NEWS:
AUGUST 20-26, 2026 I VOLUME 45 I NUMBER 30 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE
ROCK BLOCK DEVELOPMENTS MOVE FORWARD FOLLOWING YEARSLONG HALT
THEATER:
NASHVILLE SHAKES RETURNS TO CENTENNIAL — AND PLANS FOR A NEW PLAYHOUSE
>> PAGE 7
>> PAGE 29
FILM:
DEFY FILM FEST RELOCATES TO EASTSIDE BOWL FOR ITS 11TH INSTALLMENT >> PAGE 34
HEADLINE HEADLINE HEADLINE Subhead Subhead Subhead Subhead Subhead Subhead BY BYLINE
HUMANS IN THE LOOP Generative AI is part of the Nashville government. How are real-life employees keeping these tools safe and accurate? BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
STREET VIEW: A LOCAL NONPROFIT AIMS TO MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLE >> PAGE 9
FILM: OUR THOUGHTS ON THE BLACKENING, PAST LIVES AND THE FLASH, ALL OPENING THIS WEEK >> PAGE 34
WITNESS HISTORY Dolly Parton wore this cowgirl outfit, made by the Western Costume Co., in the 1980 Hollywood film 9 to 5. Just two months after the film’s release, the Parton-penned theme song, inspired in part by the cast, hit #1 on Billboard ’s Hot 100. From the exhibit Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker artifact: Courtesy of Dolly Parton artifact photo: Bob Delevante
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CONTENTS NEWS
7 MNPD’s Drone Trial Is a Small Piece of a Larger Surveillance Push Drones are the latest step in Metro police’s ‘steadily expanding surveillance apparatus’ BY NICK PIPITONE
7 Rock Block Developments Move Forward Following Yearslong Halt Developer plans return of old businesses, plus the addition of apartments and a park BY HANNAH HERNER
8 Street View: Nine Townhomes Languish in Old Hickory The saga behind the new-build homes, which have been sitting vacant and half-finished for about two years BY LENA MAZEL
9 Pith in the Wind
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This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog
COVER STORY
11 Humans in the Loop
Dubai Chocolate Sundae at Iggy’s • PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
Generative AI is part of the Nashville government. How are real-life employees keeping these tools safe and accurate? BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
15 CRITICS’ PICKS
Megan Moroney, Bully, I’m Proud of You, Big Thief, Taste of Donelson Hermitage and more
MUSIC
37
Alicia Witt discusses her lifelong bond with David Lynch and her new album Between Heaven and Earth
NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD AND THIS MODERN WORLD
38
MARKETPLACE
31 Inside a Dream
BY ANNIE PARNELL
31 The Scene Is Set, the Stars Are Indifferent Lambchop finds new angles on human nature in old sounds on Punching the Clown
FOOD AND DRINK
23 We All Scream …
BY SEAN L. MALONEY
32 The Spin
No need to have a meltdown — there’s still plenty of ice cream weather left this year
The Scene’s live-review column checks out Latter at Drkmttr
BY MARGARET LITTMAN
BY AMANDA HAGGARD
BOOKS
FILM
27 Humble, Selfless, Indefatigable
ON THE COVER:
34 Defy Goes Mad
Joe Pagetta tells the story of a 19th-century missionary to Tennessee BY MAGGIE GIGANDET; CHAPTER16.ORG
Illustration: Tina Ritchie
For its 11th year, the popular local film fest is bringing wide-ranging, eccentric cinema to Eastside Bowl BY JOE NOLAN
THEATER
35 Tony, Tony, Tony
29 Coming Home Nashville Shakes returns to Centennial Park with A Midsummer Night’s Dream — and has plans for a new playhouse
Matt Johnson’s unconventional Anthony Bourdain biopic feels like a night of fine dining BY JASON SHAWHAN
BY AMY STUMPFL
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Spanning one hundred years of modern and contemporary Indigenous art, An Indigenous Present includes works by artists who use strategies of abstraction to represent personal and collective narratives, describe specific and imagined places, and build upon cultural and aesthetic traditions. Co-organized by artist Jeffrey Gibson (member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent) and independent curator Jenelle Porter, the exhibition offers an expansive consideration of Indigenous art practices, highlighting
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a continuum of elders and emerging makers.
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George Longfish. Take Two Aspirins and Call Me In The Morning, You Are On Target (detail), 1984. Acrylic on canvas; 85 x 117 in. Courtesy The Fine Arts Collection, Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis. © George Longfish. Photo: Cleber Bonato NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 •Jan nashvillescene.com
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NEWS
MNPD’S DRONE TRIAL IS A SMALL PIECE OFDrones A LARGER SURVEILLANCE PUSH are the latest step in Metro police’s ‘steadily expanding surveillance apparatus’ BY NICK PIPITONE
SCREENSHOT FROM AN MNPD VIDEO ANNOUNCING ITS “DRONES AS FIRST RESPONDER” TRIAL PROGRAM
LOST IN THE debate over the Metro Nashville Police Department’s “Drone as First Responder” trial is the bigger picture laid out in the Community Review Board’s recently released preliminary report. In its report, the board — which is the city’s police advisory and review committee — firmly situates the drone trial among the larger, unresolved fight over police surveillance technology in Nashville. The board writes that the drone pilot program is the latest step in “MNPD’s steadily expanding surveillance apparatus, which has often advanced ahead of, or in tension with, Metro Council review and opportunities for public comment.” MNPD’s Community Safety Center, which piloted the drones and stored their data, is the hub the police department designed to operate many other tools, according to the board, and “each new capability added there amplifies the reach of the ones already in place.” “Fusus software collapses disparate surveillance feeds ... into a single real-time crime-center ecosystem,” the board writes. “Skydio’s
drones plug directly into that system.” On its own, the report notes, the trial program amounted to FAA-certified officers dispatching three drones from MNPD’s Madison Precinct within a 2-mile radius. But “the stakes cannot be measured by the drones alone, but by everything they can ultimately connect to; and by whether that vastly interconnected future will receive the public scrutiny that earlier pieces, introduced incrementally, have often escaped.” MNPD’s drone trial launched on May 26 and ended Aug. 7 after 30 flight days, police spokesperson Brooke Reese recently told the Scene. Most of the debate has centered on how MNPD launched the trial without a Metro Council vote or public hearing. Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office says the program falls under a Metro Code 13.08.080 exemption for surveillance technology “used on a temporary basis” for investigations, warrants or exigent circumstances. “The Department of Law advised this did not have to go to council,” mayor’s office spokesperson Alex Apple tells the Scene. “The procurement regulations authorize pilot programs that do not require a contract between the parties.” District 30 Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda introduced legislation on July 28 to narrow that exemption, and it passed first reading at the council’s Aug. 4 meeting. The legal ma-
neuver echoes how the Fusus camera network launched in 2022, also without council approval, before the council halted it for review in 2024. That December, the Metro Council rejected a contract that would have given MNPD access to a network of private and residential cameras. Skydio, which provided the drones to MNPD, has a partnership with Axon’s Fusus platform built specifically to feed Skydio drone footage into Fusus “real-time crime centers.” MNPD doesn’t currently have Fusus access, and police spokesperson Reese confirms that council approval would be required to make the drone program permanent. But if a future Metro administration revives Fusus and the “Drone as First Responder” program continues, the two systems could theoretically plug directly into each other. This is the “interconnected future” the Community Review Board spoke of. Community organizer Kelly Chieng, who has tracked Nashville’s surveillance fights for years, says the individual debates over separate pieces of police tech — whether it’s Fusus cameras or Skydio drones — miss the point. In cities including Atlanta, Chieng says, Skydio isn’t sold through a stand-alone partnership at all. It’s bundled directly into Axon’s contract, alongside body-worn cameras and crime-center software. “I think that’s an important thing for the public to understand, because a lot of people track this issue company by company,” Chieng tells the Scene. “But it doesn’t really matter which specific brand, because all of this stuff gets integrated in a real-time crime center.” Real-time crime centers — like the one used by the Murfreesboro Police Department — are
modeled on a concept pioneered by the New York Police Department in 2005 that fuses license plate data, camera feeds, social media and other surveillance data. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the centers typically run on internal police department policy rather than a binding ordinance, and they raise serious civil liberties concerns. Police tech vendors like Skydio also lean on “free” trials, Chieng says — a pattern the EFF has documented nationally in which departments sometimes keep using a tool a city never funded, betting money eventually follows. On Aug. 7 — the day MNPD’s drone trial ended — Metro Police held a private briefing on the program at police headquarters. At least six councilmembers attended. A Scene reporter, community organizers and a handful of Community Review Board staff members were turned away by a security guard after some confusion on whether the briefing was private or open to the public. In a recording of the briefing obtained by the Scene, an MNPD official says the next steps for the “Drone as First Responder” program run through Deputy Chief Greg Blair. “I think he’s going to look at everything with his team, talk about what worked with him,” the official says in the recording. “Then if it’s something that Chief [John] Drake says, ‘Yeah, I like it, we need it,’ I think we want to move forward with it. Then it’s probably discussions with the mayor’s office again.” ▼
ROCK BLOCK DEVELOPMENTS MOVE FORWARD FOLLOWING YEARSLONG HALT
to break ground on the project by the end of the year. Giarratana tells the Scene the apartment market is to blame for the delay. Downtown Nashville was among the nation’s leaders in housing production between 2020 and 2025, according to a study from Urban Institute. But those newly built apartments are also experiencing high vacancies. “Starting a new apartment project was at best irresponsible,” Giarratana says. In the meantime, he completed downtown towers Alcove and Prime, with the firm’s 60-story Paramount building underway. While downtown high-rise residential buildings have been Giarratana’s modus operandi, he broke form in 2019 when he bought Elliston Place Soda Shop the night it closed — eventually moving it to a larger space next door to its original location. From there, Giarratana acquired the majority of the block on both sides of Elliston Place, stopping short of longtime music venues The End on the south side and Exit/ In on the north. (The latter was acquired by development company AJ Capitol, along with Hurry Back next door, in 2021.) Behind the preserved historic facades that formerly
fronted The Gold Rush, Smack, Samurai Sushi and others will sit Rock Block Flats, a six-story apartment building. After that, Giarratana is planning to complete a 17-story mixed-use building with the working name 22 Elliston in the former Corner Bar space, which he hopes will be anchored by Chicago Italian restaurant Quartino. Behind it will be a parking garage. In addition, there will be a “pocket park” covering the side street in front of Ducklo EyeCare, complete with a pedestrian crosswalk and traffic-calming paving connecting it across Elliston. Giarratana has a certain attachment to the area, despite not being a showgoer. After moving to Nashville in 1984, he would bring out-of-town guests to beloved longtime (and now shuttered) Elliston restaurant Rotier’s for a burger, and was known to enjoy a bean roll at The Gold Rush or a sandwich from Mosko’s — two more Rock Block staples that have since closed. The area is also valuable in its proximity to Centennial Park, a slew of medical centers and Vanderbilt University — and, perhaps one day, a West End connection to The Boring Company’s in-construction
Developer plans return of old businesses, plus the addition of apartments and a park
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
BY HANNAH HERNER
TONY GIARRATANA
WITH ITS STRING of vacant and abandoned spaces, the block of Ellison Place between Louise Avenue and 22nd Avenue North — long known as the Rock Block — feels a lot different than it did as little as a decade ago. Tony Giarratana of Giarratana Development has not forgotten, but he did halt work there. Six years after the initial announcement of Rock Block Flats, Giarratana plans
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NINE TOWNHOMES LANGUISH IN OLD HICKORY The saga behind the new-build homes, which have been sitting vacant and half-finished for about two years BY LENA MAZEL
VACANT TOWNHOMES OFF PITTS AVENUE Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.
IN OLD HICKORY, nine townhomes stand on a new lot off Pitts Avenue. The new-build homes feature white paneling and designs that follow the lake house aesthetic of the surrounding neighborhood. They’ve also been sitting vacant and half-finished for about two years, with tall grass sometimes growing in front of their doorsteps. When it comes to Nashville housing, stories about neighborhood opposition to development, procedural delays and aesthetic bickering often dominate the local landscape. But the Lakewood Crossing homes tell a different story, and raise some questions. Why would a development that’s already approved and designed stop dead in its tracks, midway through construction? Lakewood Crossing was originally designed by Southern Athena, a Nashville-based real estate, architecture and interior design firm. In 2021, it was sold as a package deal of land
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
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Music City Loop, he says. As with any of his projects, Giarratana wants it to be walkable for residents. “I think this area is a jewel,” he tells the Scene. “I think this is a classic diamond in the rough. That’s how I view this area.” Giarratana says he hasn’t gotten much pushback on his plans. “We’ve had no pushback at all, because folks understand that for this street to survive, it just can’t be carried by a little restaurant or two in these buildings,” he says. “There’s no way. You have to have a concentration of residents. That’s the key. You need residents. You need people. You need people living here, walking on the streets, creating a healthy, vibrant environment.” Two of the businesses listed on the 2020-erected Rock Block historical marker near Exit/In — The Gold Rush and Mosko’s — could even make a comeback. Giarratana has long teased bringing The Gold Rush back as part of Rock Block Flats, and maintains that plan today. Mosko’s founder Scott Moskowitz is semi-retired now. He tells the Scene he’d love to mentor a young business owner who might want to take on the mantle of his former newsstand, which grew to include sales of greeting cards, beer, cigars and sandwiches in its tenure from the late ’70s to the early 2000s. If you ask Moskowitz, the new Rock Block should reproduce each of the businesses it had in 1992 — record store Discount Records, leather goods retailer Sundance, Elder’s Bookstore, Obie’s Pizza, Anthony Jewelers, Tony Roma’s and even TGI Friday’s. “Everything that’s old comes around and gets new again,” Moskowitz tells the Scene. “If you give them an authentic piece of Nashville, you will blow everybody away.” Perhaps Elliston Place should have a mission, he pitches: helping fledgling entrepreneurs. “Why don’t we change the story and the narrative of ‘small business can’t make it in Nashville’?” says Moskowitz. “Why don’t we make that the theme of the Rock Block? ‘We’re going to create a place where small businesses can thrive.’” Even though Beau Gaultier has been in Nashville for only eight years, the nostalgia for the block has reached him. Gaultier opened his bar and cafe Verna last year in the former home of Cafe Coco. “I do remember very vividly when I first moved here, walking down this street and seeing somebody just ripping a weed pen in Gold Rush and thinking, ‘This place is awesome,’” he says. Gaultier says it’s been “brutal” earning the trust of former Cafe Coco regulars. “This part of town is really precious to people who have been here for so long, but it does feel uniquely resistant to change [because of] people’s nostalgia and their opinions,” he tells the Scene. “It’s a very uphill battle to get that trust.” Bruce Fitzpatrick, venerable owner and talent booker at The End, does hope to see his old hangouts like Gold Rush or Rotier’s return. But, he says, he’d really like to see the Rock Block host a dance club with DJs every night. He argues that a deli like Mitchell in East Nashville could do “gangbuster business” on the Rock Block too. Chiefly, he hopes the redevelopment happens soon — he was ready for the change several years ago. “Just hopefully they will put some new businesses down here that people want to come to and hang out, and then that would revitalize the Rock Block again,” Fitzpatrick says. ▼
and design plans to a group called Lakewood Crossing LLC. There is little information about this LLC available online, but Elizabeth Gatlin, the Architect of Record for the Lakewood Crossing project, says it was owned by Siddharth Amin, who also owns another LLC called Eagle Homes. After the project hit a snag at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gatlin was excited to see it have a new life with another owner. “To find out it’s been totally mismanaged has been disheartening,” she says. Southern Athena had worked with Amin before, on some speculative developments. “I was always kind of curious about what was going on with the money and who’s actually doing the work,” Gatlin says. Gatlin says Amin delayed the project for a while, though it did eventually break ground. But the relationship with Southern Athena wasn’t working out. “Let’s just say, over time it didn’t look like we were going to be able to service his needs in a way that aligned with our business model, and so we stepped back and let him do his own thing,” Gatlin says. When asked for more specifics, Gatlin explains that Amin wouldn’t pay Southern Athena.
