Boogie Nights (And Days) at Vintage Weekender
Cool cats will want to break out their rockabilly best this weekend for the Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender, which kicked off on Thursday, May 23 and runs through Sunday, May 25 at The Nashville Palace and Gaylord Opryland Resort. Billed as a “celebration of mid-century America,” with a full music line-up, fashion, cars, and vendors galore, this festival promises something for nearly every vintage tendency.
Headlining on Sunday night, The B-52s will appear in their retro-best at The Presidential Ballroom at the Opryland Resort, with J.D. McPherson among the openers. The lineup, with more than 40 acts throughout the weekend at the resort and at the nearby Nashville Palace, 2611 McGavock Pike, includes the likes of Linda Gail Lewis, The Cactus Blossoms, McKinley James, The Surfragettes, The Cowpokes, Gin Palace Jesters, Stu’s Hawaiian Band, and Marcel Bontempi, among many others.
For vintage style lovers there’s the Ms. Nashville Boogie Pinup Pageant on Friday, a Western Fashion Show on Saturday, and the Hot Rod Boogie Outdoor Car show Friday and Saturday. Add a little kitsch to your mid-century-modern chifforobe and to your home décor at the resort’s Vintage Vendor Hall.
A weekend highlight is the Music City Record Collectors Convention, which brings more than 40 vendors from around the Southeast to the Back Room of The Nashville Palace on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. WXNA DJ Doug Sherrard runs four major record shows each year, including this convention, which is “the most fun, the biggest, and most diverse because it’s part of the music festival. You get people from all over the country and even the world coming into town for this festival, and a lot of them are record collectors. It’s probably one of the most unique 
crowds,” he says. And while all sorts of records in every music genre will be for sale, Sherrard promises that “all the vendors understand what this festival is about, so you’ll see a bigger selection of things like rockabilly that will appeal to festival-goers.” The record convention is also a great place to people-watch, he observes. “Festival goers definitely have that sense of style, and you’ll definitely see that at the record show.”
To see the full lineup and schedule, and to get tickets check out Nashville Boogie online.
Doing Good at The Groove, YUM!East, and The 5 Spot
This next week brings plenty of opportunities to enjoy oneself and do some good in the world at the same time, all without leaving the East Side. For instance, this Saturday, May 25 from 5 p.m.–9:30 p.m., The Groove, 1103 Calvin Ave., will host a benefit show for Room in the Inn, one of Nashville’s most important shelter programs for people who are homeless. The event features Idin Kain, Lily Ophelia, Sam Morris, Local Cult and others. Cover is $5, with all proceeds going to Room in the Inn. For more, check out the Facebook event page.
Heavenly Day: A Tribute to Patty Griffin will feature performances by Anne McCue, Britney Monroe, Jessi Robertson, The Coal Men, Gina Sicilia, and others, along with special guests at The 5 Spot, 1006 Forrest Ave. on Wednesday, May 29, 9 p.m. to midnight. The event is intended to raise awareness about breast cancer and to honor Griffin, who released her eponymous album “Patty Griffin” with Thirty Tigers earlier this year after a two-year battle with breast cancer. The show is a benefit for MusiCares, a charity that has provided more than $60 million in health, financial, and rehabilitation resources to music people in times of need. One of the many ways MusiCares helps folks in the music industry is by providing free mammogram screenings during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October.
Thursday night, May 30 marks the return of a neighborhood favorite. For the seventh year, YUM!East will be gathering the best of East Nashville’s chefs, food artisans, specialty purveyors, and restauranteurs under one roof at The Pavilion East, 1006 Fatherland St. From 6-9 p.m. join fellow Easties and Easties-at-heart for a delicious celebration of neighborhood food and drink. One ticket gets you in for unlimited tasting of fare from over 30 restaurants and pubs, including a few newcomers alongside many award-winners and favorites like Lockeland Table, Babo Korean Bar, Lyra, Rosepepper, Eastland Café, Two Ten Jack, Nomzilla, Honeytree Meadery, and Southern Grist Brewing Company, just to mention a few. Musical entertainment will be provided by jazz roots and blues band The Willies. Tickets are $60, and proceeds go to benefit Fannie Battle Day Home for Children, a local non-profit which has roots in the neighborhood going back to 1891 and provides affordable childcare to families in need.
Want to attend the festival? YUM!East is providing East Nashvillian readers with a discount code for tickets. Visit YUM!East online to purchase your tickets and enter the code BYEN4EN. There are limited discounted tickets available, so get them while you can!
Up-Down Arcade Bar Coming to Five Points
The Metro Housing and Development Authority Design Review Committee recently gave its approval for an adaptive redesign of the building at 927 Woodland St., which will soon house
Up-Down, an arcade bar chain that originated in Des Moines, Iowa, The Nashville Post reports. Named one of The Ten Best Arcade Bars by Game Informer in 2017, Up-Down will join nearby No Quarter at 922-B Main St. and The Soda Parlor at 966 Woodland St., as well as Hokus Pokus Vapor at 4118 Gallatin Pike in Inglewood in bringing an embarrassment of arcade gaming riches to the East Side. The one-story building’s redesign will include a rooftop outdoor seating area and bar. According to Game Informer in a review of the Minneapolis bar, “Up-Down’s strong lineup of arcade and pinball includes many favorites, but extends to deep cuts like Mr. Do! and Crystal Castles and modern games like Killer Queen and Black Emperor as well. Pizza slices satiate you between rounds, and the Skee-ball leagues don’t mess around.” Besides Des Moines, other Up-Down locations include Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis, with another set to open in St. Louis this summer.
