigators trained by the Wisconsin-based Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR). They convey initial analysis to Gilbert, often including no charge if police find that the pedestrian entered the roadway. For other cases, the charge to drivers in fatal crashes is simply one line: failure to yield the right-of-way. Official documentation re-creates accidents with two-dimensional diagrams and red shapes labeled “blood.” Sometimes these remains are sampled off the ground and tested for alcohol — another page in the report. Of the MNPD paperwork reviewed by the Scene, many reports show people hit near or in crosswalks, like Dobbins, as well as near bus stops. Crashes happen any time, but frequently at night. People are dragged and run over. Many drivers keep driving. Most (but not all) of the cars involved are big. Another Chevy Silverado killed Dean Levinsohn in a crosswalk on Bell Road in October, and a Lexus LX 570 killed James Galloway in July 2025. According to the investigation report, the vehicle’s collision with Galloway did not even register on internal metrics. “This is common with crashes involving pedestrians due to the lack of delta V (change in velocity),” the report reads. Vision Zero members had lodged complaints about the short police press release on the April 18 hit-and-run death of 66-year-old cyclist Hershel Trotter, who was hit from behind at 1:30 a.m. “The bicyclist was not wearing any protective gear,” the release reads. It’s a statement of fact, but it suggests that Trotter’s gear choices might have protected him from the lethal force of a Nissan Altima. After a long presentation spanning investigators’ methods, state laws, DUIs and data sharing at the Aug. 11 meeting, Williams turned back to the disputed press release. “When it comes to pedestrians and bicyclists, as investigators, we don’t treat them as less

than, because they’re not,” Williams told the committee. “They’re all people, all victims, and it’s the families that we’re talking to every day after this. There’s none of that intention for us to say that they were doing something wrong.” Something still did not sit quite right. “The implication that we’re somehow not treating these people the same way as everybody — as drivers — it hurts,” Williams continued. “We go out there and do our job to the best of our ability.”

Trotter’s case is still open, according to Metro police. A new bus stop at the intersection where he was killed gives transit users a small refuge from Harding Place, a five-lane road on Nashville’s high-injury network. “The speeds, sounds and volume of car traffic just feel like a hostile environment,” says Meredith Montgomery, a few feet from Harding Place. “It feels like a highway. Yes, there are some crosswalks here, but they’re faded — no medians or refuges for people that are trying to cross the street. The way that the road is designed, it’s telling you as a driver to go fast.” Montgomery is the executive director at Walk Bike Nashville, an advocacy organization aiming for a “more walkable, bikeable and livable Nashville.” The nonprofit released its annual “State of Our Streets” report this month. The group’s analysis emphasizes safety and connectivity and makes recommendations both broad and specific. Its conclusions praise ongoing progress to remake Nashville roads while lightly agitating for faster, more comprehensive change. Retreating to Tampa Drive, Montgomery shelters herself under a tree in new bike lanes. Working with the school district and community members, Walk Bike Nashville helped advance this infrastructure project in recent years to connect nearby apartment complexes with Paragon Mills Elementary School. Along with the data, maps and analytics, Montgomery says the city is undergoing a culture shift away from cars as more people choose to walk, bike and take the bus. “I think one of our goals is to cultivate a culture of care for victims of traffic violence — it’s really sad to say that I think a lot of people are desensitized to these statistics that we keep seeing,” Montgomery continues. “We essentially inherited this giant problem that’s been built for 100 years. It’s really important that we acknowledge the vastness of what we have all inherited from previous generations and that, basically, we’re redoing a city.” Above the committees and nonprofits, planners and engineers are tackling the problem with the same analysis. The stand-alone Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure spun out of the city’s Public Works Department under former Mayor John Cooper. While Vision Zero and hundreds of pages of guiding city documents call for a pedestrian- and bike-friendly Nashville, actually doing the work requires legal, political and engineering labor to