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
The Scene called Amin multiple times, but he did not answer the phone and his voicemail was full. He did not respond to a text asking to comment about the Lakewood Crossing homes. Digging further into his history reveals other controversies. In 2018, Amin and a local draftsman, Mitch Nunley, were sued by Drees Construction for copyright infringement. When the Scene asked Nunley about working with Amin, his response was quick and to the point. “That’s a really bad name here,” he says. “He hurts everyone he touches, he knows he’s doing it, and then he accuses you of doing what he did.” Amin approached Nunley’s architectural drafting firm with plans for a house he’d like to build. “It looked as though he had purchased them,” Nunley says. According to Nunley, the firm later found out that Amin had actually walked into an active construction site and stolen the plans from another contractor. “He really drove us through the gutter,” Nunley says. “He told Drees that I printed those plans and gave them to him.” Nunley eventually convinced Drees to take his name out of the lawsuit. “They dropped me out of it totally once they got the facts,” he says. “It was just a long and painful road to get there.” Amin also owned other townhomes in Old Hickory, which have recently been sold in a foreclosure sale. Councilmember Jeff Eslick represents District 11, which includes the Lakewood Crossing townhomes. He was initially frustrated with the lack of movement with the project, despite interventions by Nashville’s Metro Codes department. But now, Eslick says the development has a potential new owner, and he’s feeling hopeful. In an email to the Scene, he shares that the townhomes have an upcoming inspection by Metro Codes, necessary “because the original permits had expired and/or the extended time of inactivity.” The contractor for the new owner has also sent Eslick videos of the townhome interiors. “There isn’t anything obviously wrong,” he says, though Codes will do a more thorough inspection before issuing new permits. “The new owner says the materials are here and they are ready to go,” he tells the Scene. For now, Gatlin echoes the feelings of the Old Hickory community, who have called the project a “huge eyesore,” a “safety hazard” and an abandoned site. She just wants to see the plans she’s carefully designed and managed actually be completed. “This was supposed to be something of value, designed for the community — to be wonderful for the area, and also be what people need,” she says. “It’s just been one bad thing after another with everything he did.” ▼
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PITH IN THE WIND NASHVILLESCENE.COM/NEWS/PITHINTHEWIND Atlanta-based digital infrastructure company DC BLOX — a tech developer seeking to build a data center next to the Nashville Zoo — filed a federal lawsuit against Metro on Aug. 11, alleging the city’s temporary pause on permits for data centers was a “targeted attack.” The Metro Council on July 21 unanimously approved the moratorium, a measure that pauses all data center permits until Dec. 1. At that same meeting, the council also passed strict regulations related to data center construction, location and operations. The lawsuit calls these actions a “part of Metro’s relentless efforts to prohibit DC BLOX’s lawful and vested use of its property as a data center.” DC BLOX also alleges that other data center facilities in Nashville have not been subject to the same “extraordinary measures” imposed on the company’s zoo-area proposal.
Five years after winning $240 million in government incentives, tech giant Oracle is lagging behind the pace necessary to meet its jobs obligations. Oracle announced a blockbuster Nashville relocation in 2021 with fanfare, handshakes and promises. The state inked a $65 million incentive package and the Metro Council cleared development obstacles, crafting a creative property tax arrangement to reimburse the corporation for spending on East Bank infrastructure up to $175 million. Annual reports put the company’s total new jobs at 827 in addition to a 2021 baseline of 91 employees. New local job creation has slowed since 2022, when the company reported 355 new local employees; reports list 71 new jobs in 2023, 168 in 2024 and 188 in 2025. The company must hire at least 1,500 people in 2026 and 2027, with an average salary of $110,000, to make good on its promise of adding 2,500 Oracle jobs by the end of next year.
Transportation upgrades around Nashville can now draw from $100 million in capital funding announced Friday by Mayor Freddie O’Connell. O’Connell praised the dedicated dollars as a transformative investment in Choose How You Move, the city’s long-term transit plan. Nashville’s bus infrastructure will receive $29.8 million — the biggest chunk of the funding — with sidewalks, signals, operations, safety, and all-access corridors on Gallatin and Nolensville pikes also receiving funding. And on Monday, the mayor’s Winter Storm Response Commission released its interim report on the city’s response to Winter Storm Fern. The report notes that Nashville’s Office of Emergency Management “performed well at a tactical level” even as the storm “surfaced clear weaknesses.” Nashville Electric Service, according to the report, “experienced significant shortfalls in meeting its responsibilities in the immediate aftermath of the storm.” A final report is set to be completed by Feb. 23.
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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
PROPOSED DATA CENTER SITE AS SEEN FROM THE NASHVILLE ZOO PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
HUMANS IN THE LOOP
Generative AI is part of the Nashville government. How are real-life employees keeping these tools safe and accurate? BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ THE MAYOR SEEMED hesitant to publish an artificial intelligence policy in 2024. Emails obtained by the Scene via public records request show staffers relaying Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s questions and concerns to Metro Information Technology Services (ITS). O’Connell, who has a background in software and IT, asked via a staffer how the city would respond if a chatbot started spewing “garbage” misinformation, which had just occurred in New York City. And could the city better explain the reason such a policy exists? “Why do we think [it’s] ok to use AI?” reads the email from Kristin Wilson, the mayor’s chief of operations and performance. “Utility? And why do we think we need a policy — not just accepted use, intended use.” John Griffey, chief information security officer of ITS, responded, emphasizing plans for ongoing reviews of AI platforms, pointing to similar policies established by cities like San Jose, Calif., and stressing the importance that a human remains part of the process. Keith Durbin, the chief information officer,
was blunter, calling the draft an “absolutely industry standard policy that was constructed alongside many other organizations as a starting point.” The policy could evolve later; another round of review would delay it by months. “We are covered only by guidelines with no real force at this point and this field is evolving incredibly rapidly.” Per emails obtained by the Scene, Griffey established an AI working group in the fall of 2023. During the process, ITS amassed copies of studies and policies from other cities and private organizations, compiling a broad reading list on risks and best practices. Drafts of Metro’s policy were sent to an engineering professor at Vanderbilt and run by tech research firm Gartner. It seems ITS hoped to release the policy in March 2024, but Griffey and Durbin found themselves pleading with the mayor’s office on April 11 of that year to put something official in place. It worked — the mayor’s office gave the green light, pending a few updates. Metro’s AI policy was posted online days later on April 15, 2024. There have been some changes since the
policy went live. Durbin retired in 2025. The AI policy was also updated and expanded on July 3, 2026, from a four-page document with five sections to an eight-page document with 10 sections. New sections include guidance on data classification, human reviews, assessment and public records retention. One of the biggest examples of transparency was the release of a registry of AI tools used by Metro, which Griffey noted in past emails would be important for accountability. The list of tools contains 24 items as of July 1, 2026. Generative AI — which IBM defines as a form of artificial intelligence that can create original content like text or images — has changed a lot in the past two years. Anthropic’s Claude Code threatens to upheave software engineering. AI chatbots and virtual assistants are being integrated into many software platforms. Chinese GenAI tools disrupted the market by offering cheaper alternatives, and AI companies’ demand for powerful memory chips has caused consumer electronics prices to skyrocket. (Gamers call it “RAMageddon.”)
Overall, generative AI — think advanced chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude — isn’t popular with the public. A March NBC poll found most people have an unfavorable view of the tech and don’t believe its risks are worth the benefits. And citizens of all demographics hate data centers, which are used to train AI. Reuters/Ipsos found Democrats and Republicans alike don’t support their construction. Here in Nashville, citizens rallied around the Nashville Zoo in its fight against plans to build a data center next door, with the Metro Council approving bills regulating the development of these facilities. Even the mayor got in on the action, filing condemnation legislation to acquire the property by eminent domain, which would stop the center entirely. (The council has advanced that legislation as well.) Data centers built for AI usage are especially taxing on local resources, with the worst offenders consuming as much electricity as 100,000 homes and millions of gallons of water, sometimes raising bills for neighbors. Elon Musk’s xAI facility in Memphis has polluted the air with unpermitted gas turbines, and data centers have
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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“Generally, there is always risk in outsourcing human work to a tool that’s imperfect,” says Cat Moon, a professor at the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab (VAILL), which researches how AI could affect or benefit law schools and legal practices. “Humans are imperfect. AI is imperfect.” Moon commends Metro for listing its inventory of AI tools, but she still has questions about how folks are being trained and how the quality of that training is evaluated. “What’s being done to assure that folks are actually using the tools within policy,” she asks, “and how’s that being measured?” Moon says competent and safe AI usage relies on three “layers.” First is knowing and understanding how the tool works; second is knowing how to use the tools effectively and appropriately; and third is discernment. Moon says the third point reflects the concept of what’s known as “human in the loop” accountability — making sure an actual person considers whether an AI tool is needed and reviews its output before making any decisions based on the result. Moon notes that generative AI is a “prediction machine,” not a “fact-creating” or “fact-checking machine.” These tools operate by predicting outcomes based on patterns, not any deep well of knowledge. That’s also why these tools are prone to so-called “hallucinations” — mistakes and misinformation delivered in a confident voice. And these mistakes can occur in high-stakes situations: Moon notes there are at least 1,500 documented cases of a lawyer or other party submitting a document to court that contains a hallucination. “If you just put the tool in the hands of someone who doesn’t get the benefit of any of the teaching and training, then that’s where things can go sideways.” While AI raises unique concerns about data protection, Moon notes that laws and policies about private information existed before the proliferation of GenAI and should apply to any tool used by the government. In a statement issued to the Scene, Metro ITS states the city is seeing “real productivity gains” thanks to automations created using Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, though it doesn’t specify how much time was saved. ITS also stresses that there’s a lot of upfront
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evaluation of tools. “Before adoption, every tool goes through our security and risk assessment process,” reads the statement. “That assessment asks specific questions in the area of utility — what does the project aim to achieve, how will it improve service delivery or make operations more efficient, how will the department check to see if the AI solution is making a positive difference, etc.” The Scene obtained a copy of the assessment survey, which contains 31 questions that touch on topics like a tool’s access to data and how to identify mistakes.
The registry of AI tools is a set of rows that expand when you click on them, and close when you select another one, allowing you to see just one description at a time. Many of Metro’s 24 listed tools relate to image recognition and voice-to-text recording software. The public defender’s office uses JusticeText, for example, which creates transcriptions of body cam footage and provides tools to clip video and take notes. There’s even a platform called Angie, developed by Vanderbilt to train 911 dispatchers. Each item has a status, like “in use” or “pilot” or “under evaluation,” but sometimes they have multiple tags.
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
Some of the listed tools may be part of other products as well. The city has an enterprise agreement with Microsoft for a suite of tools — not just Copilot — for example. The city doesn’t seem to be racing toward more powerful platforms just yet. According to Metro ITS, the entities that provide oversight of these tools and the ones that approve adoption are separate. “The team setting the guardrails isn’t the same team pushing for faster deployment,” reads the statement. “Those need to be independent of each other and they are.” The Scene also received a trove of training
materials and guidelines from 2024 — scattered across various PDFs and presentations — aimed at employees and vendors. One 10-page document lists examples of do’s and don’ts of prompting AI — like to avoid entering sensitive data into a third-party chatbot — and includes plenty of nuts-and-bolts descriptions of how the tech works and what the risks of its usage is. The advice is consistent: give context, be clear, keep refining the prompt, and always review the output. Keep that “human in the loop.” The questions are whether those lessons are reaching workers, and whether the city is listening to employee feedback.
Meade Forsythe — an executive vice president of SEIU Local 205, the union representing Metro employees — says the current guidelines don’t do enough to protect workers or offer clear guidance on proper usage. “The more clear and understandable the policy is, the more a worker can follow it in advance of some kind of disciplinary action,” they say. “We need to know the rules to be able to follow them.” The expansive update in July was a “step in the right direction,” but Forsythe says the twoyear gap between release and the update left workers hanging without a clear policy. Forsythe says it would also help for departments to list any specific AI rules they adopt. Forsythe worries about employees becoming collateral damage when the city partners with tech entities. They point to widespread frustration over a payroll debacle caused by the Oracle platform adopted by the city — while AI reportedly wasn’t involved in the payment process, it was a tack-on feature to the system. Overall, it sounds like city employees don’t fear these tools, but they’re also not excited. Union members haven’t complained to Forsythe about pressure from bosses to start using AI. They don’t sound worried about workforce replacement either — something that concerned employees in San Jose, considered the leading city in AI adoption. Forsythe says usage may vary not just by department (which range in employee size) but also by individual user. Metro ITS’ statement says it’s continuing to “grow our AI literacy program,” training staff on appropriate usage, including where “data can and cannot go” and guidance on where the tools are most useful. “And we’ve reinforced a core message throughout,” reads the statement. “AI does not replace human critical thinking.”