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Election Section
With the passing of last week’s official filing petition deadline, a slate of 111 candidates for Mayor and Metro Council has been announced for this year’s General Election, which will be held on Thursday, August 1, with early voting beginning downtown at The Howard Office Building on July 12 and at other locations throughout the city on July 19.
Among the ten candidates for Mayor there are several likely top contenders. Incumbent Mayor David Briley, who assumed the office upon the resignation of Mayor Megan Barry in March of 2018 and was elected to a full term in a special election the following May, is running for another term. He’ll face strong opposition from state Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville; at-large Councilman John Cooper, and Carol Swain, a retired Vanderbilt professor.
In the Vice Mayor’s race, at-large Councilwoman Erica Gilmore is challenging incumbent Jim Shulman.
Incumbents Bob Mendes and Sharon Hurt are hoping to hang onto their Council-at-Large seats in a race that has 15 candidates vying for three at-large spots up for grabs.
Some hot contests for District Metro Council seats are brewing throughout the city; East Nashville and Madison are no exception. Of the five East Side and Madison voting districts, all but one of them are in play. With Scott Davis’ departure as the District 5 representative, Charles Flowers Jr., Pam Murray, and Sean Parker will vie for that seat. District 6 incumbent Brett Withers is running unopposed for another term. With the end of Anthony Davis’ term, District 7 has produced a robust slate of eight competitors. Emily Benedict, Clint Camp, Stephenie A. Downs, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Jacob Green, Stephanie Johnson, Randy Reed, and Cole D. Rogers will battle it out for Davis’ former spot. Incumbent Nancy VanReece is being challenged in District 8 by Danny Williams, while Thomas E. George, Tonya Hancock, and David McMurry will compete for the seat being vacated by Bill Pridemore in District 9.
For more on the candidates city-wide, see this comprehensive list in The Tennessean.
Quick Bits
– Eater Nashville notes Chef Jeremy Britt is taking over the menu at The Treehouse, 1011 Clearview Ave., as he fills the Executive Chef position recently vacated by Jason Zygmont, who served his last Treehouse small plate on May 18. Chef Britt comes to The Treehouse with a local resume that includes Adele’s in the Gulch, Urban Grub in 12th South, and Diskin Cider. He’s a graduate of Secchia Culinary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Check out Chef Britt’s evolving menu here. Zygmont fans can find him at the pop-up venue, Setsun East at 700 Fatherland St.
– This past week the Nashville Pride Board of Directors announced this year’s Pride Parade Grand Marshals and Honorees. The Students of Stonewall and members of the Just Us program from The Oasis Center will serve as 2019 Grand Marshals, while Joseph Interrante, retiring Nashville CARES Executive Director, and Ty Herndon, out country music artist, have been designated as 2019 Grand Marshal Honorees.
Just Us is a program at Oasis Center dedicated to helping lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth to achieve their full potential. The Students of Stonewall, also part of The Oasis Center, are an organized group of diverse high school students and college mentors who lend their voices and skills for positive change within their community.
Joseph Interrante is the first openly gay director of a non-profit organization in Nashville and the first HIV-Positive Director of an HIV/AIDS program in the State of Tennessee. He has worked in HIV/AIDS activism for over 40 years. Ty Herndon is a Grammy-nominated recording artist with a career spanning two decades. He’s had 20 Billboard-charted singles. In 2014, he was also the first major country music artist to come out publicly as a gay man. He organized a first-of-its-kind country music event with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), The Concert for Love and Acceptance, in support of LGBTQ at-risk youth.
The 31st Annual Nashville Pride Festival returns to Public Square Park on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall, Nashville Pride will kick off festivities with a full Pride Parade on June 22 at 10 a.m. on Broadway. Go to Nashville Pride online for more information.
– The Nashville scooter wars continue. Mayor Briley has proposed a city-wide ban on the machines in the next 30 days if scooter companies operating here, such as Bird, Lyft, and Lime fail to address the many concerns citizens have raised in recent months about scooter safety. All the mayoral candidates at the Walk Bike Nashville Mayoral Forum held on Wednesday, May 22, said they shared those concerns. Scooters are regarded as a hazard by many, especially after the recent death of 26-year-old Brady Gaulk from injuries sustained in a scooter accident. Many claim the biggest problem with scooters is that riders are not following the rules. For more on those rules, see The Tennessean. Others complain about the clutter and mess that abandoned, undocked scooters make on sidewalks, often causing problems for people trying to access businesses and curb cuts. Scooter companies, however, continue to seek permission to add more to the fleet. See this story from WSMV for more information on fleet expansion. For more on the Mayor’s proposed ban see this story in The Tennessean.
– A number of the city’s WeGo bus routes will be discontinued or combined with other routes if transit officials can’t find a way to cover an $8.7 million shortfall in the city’s transportation budget. Proposed changes would affect bus routes serving East Side neighborhoods, negatively impacting riders throughout the community. Some of the proposed changes include eliminating the 20 Scott route and the Madison 36X route, consolidating route 28 Meridian with 30 McFerrin, and consolidating a BRT route with local routes 26 and 56 on Gallatin Road. For more on proposed transit changes, listen to this story at WPLN.
– Mayor Briley has proposed $1.3 million infrastructure study for the Cumberland River’s East Bank, with an eye toward mixed-use development in the future. Proximity to Nissan Stadium, Downtown, and Germantown make the East Bank a real draw for developers. For more on this see the Nashville Business Journal.