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

align for hundreds of projects across Davidson County. Incoming NDOT chief Ryan Lynch will take over the department in September. Derek Hagerty has led the city’s hardscape work in the meantime. He briefly traces the city’s growth by transportation. After the city abandoned its streetcar service, the rise of the personal automobile and suburbs created a county divided, in Hagerty’s historical view, by the I-440 loop. “How do you retrofit a city designed for cars — that is the challenge that we’re facing today, and there’s a couple pieces of that,” Hagerty tells the Scene in August. “Nashville’s 500-plus square miles — so we have a lot of ground to cover to get back to where we wanna be right now. That’s just gonna take time, and it’s gonna take money. “But passing the transit referendum by a 2-to-1 margin,” he continues, referencing Choose How You Move’s successful 2024 passage, “shows that there’s the appetite.” Each project progresses through multiple phases that start with a two-page charter document with planning goals, stakeholders and related projects. Then it gets planned in two dimensions, then released for community engagement, then designed in three-dimensional space. Utility and right-of-way acquisitions can reveal legal hurdles or expensive easements. Final plans go out to bid to contractors, they are awarded, then they are constructed. Simple changes like a stoplight can take nine months, Hagerty says, sometimes due to huge waits for materials. State of good repair — keeping and maintaining roadways — still takes up a big chunk of NDOT’s resources. Traffic calming for neighborhoods is application-based. The city’s WalknBike plan from 2022 guides bike lanes and sidewalks — which are better described as stormwater projects, because they more demand redesigning runoff and drainage paths than pouring concrete. Regular meetings with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) allow Nashville to work on the big pikes and arterial roads, many of which are state routes. These multilane connectors are among the city’s most dangerous crash sites. Every roadway death gets directly reported to NDOT’s top executive. “Any fatality that takes place is a failure,” Hagerty says. “With that being said, we recognize a lot of that is the history that’s taken place. We’re focused on what we can do to fix things.” For now, the answer is: a lot. Nashvillians should get used to seeing their roads change, especially as CHYM money continues to flow from sales taxes. Longtime drivers may feel squeezed sharing the road with the occasional cyclist, or inconvenienced by adopted technology to service pedestrians at sidewalks. Still, some feel the city is not going far enough fast enough. Last year, frustrated Nashvillians began placing handmade benches across the city as a practical and political statement about Nashville’s lacking street-level accommodations. (The yearlong bench-building campaign was recently featured in The New York Times.) The East Bank has

emerged as the city’s next best opportunity to get things right the first time, and has not yet settled on designs for its central boulevard — an infrastructure battleground eyed by advocates as an essential avenue for pedestrians and cyclists. The Nolensville all-access corridor and an overhaul of Gallatin Pike and Main Street will be comprehensive, centrally located evidence of Nashville’s transformation over the next year amid intensifying public debate surrounding roadway safety. Nashvillians can also expect more tragic headlines — statistically, the year will likely see many more roadway fatalities. As the city changes, the roads change, and friction between walkers, bikers and drivers will continue to represent a Nashville desperately trying to build itself into the future. ▼

MEREDITH MONTGOMERY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT WALK BIKE NASHVILLE A MEMORIAL AT THE INTERSECTION OF HARDING PLACE AND TAMPA DRIVE

PHOTOS: ANGELINA CASTILLO

“ WE ESSENTIALLY INHERITED THIS GIANT PROBLEM THAT’S BEEN BUILT FOR 100 YEARS. IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE VASTNESS OF WHAT WE HAVE ALL INHERITED FROM PREVIOUS GENERATIONS AND THAT, BASICALLY, WE'RE REDOING A CITY.”

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LIVE MUSIC | URBAN WINERY | BAR RESTAURANT | PRIVATE EVENTS 917 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 | thebasementnashville.com basementeast thebasementeast thebasementeast

8.28 9/16 8/25

9/22

KING MALA

SCENE QUEEN

W/ JAYDEN HAMMER

w/ WARGASM & BAILEY SPINN

9/24

the gringos

W/ John wood band

9/25 post sex nachos

w/ the foxies and fetch tiger

9/23 world famous pets

END OF THE LINE

THE VOICES TRIBUTE TO MOTOWN AND R&B

TRIBUTE TO BILLY JOEL & ELTON JOHN

ACOUSTIC EXPLORATIONS OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD & ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND

9.01 9.02

just announced

8.30

john r miller NASHVILLE

Upcoming shows aug 27 mustang mcgee and freedom junction aug 28 can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party aug 29 david nail w/ Hudson Macready AUG 30 Candy Couture: Fashion Is For Every Body's 2026 Fashion Show Kick-Off Party sep 1 tons live!

sep 18 americanafest: Wyonna Judd & Friends ft. avi kaplan sep 19 americanafest: Hunter Flynn, Lilly Hiatt, Parker Millsap, & Julia Barfield sep 21 Adéla Sold out! sep 22 king mala w/ jayden hammer sep 23 world famous pets ft. Edie Brickell of New Bohemians! ft. abigail osborn, carver jones, and houston kendrick sep 24 the gringos w/ john wood band sep 2 ben chapman's peach jam ft. ft. Nicholas Jamerson & more sep 25 post sex nachos w/ The Foxies and Fetch Tiger sep 3 Ben Quad x Macseal w/ Aren't We Amphibians sep 26 damien jurado w/ st. yuma and adam voith sep 4 The Emo night tour sep 29 rebecca black sep 5 nashville indie night sep 30 the bros. landreth w/ Madeleine Roger ft. Crumbsnatchers, Jettee, Rohna, and Savanna Leigh oct 1 juice sep 6 The Suicide machines w/ Mugger oct 7 willi carlisle sep 8 ugly kid joe w/ platinum moon oct 8 finn wolfhard w/ malcy Sold out! sep 12 an evening with jed harrelson ft. abigail rose oct 11 golden: a k-pop kids party! sep 14 ben harper & the innocent criminals low tickets! oct 12 russian circles w/ pelican sep 15 ben harper & the innocent criminals Sold out! oct 13 mind enterprises sep 16 scene queen w/ Wargasm & Bailey Spinn oct 14 olivia o'brien sep 17 americanafest: Aubory Bugg, Abraham oct 15 ax and the hatchetmen w/ the hails Alexander, Langhorne Slim, & more oct 18 after Stop by Lowbar located underneath the basement east for drinks, pool, darts, karaoke and more! Open 5pm-late

8.29

PIANO MEN

& TENNESSEE DEAD

ft. edie brickell of new bohemians!