The cover of the Metro Nashville Police Departmental Manual features an eagle in a cop’s uniform flexing a feathered, human-like arm. This cop-eagle is set against the backdrop of the Nashville skyline, illuminated by fireworks. The image seems to commemorate the USA’s 250th birthday. It’s also AI slop. And while that’s obvious to anyone who has ever seen a professional illustration or a child’s drawing, nowhere in the manual does it mention the aquiline officer was created using such a tool. This display of patriotism is low-stakes AI usage compared to something like license plate readers (which are powered by machine learning but have not been deployed in Nashville). But the dystopian Zootopia knockoff demonstrates how a government agency could produce something AI-generated in inappropriate places.
ILLUSTRATION: TINA RITCHIE
been blamed for constant noise and increasing heat levels. Despite all this, AI slop has taken over Nashville. Posters and logos made with image generators abound on social media and on business signs. The uncanny aesthetics, betrayed by cluttered imagery and fonts, bold outlines and strange “melted” appearance are ubiquitous. Less obvious to the public, though, is how much the Metro government uses AI.
AN AI IMAGE CREATED FOR AN MNPD MANUAL It’s hard to say how often generative AI tools are used. ITS says in its statement that the department is using AI to help build internal applications that meet Americans With Disabilities Act standards and assist its quality assurance team. Since one document I received detailed instructions on how to archive GenAI prompts (even though it might not be legally required to retain these records), I decided to request those copies to gain some insight into what Metro’s AI usage looks like. I could have been more strategic, or at least anticipated that Metro ITS uses AI a lot. While my attempts to obtain these prompts via records requests weren’t successful at first, they offer some insights. My first request, for nine months’ worth of prompts from ITS, returned an unwieldy 23,063 hits that wouldn’t be available until May 13, 2030. I didn’t get those prompts! But I did uncover an email that noted those results reflected Copilot alone. That sounds like a lot of usage from the 175-employee office. A follow-up request on June 9 hit a snag — a new policy began on June 1 stating that archived prompts would be deleted after 10 days. I sent yet another request, this time for 10 days’ worth of prompts from the mayor’s office, which has 48 employees according to Nashville’s data portal. I received 340 cumbersome HTML files. Since these were Copilot prompts, I asked that same chatbot to help me migrate them into a spreadsheet for easier navigation. After more troubleshooting than we need to describe, I combed through the prompts. The results were mundane. No scandalous image generation (not even of the mayor as a buff eagle), no embarrassing personal questions, and no one appeared to be dating their chatbot. Most users asked for emails to be rewritten in a more “professional” tone and for summaries of notes and PDFs. Some used it like a search engine. Another was attempting to get some string of code to work. One user asked Copilot if an
IMAGE: METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
UPCOMING SHOWS AT THE MUSEUM’S CMA THEATER
email sounded “too sassy.” (The chatbot didn’t think so.) Some results seem to be individual pieces of longer conversations, and some seem to duplicate passages of longer sessions. Not all had dates, time stamps or information identifying the users. Copilot seemed most helpful for a grant writer, who used it for organizing timelines for applications, summarizing opportunities and, of course, preparing emails. They even asked Copilot for help designing a presentation on how to use AI in grant writing. But a lot of the churn seemed to involve making Copilot rewrite something a Metro employee produced. Not much of the copy seemed to leave the mayor’s office, despite attempts to find it elsewhere. As with many of my experiences with AI, I spent a lot of time with it and don’t have that much to show.
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Nashville’s approach to AI sounds slower than the dramatic upheaval corporate leaders predicted years ago. It’s not alone: Many cities are waiting for the technology to prove itself, per a study from liberal think tank New America. “Local governments are taking their time to get to know AI, begin the process of incorporating it into daily routines, and start to think about more ambitious, potentially transformative uses,” reads the study. The municipal focus is often on productivity and automation. Which again reflects what Metro ITS shared in its statement. “We’re not claiming org-wide transformation and we wouldn’t want to overstate what we can demonstrate right now,” says the statement from ITS. “What we can point to are specific areas where AI is producing real improvement under responsible governance.” But as public and private entities often say, the AI landscape is always changing. ▼
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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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8/21 & 8/22 DEFY FILM FESTIVAL 8/29 KARROT: A TRIBUTE TO KORN 8/30 EMAROSA 9/3 CYBERTRONIC SPREE 9/9 VOLUMES 9/10 ATTA BOY 9/12 OVERTOW: A TRIBUTE TO TOOL 9/16 - 18: WMOT PRESENTS NPR MUSIC AMERICANA DAY STAGE 9/17 MILITARIE GUN 9/19 JUTES 9/20 WXNA FALL RECORD FAIR 2026 9/27 HOT FIX SIDESHOW 10/2 HAZLETT 10/3 DRIVIN N CRYIN 10/14 BREAD & PUPPET THEATER 10/24 SIMPLY THE BREAST BURLESQUE 10/29 PUP 10/31 SYSTEM OF A CLOWN: HALLOWEEN TRIBUTE TO SYSTEM OF A DOWN 11/7 BERTHA: GRATEFUL DRAG The
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8/27 HOWLING GIANT 8/28 BOOTSAROO: A “WINDOWS ON THE CUMBERLAND” CELEBRATION 8/29 SCHOOL OF ROCK HENDERSONVILLE 8/29 MOLDING 9/2 LOS PISTOLEROS 9/4 THE WELL 9/11 DOGPILE ‘ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN’ RELEASE SHOW 9/12 SMOKIN’ PEAS 90’S TRIBUTE 9/14 WHICH SIDE? NASHVILLE - A PROTEST MUSIC TEACH-OUT 9/17 NATE VICKERS 9/18 DEATH LENS 9/26 CELEBRATING PINKERTON: 30 YEARS OF WEEZER 9/29 MESSER CHUPS 9/30 HOT ROD CIRCUIT 10/1 THE BLACK QUEEN 10/2 THE FAMILY 10/3 DR. GANGRENE’S HORROR HOOTENANNY 20 The
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CRITICS’ PICKS: WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF THINGS TO DO
“I SEE IT IN EXISTENCE, NOT IN ESSENCE” BY BENJY RUSSELL
Benjy Russell is a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist who blends photography, sculpture, set design and land art into images that document physical moments of constructed wonder. Russell eschews digital manipulation, preferring midcentury Hollywood lighting techniques, filters and mirrors to achieve in-camera effects. He handcrafts his interventions in the landscape over extended periods. He plants, builds and observes before capturing an image that can transform a mundane space into something much more magical. Dreamscapes is a 16-year retrospective of work made at and around the artist’s Middle Tennessee home. Nashville gets a lot of attention as a letterpress printing scene, and the Frist’s In Her Place show mostly highlighted local painters, but there’s an argument to be made that Nashville’s photography scene is its most formally challenging and experimental. I’d offer Dreamscapes as my Exhibit A. JOE NOLAN THROUGH JAN. 31 AT THE UNTITLED NASHVILLE HOTEL 221 SECOND AVE. N.
REESE WYNANS & FRIENDS PAGE 16
ADAM VOITH AUTHOR EVENT PAGE 16
STUDIO GHIBLI FEST: CASTLE IN THE SKY PAGE 18
DEL MCCOURY BAND & THE TRAVELIN’ MCCOURYS
A living connection to the forefathers of bluegrass music is still pickin’ today. He’s shared stages with Bill Monroe and recorded songs with Doc Watson. He’s a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. His music inspired Jerry Garcia, Steve Earle and Billy Strings. Hell, the guy’s got a music festival named after him. We’re talking about Del McCoury, of course, who will play the Ryman Auditorium Thursday alongside his faithful backing band, as well as The Travelin’ McCourys — a family project spearheaded by sons Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury. The 87-year-old two-time Grammy Award winner and his band continue to deliver shows that are energetic beyond age — part reunion and part revival — where songs new and old simply sound timeless. See for yourself when Del McCoury and company take the stage in Music City — at the Ryman, no less — this week for a one-night-only show. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER 7:30 P.M. AT THE RYMAN 116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.
FOOD
BENJY RUSSELL: DREAMSCAPES
[NASHVILLE CATS]
[DONELSON DISHES, HERMITAGE HAUTE CUISINE]
TASTE OF DONELSON HERMITAGE
Donelson and Hermitage are having a little bit of a foodie moment. If you haven’t made it out east to try all of the new restaurants and old favorites, the 2026 Taste of Donelson Hermitage makes it a little easier. You can taste signature appetizers, entrées and desserts from many of the area’s restaurants all in one place. Participating restaurants include: Doug & Dolly’s Cookies, Nectar Urban Cantina, TennFold Brewing, Rooh (located inside the event’s venue, Holiday Inn Nashville Airport), the Delicias Colombianas food truck and others. Tickets can be purchased online, and kids 10 and younger get in free. MARGARET LITTMAN 5 P.M. AT HOLIDAY INN NASHVILLE AIRPORT 2864 ELM HILL PIKE
THEATER
[IN DREAMS]
MUSIC
THURSDAY / 8.20
THURSDAY, AUG. 20 ART
PHOTO COURTESY OF BENJY RUSSELL
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[HELLO, NEIGHBOR!]
TENNESSEE THEATER FELLOWSHIP: I’M PROUD OF YOU
Tennessee Theater Fellowship is back — with a new name and another notable regional premiere. Established in 2024, this
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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FILM
FRIDAY / 8.21 [PEOPLE SCARE BETTER WHEN THEY’RE DYIN’]
WEEKEND CLASSICS: BEAT THE HEAT: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
It took everything I had not to simply reprint late Scene editor-in-chief and film critic Jim Ridley’s ardent review of Once Upon a Time in the West here. But I decided to take a shot at writing about the masterful revisionist spaghetti Western myself. Sergio Leone’s widescreen epic is a symphony of glances and close-ups. To paraphrase Jim’s piece, Leone treats every sweatsoaked, dust-caked face as if it were carved onto Mount Rushmore. While most classic Hollywood Westerns were about building up the myths of the West, the one-two punch in 1969 of Once Upon a Time in the West and Sam Peckinpah’s brutal The Wild Bunch was concerned with burning those monolithic figures down. This approach is epitomized by Leone’s casting of
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[FOR THE ROSES]
MEGAN MORONEY
When it comes to modified country music that registers as pop while remaining accessible to the audience for mainstream country, singer and songwriter Megan Moroney’s albums mark a high point in the genre. Moroney, who grew up in Douglasville, Ga., before moving to Nashville in 2020, subverts country’s confessional tendencies into humor. Moroney sings about romance, and she and her team of co-writers provide plenty of musical and verbal detail on her latest album, Cloud 9, which was released in February. Like, say, Rosanne Cash or Miranda Lambert, Moroney isn’t afraid to be pop, which means Cloud 9 brims with the kind of details that function as hooks. Cloud 9 is addictive — your favorite track might be “6 Months Later,” which evokes power pop, or maybe it’s “Wedding Dress,” a tune that transcends the singer-songwriter genre even as it tweaks its conventions. In short, Moroney — aided by a crew of like-minded collaborators — achieves true Nashville pop nirvana on Cloud 9, complete with tricky musical turns and aphoristic lyrics. I also like her earlier records — check out the Celtic-country stomp of “Keep the Flowers,” a standout track from her 2022 EP Pistol Made of Roses. Friday at Bridgestone Arena, Moroney gets support from JP Saxe and Solon Holt. EDD HURT 7 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA 501 BROADWAY
MUSIC
[LAST OF THE FULL GROWN MEN]
WEBB WILDER BAND
Mississippi Musicians Hall of Famer Webb Wilder, the last of the full grown men, brings his special brand of roots rock to the Fox & Locke stage Friday night. A mainstay in the Nashville rock scene since the 1980s, Wilder spends most of his time these days hosting Afternoons With Webb Wilder on WMOT. “I do Monday through Thursday afternoons, 1 to 4, but on Fridays, it’s 2 to 4, and it’s an Americana album chart show,” he tells the Scene. At Friday’s show, fans can expect to hear a couple of numbers from Wilder’s most recent album, Hillbilly Speedball, released in May 2025, but he says he’ll perform material from all 12 of his albums. “I have a big catalog and a core audience, and they have their favorite songs,” he says. “So it’s hard to do many of the new ones when they want to hear the old ones. Like a lot of my records, Hillbilly Speedball didn’t get broad exposure, but when we do the songs from it live, they are well-received.” The current edition of the Webb Wilder Band is a trio that, in addition to vocalist-guitarist
[A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS]
REESE WYNANS & FRIENDS
If you’re looking for a show that exemplifies the virtuoso-level musicianship in Music City, the Reese Wynans & Friends show at 3rd and Lindsley Friday night is your ticket. Keyboardist
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING
Wilder, includes bassist Ralph Friedrichsen and drummer Marshall Richardson. DARYL SANDERS 8 P.M. AT FOX & LOCKE 4142 OLD HILLSBORO ROAD, FRANKLIN
BOOKS
SATURDAY / 8.22 [ALGORITHMIC BREAKDOWN]
ADAM VOITH AUTHOR EVENT
Local author and former booking agent Adam Voith is celebrating the release of his latest novel, Recommended if You Like, on Saturday at Studio Paris in East Nashville. Recommended if You Like was released for free on Aug. 1 via Little Engines, the digital literary publication that Voith runs here in Nashville. The novel explores the worlds of ’90s Christian rock, zine culture and more through a unique narrative device — the recorded cassette-tape monologues of Anderson Humphrey, “a music obsessive and aspiring snob known curiously as The Christian Humper in a vast but isolated underground scene in the 1990s.” Voith’s bona fides in the national music scene are front and center with book jacket blurbs from the likes of Bon Iver and Father John Misty, the latter calling it “absolutely excruciating” while clarifying that he loved it. Like the novel itself, Saturday’s release celebration is free to attend. Longtime local musician William Tyler will be in conversation with Voith at the event. LOGAN BUTTS 6:30 P.M. AT STUDIO PARIS 1015 W. KIRKLAND AVE., SUITE 203
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classic Hollywood everyman hero Henry Fonda as the vicious villain Frank. Seeing Fonda — who starred as the hero in foundational ’40s Westerns like The Ox-Bow Incident and My Darling Clementine — commit despicable acts is disorienting at first, but his casting makes this grand tale of revenge sing. LOGAN BUTTS 11:30 A.M. AUG. 21-23 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
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busy nonprofit (formerly known as Franklin Theatrical Fellowship) has already earned a dedicated following with excellent productions of Good Night, Oscar; Guys & Dolls: An Immersive Theatrical Experience and more. You can catch the company’s latest efforts this weekend, as TTF presents the regional premiere of I’m Proud of You. Adapted for the stage by Tim Madigan and Harry Parker (and based on Madigan’s 2006 memoir), I’m Proud of You follows the unlikely friendship between the author and television icon Fred Rogers. The play premiered at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2023, and TTF is premiering a newly revised script. Directed by TTF founder and managing artistic director Melanie Sutton (who also provides the scenic design), the cast includes local stage favorite Matthew Carlton as Fred Rogers, along with Sawyer Latham, Dustin Davis, Kay Ayers and Gentry Collins. Word has it playwrights Madigan and Parker will be in town to attend, and all performances include a post-show talkback with the director and cast. AMY STUMPFL AUG. 20-23 AT STUDIO 615 272 BROADMOOR DRIVE
PHOTO: GENESIS BÁEZ
BIG THIEF
Wynans was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 as a member of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble band, and he’s worked with a number of other recording stars in the studio and on tour including Carole King, Boz Scaggs, John Mayall, Jerry Jeff Walker, Delbert McClinton and Joe Bonamassa. His Friends are some of Nashville’s top musicians: guitarist Kenny Greenberg, keyboardist Kevin McKendree, bassist Alison Prestwood and drummer Lynn Williams. Wynans also will be joined by a pair of special guests — vocalist Jonell Mosser and guitarist Yates McKendree. They will be performing songs from Wynans’ 2019 solo album Sweet Release, as well as material from some of the greats he’s backed. “We’ve got like 20 to 23 songs that we’re going to play,” he tells the Scene. “A couple of new songs, a couple of songs from the Stevie Ray Vaughan days, a couple of Delbert songs. Kenny Greenberg is going to do a song, and Jonell is going to sing a Carole King song. Yates is gonna come out and do some … blues stuff.” DARYL SANDERS 8 P.M. AT 3RD AND LINDSLEY 818 THIRD AVE. S.