12/13

8.29

BEATLES BRUNCH

8.30

ESPERANZA SPALDING

MAUI THE WRITER FOR THE LOVERS

9.3 9.4

TAMAR BRAXTON CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS DATE FEAT. BIG CHAD REED, 9.5 LOTISNIGHT MUSIC, SHELLDHN, ESSENCE SOFAI 9.6 TEE SANDERS 9.7 AN EVENING WITH RICHARD ELLIOT 9.8 JANE DON’T DOES AMERICA 9.9 JOHN COWAN QUARTET 9.11 THE SMITHEREENS 9.13 PENNY LANE 9.14 THE WELLERMEN OF LAUGHS PRESENTS: 9.16 ACITY SPECIAL NIGHT WITH T.K. KIRKLAND 9.19 AN ACOUSTIC EVENING WITH LACEY STURM 9.20 WUSSY PRESENTS TWILIGHT DRAG BRUNCH 9.20 STELLA COLE 9.21 R&B LIVE LADIES EDITION 9.22 NATE SMITH (2 SHOWS) AT THE WINERY WITH 9.24 WOOFSTOCK EMMYLOU HARRIS AND TOM RUSH

9.25 9.26 9.27 9.28 9.29 10.1

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT FREDDY JONES BAND CHARLIE HUNTER TRIO BACKSTAGE BRASS ISAAC SLADE (FORMERLY OF THE FRAY)

8.29 CITY OF LAUGHS PRESENTS: BEST OF THE CITY EVENING WITH CRIMSON CALAMITY 8.30 AN & KRIS ANGELIS 9.5 CITY OF LAUGHS PRESENTS: BEST OF THE CITY 9.11 BRANDON LEE ADAMS 9.13 ALEXANDR MISKO WITH FOREST BAILEY 9.14 JUDITH OWEN 9.16 STANLEY JORDAN 9.19 D’LAI - I BEG YOUR PARDON

1604 8th Ave S Nashville, TN 37203 | thebasementnashville.com thebasementnash thebasementnash thebasementnash

aug 28 Fru its of Su m m er

9/3

jacoozy w/ great outdoors

9/10 grady spencer and the vegabonds

Upcoming shows aug 27 trey pendley - album release show [5:30pm] aug 27 mikelparis [7pm] aug 27 telander [9pm] aug 28 audrey and nathan - ep release show [7pm] aug 28 soft palms w/ larciné and hangin' out in my body [9pm] aug 29 ungifted amateurs w/ vital humor [7pm] aug 29 Junebug and the Hurricanes [9pm] aug 30 buffalo galaxy w/ smol magol [7pm] Aug 30 EDM Takeover! ft. khaos, ottomatic, and more [9pm]

AUG 31 THE BEAU BURNETTE SHOW [7pm] sep 1 free show! michael james [6PM] SEP 2 FREE SHOW! BMI PLUG & PLAY [6:30pm] SEP 3 LB BEISTAD W/ CLAIRE VANDIVER [7PM] SEP 3 JACOOZY W/ GREAT OUTDOORS [9PM] SEP 4 VINJE W/ VICTORIA CAMP [7PM] SEP 4 CRAZIER W/ SOPHIE THE STRAY AND OL BLUE [9PM] SEP 6 J ISAIAH EVANS & THE BOSS TWEEK W/ VOLK [7PM] sep 7 chloe alexander [7PM]

Don't miss new faces Night every tuesday at 7pm!

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

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CRITICS’ PICKS: WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF THINGS TO DO TUESDAY, SEPT. 1 MUSIC

Visit calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings

[JAZZ DANCES]

ESPERANZA SPALDING

Veteran music journalist Robert Christgau’s review of bassist, singer and composer Esperanza Spalding’s 2016 album Emily’s D+ Evolution compared Spalding to “the Joni Mitchell who so wanted to be a jazzbo.” That’s true, and it’s also somewhat trenchant — after all, Mitchell wasn’t really a jazzbo on her great 1970s records The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, which incorporated jazz players like Robben Ford, Larry Carlton and Jaco Pastorius into her pop-rock music. Spalding is a jazz musician who has collaborated with artists as diverse as saxophonist Wayne Shorter, R&B master Raphael Saadiq, and dancer and choreographer Kayla Farrish. Her 2024 release Esperanza + Milton pairs her with 83-yearold Brazilian singer and songwriter Milton Nascimento, whose 1970s music — including his 1975 collaboration with the aforementioned Shorter, Native Dancer — is the Brazilian equivalent to, say, the work of David Crosby, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon in the same decade. Esperanza + Milton includes a nice cover of Nascimento’s supremely lyrical 1972 song “Cais.” Spalding and Nascimento also cover John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s “A Day in the Life,” a song that tends to resist interpretation. Like the rest of Esperanza + Milton, the track repurposes pop in the name of jazz, which seems authentic enough to me. EDD HURT 7:30 P.M. AT CITY WINERY 609 LAFAYETTE ST.