[KI-KI-KI, MA-MA-MA]
MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING
After supposedly offing Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (having little Corey Feldman take a machete to the unstoppable killing machine was crazy work), the folks behind the slasher-movie franchise came back a year later with Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, a 1985 murder mystery that gives another psycho an opportunity to put on the mask and get to slicin’! This time around, the kid who hacked up Jason is now a tormented teen (John Shepherd) living in a halfway house full of horny, ready-to-bemutilated youngsters. Sure enough, people
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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It’s been nearly a year since Alicia Bognanno last graced Nashville with her effortless brand of cool, and local fans are more than ready for another dose. Though the mastermind behind beloved rock project Bully has roots in Nashville, she’s left her followers waiting with bated breath after wrapping up two shows at The Blue Room in August 2025. Listeners are thirsty for more of the fuzzed-out catharsis experienced during her live shows — piercing riffs wrapped around searingly raspy vocals that scratch a deep itch on standouts like “Lose You” and “All I Do.” To put it simply: It’s impossible to leave a Bully show without having been sonically baptized in her abundance of cool-girl energy. Luckily, Nashville will get a free two-for-one lesson in female-fronted rock during the WNXP Summer Line Series this weekend. Fans of all ages can catch indie-punk trio massie99 sharing the bill with Bognanno when they open for Bully on Saturday. BAILEY BRANTINGHAM 7 P.M. AT THE LANDING AT NASHVILLE YARDS 131 10TH AVE. N.
[LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT]
BIG THIEF
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Double Infinity, the 2025 record by indiefolk rockers Big Thief, is nothing short of magical. Twinkling instrumentals and an array of enchanting percussion are combined
with master songwriter and frontwoman Adrianne Lenker’s gentle vocals to create a warm, welcoming album centered on aging and love. One line in particular from opening track “Incomprehensible” encapsulates the entire record: “How can beauty that is living be anything but true?” Lenker evokes this message across the album’s nine tracks, establishing a sense of inner peace and acceptance among periods of grief and loss. Nearly a year after the record was released in September 2025, Big Thief is coming to the Mother Church for a two-day stint. If you’re anything like me, bring your tissues for a lively yet heart-wrenching performance by one of indie music’s most phenomenal acts of the past decade. JULIANNE AKERS 8 P.M. AUG. 22-23 AT THE RYMAN 116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.
SUNDAY / 8.23 [ABSOLUTE CINEMA]
OUT OF PRINT
It’s been 12 years since filmmaker/movie nerd Julia Marchese released Out of Print, her 2014 documentary on the historic L.A. theater New Beverly Cinema (where she was an employee) and its efforts to keep film preservation alive as digital cinema began to take over multiplexes. She interviewed many cinephiles (including famous filmmakers like Kevin Smith, Joe Dante and Edgar Wright) who are avowed New Bev regulars. I actually reviewed the movie in these pages when that celluloid nut Quentin Tarantino bought the theater, and Marchese posted the doc online after being forced out by new management.
PHOTO: BREANA JANAY
WNXP SUMMER LINE SERIES: BULLY
STUDIO GHIBLI FEST: CASTLE IN THE SKY
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[DAYS MOVE SLOW]
[FLOAT ON]
Of all Hayao Miyazaki’s films, Castle in the Sky is maybe one of the most straightforward, least impressionistic adventures in his canon. It’s also one of his best. The Gulliver’s Travels-inspired tale follows two kids fleeing shady government operatives as they search for a floating island that was once home to a great civilization. It’s one hell of an adventure, with thrilling sequences and whimsical set pieces. It also has the hallmarks of Miyazaki’s thematic obsessions: the conflict between nature and technology, the freedom of aviation, antagonists turned allies and plucky youth saving the day. There’s even a charming, worker-run mining village in line with the director’s dalliances with Marxism. It sounds like a lot, but the traditional hero’s-journey structure makes it a great entry point for Studio Ghibli films. Plus, you’ve seen its influence somewhere since its 1986 release: The steampunk aesthetics, the iconic moss-covered robot and the melancholic floating island have inspired settings throughout animation and video games. Attend the dub for Cloris Leachman’s delightful turn as a sky pirate and to hear Mark Hamill put on a voice-acting clinic as the film’s main villain (no surprise for animation’s definitive Joker). Visit gkids.com/ghiblifest for showtimes, tickets and to see what’s next in the series. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ AUG. 22-26 AT LOCAL REGAL AND AMC THEATERS
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start getting killed in myriad gruesome ways, making audiences wonder who is actually committing these Jason-like murders. Porndirector-turned-exploitation-helmer Danny Steinmann spends his final directorial effort piling up the bodies and the boobs. Local filmmaker Wolfe MacReady will be on hand to introduce a Friday the 13th installment that’s certainly not the best — but it’s definitely the skeeviest. CRAIG D. LINDSEY MIDNIGHT AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
CAROLINE CHAMBERS
The film is now getting some big-screen love after a decade of appearing mostly on streaming and VOD platforms; several nationwide theaters even programmed it for the recent Art House Theater Day. Considering how filmmakers like Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Ryan Coogler and others have fought to make sure that their pictures are shown in various formats — including 35 mm and 70 mm — and audiences are still flocking to theaters where movies can still flicker, it certainly appears that films on actual film aren’t going away anytime soon. CRAIG D. LINDSEY 7 P.M. AT THE FRANKLIN THEATRE 419 MAIN ST., FRANKLIN
PHOTO: BOBBI RICH
BOOKS
MONDAY / 8.24
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[COOK BOOK]
CAROLINE CHAMBERS AUTHOR EVENT
Caroline Chambers is all of us. Her newest book, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast, summarizes what it’s like when you have to put dinner on the table but you’ve lost the will. With four sons and now three books, Chambers is pressed for time, so all of the recipes in the book, which was published earlier this month by Union Square & Co., can be made in 30 minutes of hands-on kitchen time. Or less. The book is packed with cooking advice, such as what to do if the meat sticks to the pan. In conversation with Nashville’s Cortney LaCorte (@thecheesegal on Instagram), Chambers will talk about her tips for overcoming kitchen ennui. The talk takes place at the Belcourt, and tickets include a signed copy of the book, provided by The Bookshop. MARGARET LITTMAN 7:30 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
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WITNESS HISTORY
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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FOOD & DRINK
WE ALL SCREAM …
No need to have a meltdown — there’s still plenty of ice cream weather left this year BY MARGARET LITTMAN open year-round, so there is limited time to grab a dipped cone or a hot fudge milkshake before winter. East Nashville’s Tabla Rasa is the place for crunch-cone toppings. And 12South’s Sushi-San soft-serve window is a scene at night; a hangout where folks find an ube cone dipped in matcha magic shell. If you are all about the protein: The new, locally owned Culture Club features high-protein Greek frozen yogurt and a toppings bar designed by James Beard Award semifinalist pastry chef Noelle Marchetti. You can choose a healthier option if you want, but you don’t have to. If you prefer an ice cream sandwich: One of the single best things I have eaten in 2026 (so far) is the praline ice cream sandwich at The Chloe Nashville. It’s giant, so you can share, but I’m not going to. Order it at the pool, at the bar or in the restaurant. If you want ice cream after a show: Give a raise to whomever decided to keep Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream open after concerts let out at nearby venue The Pinnacle. That Nashville Yards crew knows how to get a crowd in and out, even if it takes you a minute to choose from their 48 rotating flavors. If you are up for a drive: I concede that driving to Murfreesboro for ice cream might seem unnecessary, particularly when I am giving you 43 other options. But the square-shaped Original Rainbow Cone is a 100-year-old Chicago classic, and sometimes you give in to nostalgia even if it means driving on I-24. The owners of Lebanon’s Shop Springs Creamery were raised on dairy farms and still make their ice cream the old-fashioned way. Smyrna’s Janarty’s made seven flavors when they opened in 2018. Now they have more than 100. Vegans: Rejoice — and drive to Dickson for Katie’s Ice Cream’s dairy-free flavors. I love the salted lemonade at Thomas Drugs’ old-fashioned soda fountain. But if I’m driving to Cross
CULTURE CLUB
PHOTOS: ERIC ENGLAND
JEFFREY BAK grew up outside Cincinnati, which is known for a number of gastronomic delights — including Cincinnati chili, goetta and Smurf ice cream. (The latter is a blue softserve cone that may have originated at Kings Island amusement park and is now part of the city’s culinary fabric.) “It’s basically in every little soft-serve shop in Southwest Ohio, but you can’t get it anywhere else,” Bak says. So earlier this year, Bak and his three partners (“architects/designers by day and soft-serve connoisseurs by night”) opened Cone-cept, a spot in East Nashville’s Eastwood Village that has blueberry (and blueberry-vanilla swirl) soft serve on the menu, plus other rotating varieties. They originally thought they’d be open Memorial Day through Labor Day, but Cone-cept has been so popular that the dessert destination will be open for ice cream year-round. And while it is possible to indulge with toppings and multiple flavors in a waffle cone, it’s also possible to order a “petite” cone or cup for just $2 (plus tip and tax), a reasonable price for a nice little treat. Here’s the scoop: New ice cream places are popping up all over Nashville. Several are churning at Citizen Kitchens, making ice cream at the food business incubator (using equipment left by the late, great Pied Piper Creamery). There’s froyo, gelato, ice cream sandwiches, sundaes and even some vegan options. Like Bak, I believe that all weather is ice cream weather. But I concede that not everyone does. By my estimation, based on annual weather patterns, we have about 44 days until temperatures dip below commonly accepted ice cream levels. So what’s a reporter with limited summer and a sweet tooth to do? Here’s my list of local options — with about one treat to eat every day until the weather changes. If you want soft serve: Start at the aforementioned Cone-cept. There’s the OG Bobbie’s Dairy Dip, which isn’t
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FOOD & DRINK
THE BEE ICE CREAM SHOP IGGY’S
SWEET SOFIA’S KOKO’S ICE CREAM ROLLED 4 EVER
Plains, I’m also getting one of their milkshakes. If you want ice cream but everyone else wants “real food”: Other people go to Sperry’s for steak. I go for the peppermint stick ice cream, which is also available in their mercantile. I rarely have room for dessert when I feast on Iggy’s pasta, but I try, because the soft serve is always next-level. In addition to its pizzas, Smith & Lentz sells an impressive selection of made-from-scratch ice creams. Everyone can get whatever they want to eat at Elliston Place Soda Shop, including classic banana splits. Top the tart froyo at Nick the Greek with a Dubai chocolate shell. Gelato Pazzo is attached to Germantown’s Italian restaurant PennePazze. If you love a limited-time offering: Until the end of August, Black Tap is serving a giant “CrazySundae” made with Loveless Cafe peach preserves and a Loveless Belgian waffle. When you want lots of choices, Mexican ice cream-style: On Nolensville Pike, The Bee Ice Cream Shop has 60 different artisanal flavors. Bellevue’s Sweet Sofia’s is a family-run spot with paletas and ice creams, plus some savory snacks. Wherever you are in town, there’s probably La Michoacana nearby. It’s a brand not owned by one company, so they may be unaffiliated, but they’ll definitely have a good selection of paletas and cones, including dairy-free fruit treats. Craving something quirky? At this point in the end-of-summer ice cream eat-off, you might want to mix it up. Consider dipping your fries in soft serve at Jeremy Barlow’s Fryce Cream. My love of Sarabha’s Creamery’s Indian ice cream is well-documented. Koko’s Ice Cream in OneC1ty is the stop for organic, dairy-free, gluten-free frozen treats. Not only can you eat it, you can learn to make rolled ice cream (and eat it) from
Rolled 4 Ever. Add cold cereal to your ice cream or milkshake at Wanna Spoon. Ice cream with up to 5 percent ABV is on the menu at Tipsy Scoop. See a science experiment and eat dessert too at Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream in Brentwood. If you’re a classic-scoop purist: I love Hamby’s Market, the Amish staple in Old Hickory. Stop at their Nash Family Creamery counter when you swing by for produce. The current seasonal flavors at Hattie Jane’s Creamery include Tennessee Sweet Corn Jam and Roasted Peach Cobbler. Mike’s Ice Cream is a Second Avenue staple, but East Siders get the same thing at Sip Café in Inglewood. The family-friendly East Creamery in The Shoppes on Fatherland hosts events for kids. Sweethaven has three locations in Brentwood and Franklin and is a go-to for ice cream cakes, too. If you’re willing to chase a food truck: Flag down Black Box Ice Cream Shop (which also has a storefront in Smyrna) or the New Zealand fruit-based Kiwi Scoops. Got an idea for a flavor that no one else will make? Send it to MeltyBoy with a catchy name and see what happens. If you plan to be downtown: In addition to the aforementioned Mike’s, pop into Mattheessen’s on Second Avenue or check out Zio Matto Gelato in the historic Arcade. If you want to be first in line: I’m looking forward to Croquet Cafe opening in Centennial Park. The menu promises soft serve and sundaes. Chris Carter, formerly of Porter Road Butcher, has been helping Much Love Creamery perfect their family recipe for public consumption. Not in the mood to leave the house? Milkman Ice Cream delivers, as does Lokelani Alabanza’s hemp-derived CBD Saturated Ice Cream. ▼
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BOOKS
HUMBLE, SELFLESS, INDEFATIGABLE Joe Pagetta tells the story of a 19th-century missionary to Tennessee
PHOTO: EMILY APRIL ALLEN
BY MAGGIE GIGANDET
JOE PAGETTA
In The Apostle of Tennessee: The Indefatigable Life & Ministry of Father Aloysius Orengo, Joe Pagetta chronicles the work of a 19th-century Catholic priest. Father Orengo was born in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, now part of Italy, and arrived in America in 1845. He spent the next 25 years traveling Middle and West Tennessee serving local Catholics, converting others to Catholicism, and building churches. Pagetta is the director of communications for the Tennessee State Museum and frequently writes about Catholicism and his life. He answered questions via email. You confide to the reader that after moving to Tennessee from New Jersey you recognized you’d need to intentionally cultivate your relationship to Catholicism. Did the experience of writing this book influence your connection to your faith or your connection to Tennessee? Absolutely, it did both. While my formative years were spent in Jersey City, and I always include that fact in my bio, I’ve been in Tennessee for almost 30 years, more than half my life. Researching and writing The Apostle of Tennessee took me places and introduced me to people and stories in the state that deepened my connection to it. I feel great affection for the state and feel more like a Tennessean now than I did when I started the book.
Regarding my faith, the experience has deepened it. On a nuts-and-bolts level, even though they may have nothing to do with the book, I know now the names of certain vestments and architectural aspects of churches I didn’t know before. I was in the sacristy at St. Peter’s in Memphis when I learned about the sacrarium, a special sink that drains directly into the earth rather than the sewer so that when vessels or linens are cleaned, the body and blood of Christ return to the soil. I’ve been Catholic my whole life — I was even an altar boy for four years — and never knew about that! What would you like the reader to remember about Father Orengo, and does this change depending on whether they are Catholic? I’ve wondered if you must be Catholic to enjoy the book and Fr. Orengo’s story. I don’t think you do. My hope is that people remember his humility and his selflessness, his commitment to his mission and the people he served. His story is an American one, too: an immigrant who served mostly other immigrants at an extremely difficult and unwelcoming time in this country for both Catholics and immigrants. If you are Catholic and a Tennessean, I hope you remember him for the great tradition he established for us. Lastly, his indefatigability! And in the process, how to pronounce indefatigable. In addition to writing, you produced the film A Grand Design: Captain Le Roy Reeves and the Tennessee State Flag, and you and your wife Keri produced The Passion
of Ethel Rosenberg, a podcast based on a play. How does the medium affect how you tell your story? I see film and podcasts as collaborative mediums. There are exceptions, but for me, you can’t really make a film by yourself. I had a vision for A Grand Design, a general idea in my head and then on paper of the order of things and what interviews and B-roll we needed and where I wanted things to go, etc. It was the talent that everyone else brought to it, however, that really made it work. The podcast was a similar collaborative effort, even though we had Ed Morris’ script and Carolyn German’s original direction to work from. Keri and I, when we make the time while being parents and having jobs and our individual personal creative endeavors — she’s an actor, voiceover artist and co-producer of an independent film currently in post-production — are great collaborators. Writing might seem a little less collaborative at first, even a bit lonely, but I’m still in some kind of dialogue in the process with God and with the eventual reader. I try to begin with what Ignatian spirituality calls colloquy, or an intimate conversation with God.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
In Apostle you write, “As a secondgeneration Italian American, adding to the scholarship and accomplishments of Italians in America (and cutting down the Hollywood stereotypes) has always been a priority for me.” You’ve published several articles about the Italian American author Pietro di Donato, and now you’ve published this book. How will you continue your mission? Before I signed the contract for The Apostle of Tennessee, I’d been shopping around a book proposal, unsuccessfully, for a biography of Pietro di Donato. I think he’s such an important and yet sadly unheralded American writer. I think putting him back into the conversation about our country’s great writers could really expand our history of Italian Americans. I hope to sharpen that proposal and get it back out there.
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To read an uncut version of this interview — and more local book coverage — please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
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with SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK at PARNASSUS The Yellow Postcard: A Story About Food and Community MONDAY, AUGUST 24 6:30PM
J.T. ELLISON
with ARIEL LAWHON at PARNASSUS You Know Why TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 6:00PM
GREG HOWARD
with CHUCK LONG at PARNASSUS The Travelers WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26
MAGGIE RAPIER
with MARY E. PEARSON at PARNASSUS Wolftamer TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 6:30PM
EMILY WILSON The Apostle of Tennessee: The Indefatigable Life & Ministry of Father Aloysius Orengo By Joe Pagetta Vanderbilt University Press 144 pages, $18.95
with HELEN SANDERS at THE PARTHENON Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea
3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14 | Nashville, TN 37215 (615) 953-2243 Shop online at parnassusbooks.net @parnassusbooks @parnassusbooks
@parnassusbooks1 @parnassusbooksnashville
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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SEASON & INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Visit NashvilleBallet.com to Purchase Today!
Featuring Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante NICK MULLIKIN’S
Featuring: Nick Mullikin’s Erase the Night
SEP. 11-26
28
OCT. 2-4
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
OCT. 28 - NOV. 1
NOV. 27 - DEC. 27
FEB. 26-28
MAY 7-9
THEATER
COMING HOME
Nashville Shakes returns to Centennial Park with A Midsummer Night’s Dream — and has plans for a new playhouse BY AMY STUMPFL
PHOTO: SAMMY HEARN
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM CAST
ONE OF THE city’s most beloved summer traditions is back — Nashville Shakespeare Festival is returning to the historic bandshell at Centennial Park. But along with its whimsical new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the company also is unveiling plans for a new playhouse, which is set to open in the summer of 2027. “We’re so thrilled to be back in Centennial Park this year,” says NSF artistic director Jason Spelbring. “The festival was founded here at the park in 1988, so it really does feel like we’re home. And to be moving into the future with the new playhouse is especially exciting. It represents an important investment in our future, and one that I hope will serve the community for years to come.” Designed and engineered by Hastings Architecture, The Playhouse offers a uniquely
sustainable approach. Custom-built to retrofit within the existing bandshell, it will serve as an impressive summer home for Shakespeare in the Park that can easily be packed away and reused each season. Drawing inspiration from Shakespeare’s Globe, The Playhouse will provide a highly flexible framework that can be reconfigured and transformed, depending on the play being produced. “I’d had this idea, this dream of The Playhouse floating around in my brain for some time,” Spelbring says. “I’d pitched it to the staff and a few folks, including Phillip Franck — a wonderful lighting and scenic designer who’s now retired from Vanderbilt University. Phillip understood exactly what I was going for, and helped bring everything to life. And then I got a call from Dillon Dunn — an architect at Hastings, who just happens to be married to one of our board members. It was incredible.” Dunn admits that The Playhouse presented some unusual design challenges, but insists that “it’s been a really fun and rewarding process.” While Hastings has designed some of Nashville’s most iconic spaces (including Geodis Park and the new Tennessee Performing Arts Center), Dunn says “it’s less about scale for us, and more about opportunity.” “The fact that The Playhouse had to operate in concert with the existing bandshell — which is really an interesting midcentury artifact on its own — was exciting,” Dunn says, noting that the new structure will offer an unmistakable “sense of place” within Centennial Park. “And I think the idea that the substructure or scaffolding of The Playhouse needed to be beautiful on its own, while also allowing it to be kind of an armature for any future expression, was really exciting for our team.”
For John Tumminello, president of Centennial Park Conservancy, The Playhouse offers a welcome complement to the park’s ongoing revitalization efforts. In 2024, Centennial Park Conservancy partnered with Metro Parks to renovate the historic bandshell with fresh paint, upgraded plumbing, electrical, lighting and more. Later this month, they will host the grand opening of the park’s north side revitalization — including a new event pavilion and a dining destination called the Croquet Cafe. “There’s a renewed sense of vibrancy,” Tumminello says. “One of the things that makes Centennial Park unique is that it’s always been a cultural gathering place, as opposed to just a green space or nature park. ... So to have Shakespeare coming back to the park — and to find this very creative way of leaning into the historic bandshell as their home — it just feels really special. And I think it signifies a new creative chapter for both the Shakespeare Festival and also for Centennial Park.” For now, Spelbring is focused on this summer’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a dreamy comedy that’s packed with mischief and mayhem. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream was actually the last play that we did before leaving the bandshell in 2018,” he says. “So it was important to me that this be the title for our return to Centennial Park. I wanted to honor our history with the park, while also letting the park itself inspire our production. I’ve been saying this production is more about forest floor than fairy wings, so it’s very grounded and earthy. [Scenic designer] Will Butler has created seven incredible trees, all made from reclaimed lumber and found, repurposed materials. That gives us our Athenian forest — where our actors
NSF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ISABEL TIPTON-KRISPIN AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JASON SPELBRING
PLAYHOUSE RENDERING
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
COURTESY OF NASHVILLE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
can hide and chase and even climb. It’s visually stunning, like a beautiful art installation.” Spelbring also drew inspiration from the 1917 Cottingley Fairies hoax, in which two young girls in England captured the public’s imagination with a series of doctored photos supposedly depicting real woodland fairies. “What fascinated me about the Cottingley Fairies incident was the sense of wonder and possibility — the fact that people wanted to believe,” Spelbring says. “I feel like that gave us a real pathway into our production. And that mashup of Athenian and English influences opened up all sorts of ideas, with gorgeous 1917-inspired silhouettes from [costume designer] Melissa Durmon. And music director Randy Craft has also pulled some great music from the period.” As always, NSF offers a pay-what-you-will, donation-based model that ensures accessibility for all. In addition to the main performance, audiences can look forward to NSF’s popular Insight Lecture Series and preshow entertainment, along with a rotating lineup of food trucks. Plus, the new Willow Oak Bar will offer canned beer, wine and cocktails at select performances. “On our first night of rehearsals at the park, I felt this overwhelming sense of community,” Spelbring says. “There was a concert going on, a soccer match, and people were jogging by or walking their dogs. It felt so alive and thriving, and we’re just happy to be a part of it.” ▼
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Aug. 20-Sept. 20 at Centennial Park Bandshell nashvilleshakes.org
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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917 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 | thebasementnashville.com basementeast thebasementeast thebasementeast
AUGUST 28 & 29
9/5 8/25 nashville indie night ft. crumbsnatchers, jettee, rohna, and savanna leigh
9/8
9/6 the suicide machines
ugly kid joe
DANIEL DONATO’S COSMIC COUNTRY
w/ platinum moon
w/ mugger
SEPTEMBER 1
ROCK THE RYMAN
HOSTED BY JOHN OATES, FEATURING DEVON
9/14
9/12 an evening with jed harrelson ft. abigail rose
10/14
ben harper and the innocent criminals
just announced
olivia o'brien
Upcoming shows aug 21 qdp aug 22 my so-called band: all 90's hits live! aug 23 Rock Steady Nashville
sep 14 ben harper & the innocent criminals low tickets! sep 15 ben harper & the innocent criminals Sold out! sep 16 scene queen w/ Wargasm & Bailey Spinn w/ Echo Pilot, Fatal Affair, Year of October, and Campanula sep 21 Adéla Sold out! aug 27 mustang mcgee and freedom junction sep 22 king mala w/ jayden hammer aug 28 can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party sep 23 world famous pets ft. Edie Brickell of New Bohemians! aug 29 david nail w/ Hudson Macready sep 24 the gringos AUG 30 Candy Couture: Fashion Is For Every Body's sep 25 post sex nachos w/ The Foxies and Fetch Tiger 2026 Fashion Show Kick-Off Party sep 26 damien jurado w/ st. yuma sep 1 tons live! sep 29 rebecca black ft. abigail osborn, carver jones, and houston kendrick sep 30 the bros. landreth w/ Madeleine Roger sep 2 ben chapman's peach jam ft. Tenille Townes & more oct 1 juice sep 3 Ben Quad x Macseal w/ Aren't We Amphibians oct 7 willi carlisle w/ dylan earl sep 4 The Emo night tour oct 8 finn wolfhard w/ malcy Sold out! sep 5 nashville indie night oct 11 golden: a k-pop kids party! ft. Crumbsnatchers, Jettee, Rohna, and Savanna Leigh oct 12 russian circles w/ pelican sep 6 The Suicide machines w/ Mugger oct 13 mind enterprises sep 8 ugly kid joe w/ platinum moon oct 14 olivia o'brien sep 12 an evening with jed harrelson ft. abigail rose oct 16 ax and the hatchetmen w/ the hails Stop by Lowbar located underneath the basement east for drinks, pool, darts, karaoke and more! Open 5pm-late
ALLMAN, WYNONNA, YOLA & MORE SEPTEMBER 13
THE WAR AND TREATY OCTOBER 26
WOMAN EVOLVE PRESENTS THE ROGUE ROUTE WITH
SARAH JAKES ROBERTS ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM NOVEMBER 30
ALLMAN BETTS FAMILY REVIVAL ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM
DECEMBER 30 & 31
1604 8th Ave S Nashville, TN 37203 | thebasementnashville.com thebasementnash thebasementnash thebasementnash
o
8/24
9/20
just announced
bob log iii
ritual breaks Upcoming shows
aug 20 taylor shuck w/ anaka grace and the lonestar junction [7pm] aug 27 trey pendley [5:30pm] aug 20 a comedy show josh fadem w/ chris crofton [9pm] aug 27 mikelparis [7pm] aug 21 dan wilson w/ special guest john cooper albright [7pm] aug 27 telander [9pm] aug 22 dumbcharger w/ mute superstars [7pm] aug 28 audrey and nathan [7pm] aug 22 the up and up w/ easton admiral & jive mother mary [9pm] aug 28 soft palms w/ larciné and hangin' out in my body [9pm] aug 23 the wanderings album release party [7pm] aug 29 ungifted amateurs w/ vital humor [7pm] aug 24 ritual breaks [7pm] aug 30 buffalo galaxy w/ smol magol [7pm] aug 26 cloe wilder [6:30pm] Aug 31 The Beau Burnette Show [7pm] Don't miss new faces Night every tuesday at 7pm!