JOHN A. MERRITT CLASSIC PAGE 19

Lorne Michaels’ long-running NBC variety show returns in September, Johnson is making a threenight hometown appearance at Zanies. Visit nashville.zanies.com for showtimes and tickets. AUG. 27-29 AT ZANIES 2019 EIGHTH AVE. S.

MUSIC

ESPERANZA SPALDING

THURSDAY / 8.27 COMEDY

PHOTO: HOLLY ANDRES

D. PATRICK RODGERS

[NEARLY ANY TASK]

JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON

Can Nashville name a Stand-Up Comedian Laureate? Because I have a beloved and unproblematic nomination, and I think he’d be hard to beat. Before he was Saturday Night Live’s go-to Trump impersonator — and impressionistat-large, frequently scooping up more airtime than just about anyone aside from the week’s host — hometown funnyman James Austin Johnson

was fine-tuning his material at a spot called Spanky’s near the Nashville Zoo. The Glengarry Elementary, Meigs Magnet, Davidson Academy and Trevecca Nazarene University alum has only gotten sharper and funnier in the four years since he first joined SNL’s cast, with his arsenal including characters who feel familiar to anyone raised in Middle Tennessee. (Also, Johnson’s Bob Dylan impression comes from a place of deep understanding and love, as evidenced by his tender recent cover of “The Man in Me.”) As has become recent tradition, before the next season of

[FUNKY FOUR]

ADAM WAKEFIELD, JACK RUCH, KEVIN SCOTT & WILL LONEY

A quartet of ace musicians is getting together for the first time Thursday night at The Underdog for a show that promises to be a funky good time. The lineup features soulful vocalist-keyboardist Adam Wakefield; blues and jazz vocalist-guitarist Jack Ruch; former Gov’t Mule bassist Kevin Scott, who is known for his funky, improvisational style; and blues and funk drummer Will Loney. The idea for the show arose from a recent session Wakefield and Scott played on. “We did some studio work together about a month ago, and we were like, ‘Shit, we should, like, actually play real music

RENÉE FLEMING WITH BÉLA FLECK:

THE FIDDLE AND THE DRUM

FEATURING MY BLUEGRASS HEART WITH SIERRA HULL

SHADES OF BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL PAGE 20

together,’” recalls Wakefield, who is probably best known as the runner-up on Season 10 of The Voice. “So I was like, ‘Well, let’s just book a show over at The Underdog.’” Wakefield says the quartet will probably play some original material, but mainly will perform songs they all love. “It will be cool, fun covers, like The Meters and blues tunes,” he says. “We’ll come up with a groove, then I’ll pick an old blues tune like ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ or ‘I’m Ready,’ or some tune like that, and I’ll sing the words over the top of it.” DARYL SANDERS 8 P.M. AT THE UNDERDOG 3208 GALLATIN PIKE

MUSIC

ALICJA TROUT POP-UP ART SHOW PAGE 19

[KISS CITY]

WNXP SUMMER LINE SERIES: BLONDSHELL

As a little treat for surviving another blistering Nashville summer, local radio stalwart WNXP is hosting a series of free concerts featuring some of the most exciting acts of the moment. Next up on the docket at Nashville Yards is Blondshell, the indie-rock outlet of songwriter

AN AMERICANAFEST SPECIAL EVENT

SEPTEMBER 15 SCHERMHORN SYMPHONY CENTER

Be Moved. Be Amazed. BE. HERE.

NashvilleSymphony.org

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

[MY BOOZE DON’T NEED NO BUDDY]

MUSIC

The Belcourt’s excellent summer epics series, Weekend Classics: Beat the Heat, ends this weekend with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a movie I could live inside of. The 2019 hangout dramedy is an ode to the power of movie stars, driving at night with the windows down and the Stones blaring, L.A. during the American New Wave, neon-lit theater marquees, the grind of the character actor, dusty old Westerns and whiskey sours. Leonardo DiCaprio is my favorite actor, and his portrayal of the vergingon-washed-up Rick Dalton just might be his finest hour. It’s hard to argue against the athletic theatrics on display in The Wolf of Wall Street or his tortured nervous breakdown in The Departed. But watch Leo’s face during the scene on the set of the in-universe TV show Lancer when his tiny co-star Trudy (a whip-smart Julia Butters) tells him that’s the best acting she’s ever seen in her whole life. It might be Leo’s best moment. Come for Leo (and Margot and Brad), but stay for the future of Hollywood (Austin Butler, Margaret Qualley, Mikey Madison, Sydney Sweeney, Maya Hawke) popping up throughout. LOGAN BUTTS AUG. 28-30 AT THE BELCOURT 2012 BELCOURT AVE.

For the locals who don’t count down the days until football season, fall in Nashville unofficially arrives when music returns to the Musicians Corner stage. Or at least it spiritually arrives, even if the thermostat still teases unfathomably warm temperatures. The familyfriendly — and free! — concert series returns Friday to Centennial Park for the first of five weekends packed with trustworthy lineups and unmatched lawnchair hangs. The first weekend of the season includes funk-pop singer Gerard Alain, alt-rock band Sweet Lizzy Project, soulful Americana performer Kara Frazier and roots artist Josh Okeefe. Indie-folk band Birdtalker headlines the night. The Nashville-based band featuring husband-and-wife duo Zack and Dani Green is playing Musicians Corner before embarking on a run of European dates this fall. Can’t make it to Musicians Corner this weekend? Mark your calendar for Sept. 4 through 6, when event organizers host Free Fest, a three-day show featuring Rayland Baxter, Nikki Lane, MORGXN and more. Find information on upcoming lineups at musicianscorner.com. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

5 P.M. AT CENTENNIAL PARK 2500 WEST END AVE.

[COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE]

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY 35TH ANNIVERSARY

FILM

People forget how much of a game-changer Terminator 2: Judgment Day was when it hit multiplexes back in 1991. Arnold Schwarzenegger and co-writer/director James Cameron figuratively and literally pulled out the big guns for this sequel to their 1984 sci-fi smash The Terminator. This time around, Schwarzenegger’s time-traveling cyborg is the good guy, sent to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her young son (Edward Furlong), who will grow up to lead the war against the machines. One of the first summer event movies to go all-in on the CGI, T2 saw Cameron collaborate with Industrial Light

[SO MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE TO BE]

BOOTSAROO: A WINDOWS ON THE CUMBERLAND CELEBRATION

Back when Charlie Fenton opened Windows on the Cumberland in 1986, the nominal windows of the tiny club just off Broadway looked out on a very different downtown Nashville than the one we know today. The same could be said for when Jackson “Boots” Hill took over as proprietor in 1997, as well as when he was informed his lease wouldn’t be renewed and he shuttered the place in September 2006. However, places like Windows — where management would take chances on alternative acts, from jam bands

MUSICIANS CORNER FEAT. BIRDTALKER, JOSH OKEEFE, SWEET LIZZY PROJECT & MORE

THE PIANO

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

MUSICIANS CORNER

PHOTO: ALEX JUSTICE

FILM

WEEKEND CLASSICS: BEAT THE HEAT: ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

[FREE TUNES!]

[TUNE UP]

I’m sure when Sony Pictures Classics decided to drop a new 4K DCP restoration of Jane Campion’s 1993 bodice-ripper The Piano (yet another successful import that raised the now-disgraced Harvey Weinstein’s profile when Miramax released it domestically back in the day), they didn’t expect one of its stars to pass away during the rollout. Unfortunately, that’s what happened last month, when New Zealand actor Sam Neill died at age 78. In the same year he played the heroic lead in the blockbuster classic Jurassic Park, he was also a controlling 19th-century settler holding onto his arranged marriage to a mute, ivorytickling Scottish mother (Best Actress Oscar winner Holly Hunter), especially when she starts a torrid affair with his studly neighbor/ business associate (Harvey Keitel, in another ’90s role in which he moan-cries and shows his junk). Somehow, Neill makes you feel for the clueless, contemptuous cuck, even when he goes full scumbag in the final act. Starting this weekend, over at the Belcourt, you can catch this underrated performance from a dearly departed great. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes. CRAIG D. LINDSEY OPENS AUG. 28 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

FILM

FRIDAY / 8.28

to string bands and beyond, bubbling up out of the local underground music scene — have constantly been vital to the health of Music City’s music ecosystem. (For one small example: Rock stars Cage the Elephant played their first Nashville gig at Windows.) Friday evening, five acts who performed at the club will return to the stage, this time at The ’58 at Eastside Bowl, with Boots himself as guest of honor. Catphish, Zentrance, The Reliables, Ballhog! and Mile 8 will gather to celebrate the spot’s legacy, call up some memories and start plotting some future celebrations. STEPHEN TRAGESER 7 P.M. AT THE ’58 AT EASTSIDE BOWL 1508A GALLATIN PIKE S., MADISON

MUSIC

Sabrina Teitelbaum. Blondshell is gearing up for the release of their third studio album, Violins, out Sept. 25 on Partisan Records. The follow-up to last year’s If You Asked for a Picture promises to deliver bigger and better versions of what Blondshell does best: confessional songwriting, grungy production and endless cool-girl energy. With any luck, crowd members at the free, all-ages show Thursday will get to hear the crushing lead single “Heart Has to Work So Hard” and maybe even “Docket,” Blondshell’s collaboration with local favorite and recent WNXP Summer Line Series headliner Bully. Tickets to see Blondshell and local indierocking opener Caroline Carter are available for reservation at wnxp.org. HANNAH CRON 7 P.M. AT THE LANDING AT NASHVILLE YARDS 131 10TH AVE. N.