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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW WITH NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM FEBRUARY 27, 2027
MICHELLE BRANCH ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM
MUSIC Alicia Witt discusses her lifelong bond with David Lynch and her new album Between Heaven and Earth
PHOTOS: DAVID MCCLISTER
BY ANNIE PARNELL
Q&A, performance and album signing 4 p.m. Aug. 21 at Grimey’s Between Heaven and Earth out Aug. 28 via Thirty Tigers
ALICIA WITT
AT AGE 7, currently Nashville-based artist Alicia Witt found her first acting role playing Alia Atreides, the unearthly child in David Lynch’s 1984 Dune adaptation. It began a lifelong creative bond: Lynch cast her again as the teenage Gersten Hayward in Twin Peaks, and brought her back for the 2017 reboot, Twin Peaks: The Return. Witt, who starred as Ruth Harker in Osgood Perkins’ 2024 film Longlegs, credits Lynch with encouraging her long-term transcendental meditation practice. She also says that through meditating after his death last year, she’s received insights from him that play a direct role in her new album Between Heaven and Earth. Out Aug. 28, the record is a tribute to Lynch that blends mystical, piano-led jazz ballads and acoustic folk stylings from The Civil Wars’ John Paul White. Ahead of a release party at Grimey’s, Witt caught up with the Scene about the record and David Lynch’s influence. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Read a longer version at nashvillescene.com/music. What are some lessons you learned from David Lynch? Well, because he came into my life when I was so little, it’s hard for me to differentiate which lessons I learned that didn’t come from him. I remember the moment of meeting him for the first time. I remember him walking in, and just instantly feeling that he was a kindred spirit. So I suppose that’s one of the obvious lessons. I think I learned in that moment that you can find kindred spirits anywhere. I think of Dune as not just the first movie I made. ... With David at the helm, I understood what it should feel like. The way he respected all actors and all people — every crew member — and remained passionately confident about
what his vision was. He would always describe it in this spiritual way. That has carried with me my entire life: this understanding that when you’re making music or playing a character, it doesn’t have to be described in a way that is technical. It should instead be described by how it feels. When we meet your Twin Peaks character Gersten, she’s a child who’s trying to comfort a family in grief. There’s a beautiful full-circle element there with this album. I hadn’t thought of that connection. That’s really beautiful. Yeah, because Laura Palmer’s parents are like family to us. They are our family, as well as my own parents, who are grieving and shaken by the loss. I think of this album not so much as an antidote to the grief of him being gone, [but] as the utterly magical phenomenon that’s been his presence, in not just my life but many people’s lives since he has passed. I would say with absolute certainty we don’t just vanish when we’re gone. The things that I feel David has done since he’s been gone are really incredible. What are some of those things that you feel his influence in? What’s most specific is advice he’s given — personal advice, as well as advice having to do with how to bring creative endeavors into the world. In some instances on the album, like the last song, “Director,” those [lyrics] are all things that he said to me. Is transcendental meditation also a part of your creative practice? Yes, it is. He never tried to push it on me or anyone that I’m aware of. He just led by example. He had been practicing TM since long before I first met him in 1983, and he
did it like clockwork twice a day, until the moment he died, and I had not been as consistent about it. About a month before he passed away, I started doing it like clockwork, and I realized I was going to do it like that now for the rest of my life. It felt like it suddenly clicked in for me. You mentioned the closing track, “The Director.” Can you tell me more about this song in particular? The idea started arriving to me to create an album in unabashed tribute to him. After I attended his memorial, which was in February last year, and these insights continued to come through TM, I suppose I trusted it a bit more. I mean, I knew what I was experiencing, but talking to others at the memorial who were also receiving insights from him, I realized this is a very real thing. I did meditate, and I found myself reaching out to him in spirit to help me to channel him into something that would do justice to him. And the music arrived … and I realized at least these things he was saying were not only personal advice, and they weren’t only music advice. It was advice about how to move forward in my own life. That day, in the studio, we had already recorded four days. I had the engineer leave the microphones running. I started recording it, and some of those words kept on changing as I recorded. And then I did it, and I knew it was done. I felt certain that I had done honor to David and conveyed what he was trying to tell me. I never listened back to it. I didn’t even have headphones on. Was there anything else sonically that was on your mind in terms of creating the world of the album? I was clear: This isn’t an Angelo Badalamenti [album]. That’s an artist that David collaborated with, that gave a specific life to the music inside of so much of David’s work. But this wasn’t to do with that. It’s to do with what he means to me, and what that place between heaven and earth sounds like. We didn’t ever think what genre it was or anything like that. We just thought, “What does each song need?” ▼
THE SCENE IS SET, THE STARS ARE INDIFFERENT Lambchop finds new angles on human nature in old sounds on Punching the Clown BY SEAN L. MALONEY
PHOTO: INGO PETRAMER
INSIDE A DREAM
KURT WAGNER IT TOOK ABOUT 10 seconds of listening before my brain declared Punching the Clown, the new album from Lambchop, as Lambchop’s best album. Granted, my brain has said this about every new Lambchop record for the past, oh, three decades. Each album makes me more excited for the next, and when the new one arrives, it gives me new appreciation for what came before it. With Kurt Wagner at the helm of the mutable project, Lambchop has shaped and shepherded some of the most intriguing music — and musicians — to ever come from Nashville. On Punching the Clown, out Friday via Merge, Wagner attains new levels of beauty and intimacy with his craft, finding new life in old forms. “It was magic, man,” Wagner tells the Scene. “Straight-up magic. Just three days. We had an idea of what we wanted to do. We knew the songs already. We knew the order they were in. All we had to do was just put it all together and just hit it. … I could have just got hit by a truck and it’d be fine. It could have come on out.” Sparse and soulful, Punching the Clown was written with Andrew Broder, produced by Ryan Olson, features banjo from Justin Vernon (and was recorded at the Wisconsin studio April Base where Vernon has made many Bon Iver records) and was engineered by longtime collaborator and former Nashvillian Mark Nevers. Built around the call and response of lined-out singing with shape notes — a form of choral singing that presaged widespread literacy and is an antecedent of American gospel and country, popularized here in the mid-19th century via the Sacred Harp tradition — Punching continues Wagner’s ongoing exploration of the possibilities of the human voice. Swells of deep, harmonious humanity build and sweep across the barren plains of minimalist picking and enigmatic electronic flourishes. Wagner connects his latest fascinations to the course he’s been charting since the very beginning.
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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MUSIC: THE SPIN
Concerts
DON’T MISS THE LAST SHOW OF THE SEASON
August 22 JESSELEE JONES & BRAZILBILLY
RAE THE BAND MIKKI ZIP
Punching the Clown out Friday, Aug. 21, via Merge
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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
REBELLING WITH A CAUSE BY AMANDA HAGGARD
YAMMER JAW
terial and opted for more rock ’n’ roll songs like “Fat Vampire” and “Eternal Platitude.” Outside after Spencer’s set, I rolled my eyes listening to a guy talk loudly about a woman “taking her tits out,” but later Latter singer Meredith Haines, also an artist and teacher, connected the dots for me. Just before their final song, she left the stage appearing to have suffered a nose bleed. After a minute or so of the band raising a righteous cacophony, Haines reappeared wearing a hospital gown and wielding a handsaw raised to the ceiling. Sawing away at the gown and thrashing wide-eyed and topless on the floor, she growled and screamed her way through “My Body Is My Sickness,” the titular song of ferocious rage from Latter’s 2024 LP. Leading up to this, highlights of the set included a driving post-hardcore song called “King of Abuse” from an upcoming full-length. Latter spent their time between tours this year in the studio, and they plan to release the new album early next year. Normally it bothers me a bit how the boys in the room thin out when a woman comes onstage. On the other hand, nobody had to say “girls to the front” for Latter, because they came up on their own. Since I grew up in a very male-dominated music scene, not much brings me more joy than seeing women of all ages all over the room enjoying themselves. (As a side note, I did not know the kids were still skanking, but we love to see it.) Somehow bare breasts were the least interesting thing about the set. Latter absolutely filled the room with sound: eerie noise tracks, a wicked seven-string guitar, a bevy of perfect early-2000s screams, intense drums and a fucking saxophone. Maybe it’s nostalgia for the shortlived four-piece post-hardcore noise band The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower or my excessive love for Rhode Island punks Downtown Boys,
LATTER ALMOST DIDN’T make it to the opening stop of their latest tour on Aug. 12. Luckily for Nashville, the band drove 12 hours through hellacious storms on what is normally an eighthour trek from Chicago, pulling into town just in time to watch folks file into Drkmttr. Before Latter could make their way into the venue, local boys Yammer Jaw opened with a set punctuated with bursts of frenetic energy, sliding between shreddy, technical guitar and hard-hitting rhythms. Yammer Jaw is made up of members of bands (both active and defunct) that have made their marks heavy and dark on Middle Tennessee, including Waxed, Sheep Shifter and War Brides. Chris Clark and Stephen Small, formerly of Sheep Shifter, offered high-speed guitar riffage and traded vocals while War Brides’ Richie Townsend beat the shit out of the drums. Ian Sundstrom, who’d later get behind the drums with Waxed, added vocals and bass. These guys have been playing out for a while, but released their first single “Cuckin’ Round” at the end of July. The band’s debut record Burth is due Sept. 18, and a few days following its release, they’ll be back at Drkmttr playing with Iron Lung on Sept. 22. Dan Spencer and his band The Love Cuts may have been the least heavy outfit to play that night, but what they brought fit the bill. Spencer, who said he was debuting a new bowling shirt for the evening, played a “fast as shit” song called “Signs” that dates back to 2016. The band delivered a broad spectrum of their music, DAN SPENCER but largely strayed from gloomy ma-
PHOTOS: VICTOR J. REED
CORNELIA AIRPARK
“Getting my shit together as a writer I think was really tough,” he says. “I mean, I wanted to — I ain’t the youngest guy on the block. It was time to really see if I could just rise to the occasion. Because I felt that conceptually it was solid, and I just needed to have the songs. And knowing that that was really the crux of the whole thing was songs — actual songs and songwriting. “That gave me a place to start. But the bar was pretty high, so I wasn’t settling for anything. And so it took a lot of work. I thought I was going insane, but got through it. And then at some point you get to this place where everything starts to click, and then you’re in that space. I didn’t want to leave it, because I knew as soon as I turned this record in, that ain’t happening for a while.” The record he turned in is an incisive work of observation and abstraction. Wagner’s voice sounds as warm as ever — something to be confident in even when the character who’s singing isn’t confident. He relies on subtle shadings to convey big emotions, leading the choir of singers who join him beyond the realm of genre. “A Doctor in the House” walks a knife’s edge between chamber country and baroque folk. “The New World Wave” feels like the Anita Kerr Singers got ahold of Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s Night Owl. It all feels very new and very old. Even though what exactly “Lambchop” is has changed often over the years, it all feels very Lambchop. “I just kind of dug in and really worked hard at writing for at least about a year-and-a-half, almost two years,” recalls Wagner. “And with the notion of what kind of record I wanted to make and who I wanted to make it with. But I needed to really sort of dig deep and try to become better at being a writer. It took a while, but I loved it. “I loved just disappearing and trying to just really get down to it. What makes me like stuff? What makes a good song? Why did people make music and then decide it’s good? Real, pretty unanswerable kind of questions, but worthy of pursuit.” The craftsmanship starts with these conceptual joists, creating harmonic and narrative space for Wagner’s characters to exist, to take up space, to simply be. The detective in “Cigar,” the honkies in “White People,” the “human calculator” from “Just West of Nicollet” — they all pass by like trucks outside the diner window, distance separating us from the rest of the story. The way Wagner appreciates an abstraction, placing his vowels in percussive succession on “Afterburner” and “No Chicago,” reflects a molecular analysis of what makes music magical. The call and response between song and singer makes for profound listening, just like always. “And that’s the beautiful thing about songs, that they can live on in various guises and ways of presentation and all that stuff. They just exist. But a song in itself is almost like a guidebook or something [open] to anyone’s sort of creative interpretation. And that’s pretty unique.” ▼
PHOTOS: VICTOR J. REED
2ND & BROADWAY NASHVILLE, TN
Live Music at ON BROADWAY THE FORMER: LATTER’S MEREDITH HAINES but there’s something about adding a saxophone to the mix that fills in all the nooks and crannies of my brain. Latter is slated to zigzag across the country for the next few weeks with Los Angeles fairy-doom trio Faetooth before heading overseas. Waxed ended things with a tight 30-minute set, and frontman Luc Richards lost his shirt way earlier in their show than Haines did. The funny-but-true quip about every country band needing a song about a truck also applies to a heavy show. Case in point: Richards and company launched into “Slow Lane,” a dark, sludgy and foreboding tune from the band’s spring release The Continental Way, which he described as their “big nasty truck” song. Fitting the theme of the night marking a confluence of very busy musicians, Waxed and Dan Spencer are headed out on a short run around the Southeast. For me, this is the ideal Wednesday night
lineup to break up the work week. There should be a few songs you could sing along with, about some combination of vampires, the devil, being a sad mean bastard and/or kicking someone’s ass. There ought to be a set you’re going to want to either move to the back for or fight for your life during. (Your mileage may vary, but my age and expensive medical device mean I needed to move for Waxed, though this audience proved to be a bit less rowdy than typical.) You can’t go wrong with a few mostly local guys in a band who are the wild sum of the parts of a bunch of other bands, some of whom don’t play out anymore. (RIP, Sheep Shifter.) But maybe most importantly, there was a band with a woman absolutely screaming her ass off alongside a ballistic buffet of weird sounds — and they get bonus points since nearly the entire front row was filled with women when the boobs came out. ▼
8.14 Ty Herndon — Living in a Moment 30th Anniversary 8.16 Chris smither
8.29 Josh Ward
From Fr om platinum-selling pla pl a cha chart-toppers to underground icons, ic on s, household names to s, icon ons ons, t undiscovered gems, hi f’ N c co ommitte mmi Neon Steeple eeple is h committed commi o ommi to bringing the very Chief’s best national and regional talent alentt back to Broadway.