PHOTO: ALEX JUSTICE

OCTOBER 5

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY

ALICJA TROUT POP-UP ART SHOW

In certain cities, an artist can cultivate an entire career out of making band flyers and posters. Nashville is one of those cities — you have only to look at Hatch Show Print for examples of the enduring legacy of show posters — and Memphis is another one. Alicja Trout is a Memphis musician who is best known for her work with the synth band Lost Sounds, which she started with the late Jay Reatard, and the River City Tanlines. Among her fans is the great Henry Rollins, who has guest-curated this weekend-long exhibition out of a collection of her archives in Wedgewood-Houston gallery RADAR615 — formerly known as Zeitgeist. In a statement, Rollins spoke about the importance of getting archives out of their university settings and in front of the public: “I’ve found that universities are the bottomless vacuum that disappears collections, soon forgets they have them, and by doing so deprives people of the opportunity to see the pieces.” Think of this weekend’s show as an antidote to all those backto-school photos that have taken over social media. Rollins will be on hand from 4 until 6 p.m. Saturday to discuss. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER 4-9 P.M. AUG. 28-29 AT RADAR615 516 HAGAN ST.

SPORTS

SATURDAY / 8.29 [IT’S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE]

JOHN A. MERRITT CLASSIC

A rivalry will be renewed Saturday as Tennessee State’s football team hosts Jackson State in the John A. Merritt Classic at Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium. The longtime HBCU rivals used to meet annually in the Southern Heritage Classic at Liberty Stadium in Memphis. But TSU

MUSIC

[MEMPHIS IS THE REASON]

and JSU haven’t played since the 2022 season (a 16-3 Jackson State win during the program’s final season under firebrand head coach Deion Sanders). The event is named after John Merritt, who led TSU to seven Black College Football National Championships during his 21 seasons in Nashville. Merritt also earned a BCF title during his 11-season run with JSU, so the College Football Hall of Famer has a deep history with both schools. The game will be a perfect kickoff to football season in Music City. LOGAN BUTTS 7:30 P.M. AT FIRSTBANK STADIUM 2601 JESS NEELY DRIVE [FOUR EASY PIECES]

THE ALTERED STATESMAN

Springwater Supper Club & Lounge plays host Saturday night to one of Music City’s most interesting and inventive bands, The Altered Statesman. Led by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Steve Poulton, the group’s music features Poulton’s smoky vocals over an unrushed, groovy, psychedelic mix of soul and jazz that is inspired in part by the early 1970s work of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. “The object of the project right now is to have more poetry with the jazz,” Poulton tells the Scene. “Or more jazz with the poetry. We’re just into some slow fuguing. I’m really trying to pursue that.” Poulton says the group will perform selections from the two EPs they released in the spring — Yestalgia and God’s Own Fool — as well as “some new shit.” In addition to Poulton and longtime bandmate Robert Crawford (drums, percussion), The Altered Statesman’s current lineup features Le Ann Etheridge (bass) and Vincent Quinn (acoustic guitar, tres Cubano, harmonica). The band will be without saxophonist-keyboardist Anders Juhl, who is in Europe and not available for Saturday’s show. Whimsical indie singersongwriter Jake McKelvie and ambient folk artist Taylor Daukas are also on the bill. DARYL SANDERS 9 P.M. AT SPRINGWATER 115 27TH AVE. N.

MUSIC

ART

& Magic in creating the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), the advanced, shape-shifting killing machine who goes after them. This action-packed analogversus-digital throwdown (which officially kicked off the age of the computer-enhanced blockbuster) was a global smash, grossing more than half a billion dollars at the box office and later winning Oscars for its groundbreaking visual, makeup and sound effects. All this week, Fathom will hold 35th anniversary screenings (in 2D, 3D and 4DX) all over the country, including theaters around these parts. Visit fathomevents. com for showtimes. CRAIG D. LINDSEY AUG. 28-SEPT. 2 AT LOCAL REGAL AND AMC THEATERS

[YOU AND ME ON THE ROCK]

BRANDI CARLILE

DOVE WEEK 2026 NIGHT OF WORSHIP FEATURING ELEVATION WORSHIP ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM NOVEMBER 9

LIVE AT THE OPRY HOUSE

DON’T LOOK ETHEL! A SALUTE TO THE MUSICAL GENIUS OF RAY STEVENS WITH JAMEY JOHNSON, RONNIE MILSAP, LEE GREENWOOD + MORE

NOVEMBER 10

YEBBA

ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM NOVEMBER 16

DRAKE WHITE’S BENEFIT FOR THE BRAIN ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

FEBRUARY 17, 2027

STELLA LEFTY

ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM FEBRUARY 27 & 28, 2027

MICHELLE BRANCH SECOND NIGHT ADDED

MARCH 10, 2027

BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

This weathered music scribe has seen Brandi Carlile sing for a sweaty, packed-to-thebarrier audience at Marathon Music Works, under the city’s skyline during a summertime gig at Ascend Amphitheater, in the face of the unrelenting sun on The Farm at Bonnaroo and, of course, inside the Mother Church of Country Music. Each time, she tears the house down. Her shows mix empathetic storytelling with NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

MUSIC

7 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA 501 BROADWAY [THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG]

NASHVILLE OPERA: JUKEBOX LIVE

Nashville Opera’s new season opens Oct. 8 with Puccini’s timeless masterpiece Tosca. But there’s plenty of fun to be had this weekend, as Jukebox Live returns to the Noah Liff Opera Center. It’s a fun, freewheeling program where the guests determine the playlist by bidding to have songs performed live at their table or as a special dedication — from beloved opera arias and familiar Broadway show tunes to pop, jazz and even country. Audiences can look forward to big performances from soprano Flora Hawk and tenor Ben Gulley, along with local artists like Miles Aubrey, Steven McCoy, Megan Murphy Chambers and Sarah Antell, plus accompaniment from Stephen Kummer and Stephen Carey. It’s a cool, intimate party vibe, with dinner and drinks included. Guests are encouraged to dress as their favorite musical genre (think Disco Queens and Opera Divas!). And best of all, proceeds go to support Nashville Opera’s mission, performances and educational programs. AMY STUMPFL 7 P.M. AT THE NOAH LIFF OPERA CENTER 3622 REDMON ST.

MUSIC

SUNDAY / 8.30 [IF ONE MORE LABEL TRY TO STOP ME]

CHANCE THE RAPPER

In the past 10 years, Chance the Rapper has fallen out of fashion. Following the release of the masterful Coloring Book, Chance was riding high with commercial success, critical acclaim and a Grammy for Best Rap Album. But many fans soured on his sound on his follow-up release, 2019’s The Big Day, the ultimate Wife Guy album. Last year’s Star Line got fans back on board, but the massive momentum he had built in the 2010s never quite returned. The Chicago rapper will be at the Ryman on Sunday for a 10th anniversary tour celebrating Coloring Book, and I hope it’s an opportunity for folks to rediscover just how special that album is. The songs are great on wax, but the live versions are arguably even better, as Chance’s coalition of Chi-Town musicians get downright spiritual onstage. From the joyously raucous “No Problem” to the devastating

NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

ART

[CHANGING CLIMATE]

VOICES OF RESILIENCE

The heat in Nashville is brutal. Research has shown Davidson County is getting hotter, and cooling methods like trees and green space are not distributed evenly. According to a Metro Nashville’s Urban Heat Mapping Campaign, the urban core, North Nashville, Edgehill and Madison, as well as parts of South Nashville, Elm Hill and West Nashville bordering I-40 and Charlotte Pike, are considerably hotter than other areas of Davidson County during the same time of day. An array of factors contributes to these disparities, and a local exhibition is showcasing the lives affected by the changing climate. Presented by Tennessee State University and Urban Green Lab, the traveling Voices of Resilience exhibit is making its next stop at West End United Methodist Church. The multimedia exhibit includes art, oral histories, portraits and other original work by those experiencing the effects of climate change in Nashville. This includes increasing temperatures, lingering effects of Winter Storm Fern and more. The exhibit has its official launch Sunday and will include a storyteller panel, potluck, bread exchange, food drive and gallery walkthrough. If you can’t make it to the launch, the exhibit will be on display through Sept. 27. JULIANNE AKERS EXHIBIT LAUNCH 1 P.M.; THROUGH SEPT. 27 AT WEST END UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 2200 WEST END AVE.

MONDAY / 8.31 [MADE IN THE SHADE]

SHADES OF BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL

The Shades of Black Theatre Festival has been lifting up Black voices, stories and artists for more than 20 years. Established by Destiny

CHANCE THE RAPPER

PHOTO: KEELEY PARENTEAU

MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

“Same Drugs” and the wistful “Summer Friends,” I’ll be rapping along. New Orleans raptivist La Reezy opens. LOGAN BUTTS 8 P.M. AT THE RYMAN 116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.

THEATER

rock ’n’ roll tenacity — both backed by a showstopping voice that’s endeared Carlile to fans for two decades and counting. This weekend, the 11-time Grammy Award winner and Elton John collaborator plays Bridgestone Arena in support of last year’s standout LP Returning to Myself and the forthcoming Returning to Myself (Sad Gay Version), an expanded edition of the album that includes reimagined versions of the original track list. Be sure to arrive early at the Nashville gig to catch an opening set from folk singer Gregory Alan Isakov.