AUGUST LINEUP 8.1
8.8
8.22 Waymore’s Outlaws — Runnin’ with Ol’ Waylon
Thomas Gabriel Karen Waldrup
8.25 Buddy's Place Writer's Round Music Row for Musicares w/ Lauren Mascitti, Walker Presented by Eric Church County, Adam Hambrick Band & Corient: Casey Beathard, Luke Dick, Jeff 8.26 Uncle B’s Damned Ole Opry Hyde, Driver Williams, Presents — Adele McCoury Jonathan Singleton, & Dan Night: One of Adele’s & One of Isbell Del’s! w/ John Cowan, Mother/ Son, Mason Via, Cherokee 8.13 Aaron Nichols & Friends Hope, Jason Carter, Dani from The Voice w/ Dustin Flowers, Delaney Ramsdell, & Dale Gaspard & Bay Uncle B Simpson 8.27 Icons of Country Tribute to 8.14 Ty Herndon - Living in a Hardy and Zac Brown Band Moment 30th Anniversary 8.29 Josh Ward 8.15 Mitch Rossell 8.30 Dedicated Men of Zion: 8.16 Chris Smither A Night of Sacred Soul 8.20 Save Ferris — “It Means GET TICKETS AT Everything” Performed CHIEFSONBROADWAY.COM Front to Back, Special FOLLOW US @ChiefSBROADWAY Guest Adrian + Meredith 8.9
WRITERS’ ROUNDS AT CHIEF’S
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 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
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FILM
DEFY GOES MAD
For its 11th year, the popular local film fest is bringing wideranging, eccentric cinema to Eastside Bowl BY JOE NOLAN
“LADY PURITAN”
THE BIG STORY at this year’s Defy Film Festival is that the 11th iteration of this local celebration of eccentric cinema will happen at Eastside Bowl in Madison after spending its first decade in East Nashville’s Studio 615 event space. Festival founders Dycee Wildman and Billy Senese found creative solutions for displaying movies there, optimizing the square footage and glowing up Defy’s aura as they grew a reputation as a movie festival that extended all the way into contemporary new media art. This year’s setup at Eastside Bowl’s Main Room features one dedicated theater space and a gallery screening several shorts in a browsable art installation. The Madison venue means more room for a film-fest audience that was outgrowing the East Nashville digs, and the Bowl’s restaurant, bar, arcade, billiards, bowling and live music put the already popular festival in a location with a built-in audience. This year’s Defy lineup is packed with shorts and programmed around a feature screening that caps off a Friday night program focused on spooky weirdness. Directors Lauris Ābele and Raitis Ābele’s Dog of God is based on the real story of a 17th-century Livonian village soaked with rain and drunkenness. The stealing of a sacred relic triggers a witchcraft scare. Did I mention this is all rendered in richly colored rotoscope animation? Dog of God will get you primed for Robert Eggers’ Werwulf with its mix of folk horror and dark absurdity. “Lady Puritan” is a short by Gustine Füdickar and Justin Streichman screening in Defy’s Thriller block on Friday night. This poetic, experimental movie has all the trappings of a folk-horror picture, but its isolated alpine mountain, ghostly woman in black, and Aaron Drake’s spookadelic score are all wrapped around a naked-bloody-spewing freakout exploring the shadow side of femininity. This film is emblem-
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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
“NEXT IN LINE” atic of what happens when Defy does horror movies, and aficionados interested in new takes on fright fare will find unique thrills here. The cutthroat world of contemporary dance takes an occult turn in “Next in Line,” also playing in the Thriller block. If you’ve never seen a film labeled “queer dance horror,” this is your chance. Director Danny Dolan has credits as both an actor and a choreographer, and he co-stars in this short as a jaded choreographer who retreats to a desert getaway to lick his wounds after failing to land an important gig. “Next in Line” features a great performance from Tatiana Maslany as a nutty choreographer-cum-dark-sorceress now deploying her jazz hands in the service of dark magical forces on behalf of her flagging career. Genuinely funny and actually disturbing, “Next in Line” does a lot with a little, and Dolan is one of the Defy filmmakers I expect to see directing a platform feature sooner than later. “The Schism & the Butterfly” is writer-director Joseph Taglieri’s tale of a psychic girl and the military state that wants to weaponize her. It’s a Lynchian take on Stranger Things, with cinematographer Anthony Chen’s black-and-white photography bringing an expressionist vibe to the film’s alternative fascist universe. That aspect of this Thriller block short recalls Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle and the hit-and-miss series it inspired on Amazon Prime. In service of its cool stylistics, this film willingly sacrifices its plot for poetic imagery and editing, which is exactly what I love most about Defy. “Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawer of Rocks)” is an animated take on an Indigenous Canadian myth about a monstrous cave spirit that
captures two young native girls. This tale reads like a Native American version of The Odyssey’s cyclops episode through the lens of Rankin/ Bass’ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Hit Friday night’s Horror block for this short. If you like scary movies with a sense of humor, check out the short “CHÄIR” in the Horror Comedy block on Saturday. Chris McInroy’s inspired take on the special torture of assembling Scandinavian furniture comes with the best tagline I’ve read from the fest: “Carl just wanted to sit down.” “CHÄIR” reminds me of Tobe Hooper’s adaptation of Stephen King’s short story “The Mangler.” It’s a gnarly yarn about an industrial laundry-folding machine that develops a taste for human blood. “CHÄIR” comes complete with gory punchlines and a mostly balanced mix of jokey jokes and paranoia, psychological horror and disturbing customer service phone calls. “It may be pleasant to listen to some popular youth music” is the most memorable line from the Defy movies I previewed, and it comes from another entry in the Horror Comedy lineup. “Museum of Regret” is an eccentric, oddly moving cautionary tale about being an elderly thespian when there’s still time to be a silver-haired accountant. I’m going to call this one a kissing cousin of The Cable Guy, and Patrick Bauchau’s all-in portrayal of Don Patricio makes him the ideal avatar for writer-director Skye Braband’s inspired flights of poetic dialogue. Defy 2026 delivers a slate of bold, uncompromising films as it welcomes Nashville’s coolest gathering of cinephiles and filmmakers from around the world. Visit defyfilmfest.com for times, tickets and passes. ▼
Defy Film Festival Aug. 21-22 at Eastside Bowl defyfilmfestival.com
FILM
TONY, TONY, TONY
Matt Johnson’s unconventional Anthony Bourdain biopic feels like a night of fine dining BY JASON SHAWHAN
Tony R, 106 minutes Opening Friday, Aug. 21, at the Belcourt and Regal locations A MOVIE THAT hits like a meal, Tony puts aside the expected biopic approach of taking a life, extracting juicy tidbits and anecdotes, and then assembling those bits in an unchallenging fashion to yield a certain number of joys and pains and lessons learned. I can’t speak to how accurate this film from Matt Johnson (Blackberry, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie) is to the specifics of the acclaimed writer and chef’s life, but it feels grounded in the spirit of Anthony Bourdain’s writing and persona, and the end result is a movie that stays with you like a night of fine dining. Anyone currently in recovery should consider themselves warned — the film doesn’t glamorize drugs and alcohol, but rather depicts them as signifiers of habit. And that line between experimentation and habit is a line this film is very interested in exploring, and not just in terms of controlled substances — there is real time and effort put into the intricate process of figuring out who you are as a moral person. As a young Bourdain, Dominic Sessa (from The Holdovers) does a great job of finding that Kubrickian uncertainty that keeps the viewer from being able to know exactly where this guy is operating from, and how many times it can take making the wrong choice before you finally make the right one. The young Bourdain, a student at Vassar prone to falling into fabulism and exasperation with the structures around him, ends up shuffling off to Provincetown, Mass., after a writing fellowship falls through — and his only motivation is getting to know Nancy (Emilia Jones), a coed who has become his object of fixation. Once there, he battles economics, his own pride and a nature that could honestly see him become a supervillain if not for the intervention of good food and humanity. Thankfully, there is Chef. It’s not really a surprise that having an Antonio Banderas in your life can help right some precarious wrongs, and this gracious father figure offers young Tony a place in his kitchen, which he is neither prepared for
nor humble enough to properly accept. But it’s a start, and it’s the place where Johnson’s film finds its vibe. I never got the Leo Woodall thing before, but here, as the charmingly depraved (and way taller than you’d thought) Sal, he makes an impression. He’s a tempter, but every figuring-yourself-out narrative needs a devil on the shoulder. Banderas’ Chef serves aspirational grace and the kind of reinforced pragmatism that always surfaces when awards season rolls around. And then, as befits the secret weapon of arthouse mavericks and accomplished weirdos the world over, comedian and podcaster Stavros Halkias is there to keep things earthy, grounded and filthy, and it’s glorious. He’s got a laugh that carbonates a movie the way Marilyn Burns’ or Marlon Wayans’ scream does — effortlessly kicking things up a gear. Tony doesn’t take the approach of 2023’s The Taste of Things, but there is some time devoted to the actual process of cooking — the countless little steps that lead to hearty deliciousness — and that’s a captivating place to spend little chunks of the film here and there. This is a film that will make you want quality seafood, ideally prepared with all the strong emotions. Provincetown feels alive in this film, and it looks amazing. If this film — with cinematography by frequent Paul Thomas Anderson collaborator Michael Bauman — is shot digitally, it does an incredible job of making itself look like mid-’70s film stock. Between this and this year’s Mary Oliver doc Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (which is deeply moving and proves everyone needs a friend like John Waters), I can see P-Town visits on the upswing for anyone wanting to steep in the liberation and beauty of a place that has spoken to so many people for so many decades, while we still have it. And as for Bourdain himself, this is a fascinating impressionist take on an interesting thinker long before the foundation was settled and the building had begun. ▼
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NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
BACK OF THE BOOK
EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ 1
Across 1 Smart 5 Sensation 10 Acquisition on the big day 15 “That’s a good one!” 16 Galápagos island that was home to Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his subspecies 17 Who knows what preceded the Big Bang 18 *Yes – three arduous ones 21 February 14, informally 22 Scratch that! 23 El ___ 24 Like novices 26 Spoil 28 Preceder of how, way or where 29 *Yes – sometimes more than 1,000 31 Patooties 33 Little dipper? 34 “Tout à fait!” 35 Tire 37 *Yes – exactly one, in common usage 42 First line on many a form 43 Common garnish in a chirashi bowl 44 Had at present? 47 Article of lab wear 50 *No – but it does have three feet 53 Elizabethan curse
54 Country that las islas Canarias are part of 57 Important blood line 58 “___ is the proper task of life”: Nietzsche 59 Business whose rewards program gives “Stackholder Perks” 60 Raving 61 Question during a brainstorming session ... or of the answers to the starred clues 67 Popular Japanese brew 68 Alcohol, slangily 69 Literary heroine who says “I would always rather be happy than dignified” 70 Its capital is Sanaa 71 Heavens 72 Debugging component? Down 1 Letter after upsilon 2 Trireme tool 3 Cleared, as snow 4 “Messiah” composer 5 Neuter 6 What a big hand indicates: Abbr. 7 Its colony can be considered one superorganism 8 Struggle
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Puzzle by Zhou Zhang and Mallory Montgomery 9 World’s most populous Creolespeaking country 10 Pretty much assured 11 Japanese drama 12 Feline in a 2000s meme 13 Dub ... or rub 14 Fast-food restaurant that sells Frostys
19 ___-pedi 20 Oft-injured part of the knee, for short 24 Clock-setting std. 25 ___ Bravo (México/ Tejas border) 26 Certain tie score 27 Mince words? 30 Frost piece
32 Sound of dissatisfaction 35 Botanist’s study 36 Told stories 38 Business ending 39 Roll in dough 40 Actress/union leader Drescher 41 Symbol of spiritual insight, in Hinduism
45 Class ___ 46 Music genre with “walking” bass lines 47 Steamy occasion? 48 Lugubrious 49 Pioneers’ prairie pullers 50 Harangues 51 Store 52 Worked sufferingly
55 “Pipe down!” 56 Composure 60 Attest 62 ___-goat 63 “Wait ... really?” 64 One of a kind 65 Test for future Ph.D.s 66 Not needing anything else
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE C H I C O R C A A B C S Y O G A R E A R C R A T E C O V E N S T U T T G A R T P A L E O D I E T T H A N E N A T O T E L L A L L S S L A T L O O P E R S O D D S E T A S D E T E R F O R G O N E A P U C E O I O N A A T I T H A N O I S N A P S T OM A C H SW I M B A S S I S T S A SWE S P E A K E D I T H A P I A S A MO A MO U T H S O N S L A G S A N N I E E G A D E R G S A T O P