PHOTO: KEELEY PARENTEAU

2ND & BROADWAY NASHVILLE, TN

ON BROADWAY

EMILY WILSON

[OFF THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR]

MUSIC CITY MONDAYS: GYPSY 83: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT

When Todd Stephens’ 2001 directorial debut Gypsy 83 started making the gay/lesbian film festival rounds 25 years ago, the queer filmmaker cut his story of two Stevie Nicksloving goth besties (Sara Rue, Birkett Turton) who flee their podunk Ohio town and hit the road to attend the Night of 1000 Stevies show in New York, down to a digestible, 94-minute form. But Stephens has gone back and assembled a lengthier cut, clocking in at 138 minutes, complete with previously deleted and extended scenes and a soundtrack that now includes tunes from such goth-friendly bands as Echo & the Bunnymen and the Cocteau Twins. So of course the Belcourt has booked it for a Music City Mondays showing. Don’t forget to get there early for a pre-

screening Stevie-Off, hosted by Belcourt staff member/musician Jessica Breanne. Show up in your best Stevie Nicks look, and you’ll have 10 seconds to share your Stevie impression; the audience will crown the winner. CRAIG D. LINDSEY 8 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

TUESDAY / 9.1 BOOKS

Theatre Experience and SistaStyle Productions in 2006, this annual monthlong celebration showcases everything from spoken word and dance to film, theater and more. This year’s festival kicks off with a fun free mixer at the Darkhorse Theater on Monday. From there, audiences can look forward to a staged reading of Maya Antoinette Riley’s new Afrofuturist work Alex and the Afronauts (Sept. 2); Shawn Whitsell’s intriguing theatrical experience Destined Beyond: An Immersive Theatre Journey (Sept. 4 & 17); and the alwayspopular 24-hour Short Play Showcase from Verge Theater and Destiny Theatre Experience (Sept. 5). Other highlights include Kintsugi: Art of Scars — a powerful new work created by poet and performer Cameron L. Mitchell, in collaboration with choreographer Thea Jones (Sept. 17 and 20); and musician/public speaker Damien Horne’s engaging solo show A Nashville Story (Sept. 25). AMY STUMPFL THROUGH SEPT. 27 AT THE DARKHORSE THEATER 4610 CHARLOTTE AVE.

FILM

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Live Music at

[THE JOURNEY HOME]

EMILY WILSON AUTHOR EVENT

Emily Wilson made history as the first woman to translate The Odyssey into English verse. Published in 2017, her translation is at once bold and in conversation with history, bringing the ancient words down to earth with plainer language that reflects its oral tradition and an iambic pentameter rhythm that honors the lineage of English poetry and mimics the human heartbeat. When Christopher Nolan adapted The Odyssey into a blockbuster, he cited her work — and she responded with not one but two searing critiques of the film for the London Review of Books and The Atlantic, opening a Pandora’s box of discourse about myth, authority and retelling. It’s the perfect time, then, for Wilson to come to Nashville to discuss her new book Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature, which considers the philosophy and prejudices of translating the classics. Co-presented by The Parthenon and Parnassus Books in partnership with Centennial Park Conservancy, Wilson — who also translated The Iliad in 2023 — will appear at The Parthenon for a conversation with education director Helen Sanders and a book signing. Tickets are available online. ANNIE PARNELL 6:30 P.M. AT THE PARTHENON 2500 WEST END AVE.

9.12 Kylie Morgan

9.19 Keith Anderson

9.20 Bryan White

From Fr om platinum-selling pla pl a chart-toppers cha to underground icons, ic on s, household names to s, icon ons ons, t undiscovered gems, hi f’ N c co ommitte mmi eeple is h commi o ommi to bringing the very Chief’s Neon Steeple committed best national and regional talent alentt back to Broadway.

SEPTEMBER LINEUP 9.5 Sammy Arriaga 9.12 Kylie Morgan - Healed Cowgirl World Tour 9.16 Jamie O’Neal & Andy Griggs 9.18 Tristan Roberson FREE SHOW 9.19 Keith Anderson 9.20 Bryan White, Special Guest Rich O’Toole 9.21 Buddy’s Place Writer’s Round w/ Sam Palladio, Striking Matches, Gina Venier 9.23 Uncle B’s Damned Ole Opry 2nd Annual Songwriter Spectacular featuring Ashley Gorley, Jim Beavers, Shy Carter, Josh Osborne, Kat Higgins & Special Guests

WRITERS’ ROUNDS AT CHIEF’S

9.24 Audrey Spillman & Friends - Nightingale Album Release Show 9.26 Britnee Kellogg 9.27 Lawrence Rothman Here Lies Love/Sawdust Into Stardust Album Release 9.28 Tim Montana & Friends American Thread Benefit Concert, Benefiting Special Ops Xcursions

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At Chief’s we understand that great music is born from the heart and soul of it’s creators, which is why our writers’ rounds are dedicated to celebrating the brilliant minds behind some of today’s most iconic songs.

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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 • nashvillescene.com

DOZENS OF LOCAL PIZZA JOINTS. ONE WEEK ONLY.

IZZA P 2 S 1