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FORECLOSURE SALE NOTICE WHEREAS, Harris Properties LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, executed a Deed of Trust dated November 9, 2021, of record at Instrument No. 202111290156858, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee (“Deed of Trust”) and conveyed to Richard A. Bynum, as Trustee, the hereinafter described real property to secure the payment of certain indebtedness (“Indebtedness”) owed to Studio Bank (“Lender”); and WHEREAS, default in payment of the Indebtedness secured by the Deed of Trust has occurred; and WHEREAS, David M. Anthony (“Trustee”) has been appointed Substitute Trustee by Lender by that Appointment of Substitute Trustee of record at the Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, with authority to act alone or by a designated agent with the powers given the Trustee in the Deed of Trust and by applicable law; and WHEREAS, Lender, the owner and holder of said Indebtedness, has demanded that the real property be advertised and sold in satisfaction of said Indebtedness and the costs of the foreclosure, in accordance with the terms and provisions of the loan documents and Deed of Trust. NOW, THEREFORE, notice is hereby given that the Trustee, pursuant to the power, duty and authority vested in and imposed upon the Trustee under the Deed of Trust and applicable law, will on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 1:00 o’clock p.m., prevailing Nashville time, on the steps of the historic Davidson County Courthouse, 1 Public Square, Nashville, Tennessee 37201, offer for sale to the highest and best bidder for cash and free from all rights and equity of redemption, statutory right of redemption or otherwise, homestead, dower, elective share and all other rights and exemptions of every kind as waived in said Deed of Trust, certain real property situated in Davidson County, Tennessee, described as follows: Legal Description: The real property is described in the Deed of Trust at Instrument 20211129-0156858, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee. A certain tract or parcel of land located in Davidson County, Tennessee, and described as follows, to-wit: Being Unit A and Unit B, 5211 Louisiana Avenue, a Horizontal Property Regime with Private Elements as described in Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for 5211 Louisiana Avenue of record in Instrument No. 202105180067441, Register's Office for Davidson County, Tennessee to which record reference is hereby made for a more particular description thereof. BEING a portion of the same property conveyed to Harris Properties LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company by Warranty Deed from Music City Holdings, LLC, a Texas limited liability company of record in Instrument No. 202111290156857, dated November 9, 2021, and recorded November 29, 2021 as corrected by Affidavit of record in Instrument No. 202311090087581, Register's Office for Davidson County, Tennessee. Map/Parcel No: 091-07-1O001.00CO and 091-07-1O002.00CO
the Trustee under the Deed of Trust and applicable law, will on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 1:00 o’clock p.m., prevailing Nashville time, on the steps of the historic Davidson County Courthouse, 1 Public Square, Nashville, Tennessee 37201, offer for sale to the highest and best bidder for cash and free from all rights and equity of redemption, statutory right of redemption or otherwise, homestead, dower, elective share and all other rights and exemptions of every kind as waived in said Deed of Trust, certain real property situated in Davidson County, Tennessee, described as follows: Legal Description: The real property is described in the Deed of Trust at Instrument 20211129-0156858, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee. A certain tract or parcel of land located in Davidson County, Tennessee, and described as follows, to-wit: Being Unit A and Unit B, 5211 Louisiana Avenue, a Horizontal Property Regime with Private Elements as described in Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for 5211 Louisiana Avenue of record in Instrument No. 202105180067441, Register's Office for Davidson County, Tennessee to which record reference is hereby made for a more particular description thereof. BEING a portion of the same property conveyed to Harris Properties LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company by Warranty Deed from Music City Holdings, LLC, a Texas limited liability company of record in Instrument No. 202111290156857, dated November 9, 2021, and recorded November 29, 2021 as corrected by Affidavit of record in Instrument No. 202311090087581, Register's Office for Davidson County, Tennessee. Map/Parcel No: 091-07-1O001.00CO and 091-07-1O002.00CO
Street Address: The street address of the property is believed to be 5211 and 5213 Louisiana Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37209, but such address is not part of the legal description of the property. In the event of any discrepancy, the legal description herein shall control. Other interested parties: Equus, LLC; Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County – 413 THIS PROPERTY IS SOLD AS IS, WHERE IS AND WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AND SUBJECT TO ANY PRIOR LIENS OR ENCUMBRANCES, IF ANY. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, THE PROPERTY IS SOLD WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO TITLE, MARKETABILITY OF TITLE, POSSESSION, QUIET ENJOINMENT OR THE LIKE AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, CONDITION, QUALITY OR FITNESS FOR A GENERAL OR PARTICULAR USE OR PURPOSE. As to all or any part of the Property, the right is reserved to (i) delay, continue or adjourn the sale to another time certain or to another day and time certain, without further publication and in accordance with law, upon announcement of said delay, continuance or adjournment on the day and time and place of sale set forth above or any subsequent delayed, continued or adjourned day and time and place of sale; (ii) sell at the time fixed by this Notice or the date and time of the last delay, continuance or adjournment or to give new notice of sale; (iii) sell in such lots, parcels, segments, or separate estates as Trustee may choose; (iv) sell any part and delay, continue, adjourn, cancel, or postpone the sale of any part of the Property; (v) sell in whole and then sell in parts and consummate the sale in whichever manner produces the highest sale price; (vi) and/or to sell to the next highest bidder in the event any high bidder does not comply with the terms of the sale.
Street Address: The street address of the property is believed to be 5211 and 5213 Louisiana Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37209, but such address is not part of the legal descripAmazon.com Services LLC tion of the property. In the seeks candidates for the EMPLOYMENT event of any discrepancy, following (multiple positions the legal description herein available) in Nashville, TN. Amazon.com Services LLC shall control. at: Amazon.com Services LLC – Nashville,Apply TN. Operations Other interested parties: – Nashville, TN. Operations Engineer IIIhttps://www.amazon.jobs/en/ (AMZ004011): Equus, LLC; Metropolitan , referencing Engineer III (AMZ004011):Work independently with job ID Government of Nashville & Applied Work independently with internal andAMZ27580.1: external Davidson County – 413 internal and external engineeringScientist teams toII (Job ID: THIS PROPERTY IS SOLD AMZ27580.1). engineering teams to successfully deliver cross- Participate in AS IS, WHERE IS AND the design, development, successfully deliver cross-functional projects that are of WITH ALL FAULTS AND evaluation, deployment and functional projects that area of high-quality (e.g., on-time, WITHOUT ANY REPREof data-driven a high-quality (e.g., on-time, on-budget,updating maintainable, SENTATIONS OR WARmodels andtoanalytical on-budget, maintainable, low-defects, etc.). Up 50% RANTIES OF ANY KIND solutions for machine low-defects, etc.). Up to 50% domestic travel to perform WHATSOEVER, WHETHER learning may (ML)be and/or natural domestic travel to performrole responsibilities EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, language (NL) applications. role responsibilities may be required. Salary Range: AND SUBJECT TO ANY required. Salary Range: $113,651 -Develop and/or apply $145,600. PRIOR LIENS OR ENCUM$113,651 - $145,600. AMZ004011. Multiplemodeling statistical AMZ004011. Multiple Positions Available. BRANCES, IF ANY. WITHtechniques (e.g. Bayesian OUT LIMITING THE GENPositions Available. Standard company benefits models and deep neural Standard company benefits available. Apply online:optimization ERALITY OF THE FOREnetworks), available. Apply online: www.amazon.jobs – GOING, THE PROPERTY methods, and other ML www.amazon.jobs – IS SOLD WITHOUT ANY searching by AMZ004011 techniques to different searching by AMZ004011 EOE. REPRESENTATIONS OR applications in business and EOE. WARRANTIES, EXengineering. Salary Range: PRESSED OR IMPLIED, $136000 - $184000 Caterpillar Financial RELATING TO TITLE, MARServices Corp. seeks IS Sr. Manager, IT eCommerce KETABILITY OF TITLE, Infrastructure Specialist Ops. Provide strategic Sr. Manager, IT eCommerce POSSESSION, QUIET EN(Nashville, TN) to work on Ops. Provide strategic leadership & direction for JOINMENT OR THE LIKE Oracle EBS apps 12.2 & leadership & direction forteams delivering world-class AND WITHOUT ANY EXOracle database 19c. digital commerce teams delivering world-class PRESSED OR IMPLIED REQS: Bach’s dgr or frgn experiences across desktop digital commerce WARRANTIES OF MEReqvlnt in Info Tech, Comp & mobile platforms. Oversee experiences across desktop Eng, Mech Eng or rltd fld & 8 CHANTABILITY, CONDIthe design, development, & & mobile platforms. Oversee TION, QUALITY OR FITyrs exp in Oracle DBA & of highly the design, development,optimization & NESS FOR A GENERAL Application DBA or rltd. WFH: up to 2 dys/wk. Pay: optimization of highly scalable, distributed OR PARTICULAR USE OR PURPOSE. $131,789.00 - $190,176.00. eCommerce apps. scalable, distributed Apply: As to all or any part of the Employer: Tractor Supply eCommerce apps. www.caterpillar.com/careers, Property, the right is reCompany. Location: Employer: Tractor Supply served to (i) delay, continue search [IS Infrastructure Brentwood, TN. May Company. Location: Specialist / Reference # or adjourn the sale to antelecommute periodically Brentwood, TN. May R0000377031]. other time certain or to antelecommute periodicallyfrom within normal other day and time certain, commuting distance of from within normal without further publication Lead Developers, IT MDM. commuting distance of Brentwood, TN. To apply, and in accordance with law, Develop Master Data email resume to Brentwood, TN. To apply, upon announcement of said Management (MDM) applications@ email resume to applications to link data to a delay, continuance or adtractorsupply.com. applications@ common reference. journment on the day and Implement a complete user Reference job code 17tractorsupply.com. time and place of sale set interface in the form of a 0263. Reference job code 17forth above or any subsedesktop web application. 0263. quent delayed, continued or Employer: Tractor Supply adjourned day and time and Company. Location: place of sale; (ii) sell at the Brentwood, TN. May telecommute periodically time fixed by this Notice or take less than 60 SECONDS. from within normal the date and time of the last Don’t wait! Protect your family, commuting distance of delay, continuance or adBrentwood, TN. Multiple your home, your assets NOW for journment or to give new noopenings. To apply, e-mail tice of sale; (iii) sell in such as little as 70¢ a day! resume to lots, parcels, segments, or applications@tractorsupply Call 1-877-895-5782 separate estates as Trustee .com. Reference job code may choose; (iv) sell any 21-0305. (CAN AAN) part and delay, continue, adjourn, cancel, or postpone the sale of any part of the Property; (v) sell in whole and then sell in parts and consummate the sale in whichever manner produces the highest sale price; (vi) LOCAL ATTRACTIONS and/or to sell to the next highest bidder in theAirport event · BNA any high bidder does not comply with the terms of the · Nashville Zoo sale. Plazawill Mariachi Substitute ·Trustee make no covenant of seisin, marketability of title or warranty BARS AND RESTURANTS of title, express or implied, and will sell and convey the · Hooters · BB Cuties subject real property by Trustee’s Quitclaim as Bar · Bikini Deed Beach · King Market Substitute Trustee only. This sale is· subject to all 21 Club · La Delicia Mexican matters shown on any applicable recorded Plat or Plan; any unpaid ENJOY taxes andTHE as- OUTDOORS sessments (plus penalties, interest, and costs) which Park · St. Bernard · Centennial Park exist as a lien against said · Fannie Mae Dees Park · Centennial Dog Park property; any restrictive covenants, easements or setback lines that may be applicable; any 3 rights of redempNEARBY PLACES YOU CAN ENJOY THE OUTDOORS tion, equity, statutory or othWhitfield Park erwise, not· otherwise waived in the Deed of Trust, includA. Pitts Park & dog park ing rights of· Williams redemption of any governmental · Ezellagency, Soccer Park state or federal; and any and all prior deeds of trust, liens, dues, assessments, encum- TO SEE A SHOW BEST PLACE brances, defects, adverse Thematters Music City Barn claims and ·other that may take priority over Mariachi the Deed of· Plaza Trust upon which this foreclosure sale is Bird Cafe` conducted ·orBlue are not extinguished by this Foreclosure Sale. This sale is also subLOCAL ject to any BEST matter that an in- FAMILY OUTING
Nob Hill Apartments 180 Wallace Rd., Nashville, TN 37211 nobhillnashville.com.com | 615.489.4164
38
NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20, - AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com
place of sale; (ii) sell at the time fixed by this Notice or the date and time of the last delay, continuance or adjournment or to give new notice of sale; (iii) sell in such lots, parcels, segments, or separate estates as Trustee may choose; (iv) sell any part and delay, continue, adjourn, cancel, or postpone the sale of any part of the Property; (v) sell in whole and then sell in parts and consummate the sale in whichever manner produces the highest sale price; (vi) and/or to sell to the next highest bidder in the event any high bidder does not comply with the terms of the sale. Substitute Trustee will make no covenant of seisin, marketability of title or warranty of title, express or implied, and will sell and convey the subject real property by Trustee’s Quitclaim Deed as Substitute Trustee only. This sale is subject to all matters shown on any applicable recorded Plat or Plan; any unpaid taxes and assessments (plus penalties, interest, and costs) which exist as a lien against said property; any restrictive covenants, easements or setback lines that may be applicable; any rights of redemption, equity, statutory or otherwise, not otherwise waived in the Deed of Trust, including rights of redemption of any governmental agency, state or federal; and any and all prior deeds of trust, liens, dues, assessments, encumbrances, defects, adverse claims and other matters that may take priority over the Deed of Trust upon which this foreclosure sale is conducted or are not extinguished by this Foreclosure Sale. Thisand saleaccurate is also subspection surject an inveytoofany the matter propertythat might spection and accurate surdisclose.and accurate surspection vey of 13th the property might THIS day of August, vey of the property might disclose. disclose. 2026.13th day of August, THIS THIS 13th day of August, 2026. 2026. David M. Anthony, Substitute Trustee David M. Anthony, SubstiDavid M. Anthony, EXOTrustee LEGAL PLLCSubstitute tute P.O.Trustee Box 121616 EXO LEGAL PLLC EXO LEGAL PLLC Nashville, TN 37212 P.O. Box 121616 P.O. Box 121616 david@exolegal.com Nashville, TN 37212 - 615Nashville, 869-0634 TN 37212 - 615david@exolegal.com david@exolegal.com - 615869-0634 869-0634 NSC 8/13, 8/20/26 NSC 8/13, 8/20/26 NSC 8/13, 8/20/26
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nashvillesceneshop.com 40 NASHVILLE SCENE • AUGUST 20, - AUGUST 26, 2026 • nashvillescene.com