All Kinds of People Are Moving Here
Good afternoon, everyone.
They're vandalizing the WeGo stations! According to the MNPD, fifty bus stops have been vandalized over the past three weeks, including twenty this past weekend. The vandalism mostly amounts to smashing the glass enclosures surrounding the stops. Could this be some deep undercover operation to sow seeds of doubt about the forthcoming transit referendum? Unlikely. But it does serve as a preview of what’s to come if bus lines expand without adequate law enforcement.
Onward.
Audio Engineer James Price brings his expertise from the North—no Yankeeisms included
While Tennessee does suffer from an influx of Californians running from the mess they made and bringing it right to us, there are plenty of transplants from outside of Tennessee who bring cultural enrichment without the petty politics. These people, often fondly and comically called “refugees,” understand why they came to Tennessee in the first place and don’t mean to undo it. James Price is one of these people.
An audio engineer by trade, Price is originally from Massachusetts but now lives on a 12-acre farm with his father in East Tennessee. He spends the time he isn’t working tending to his slowly expanding flock of sheep, two English Bull-terriers, and perfecting the set of new skills required to operate a small farm. An absolute expert at what he does, Price has an extensive, well known portfolio of work under his belt—including nine years with the comedy group Million Dollar Extreme and three more with actor Noah Munck (another “refugee”).
Price’s skill in audio has been developed as a matter of course. He got his first tape recorder at age five, and very quickly began making pretend radio shows. His first-ever recording features Price, repeating the tagline, “My name is James, so beat it,” as his mother encourages him to sing Old McDonald Had a Farm. At age 12 he got his first guitar and soon after began messing around on the Digital Audio Workstation Fruity Loops. “I played around a lot on that and didn’t really make anything that great,” says Price, though one of those tracks was used by a client years later.
He attended Northern Essex Community College, where he took music theory and sang harmonies in the music ensemble. Price explains that all of the above contributed to him becoming an audio engineer: “If something sounds amateurish and you’re a thinking person, you’d want to figure out how to make it sound different.” Networking through his college also allowed Price to hone his skills further—there were many people who needed their recording to be improved, and he would do it for free as he got started. Soon, however, he decided academia wasn’t for him. “I just stopped going, and I got a job at a full-service gas station,” he muses.
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💰 Tying Up Loose Ends A day before the former Metro Arts Director Daniel Singh settled his $200,000 severance with Metro, Jonathan Saad, a grant manager under Singh, filed a suit against his boss alleging workplace discrimination and bias. Now, Saad’s set to receive a settlement from Metro as well. This evening, the council will review a $150,000 payout drawn up to address the alleged retaliation Saad experienced after confronting Singh’s questionable leadership. As the members prepare to vote on the settlement, some are questioning whether the methods Metro is using to patch up the Arts Commission fallout will set a worrisome precedent. You can watch tonight’s council meeting live at 6:30 p.m. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🌃 Bloomberg Hire On Friday, the mayor announced Robert L. James Jr. as his first hire to the Nashville Innovation Team for the Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities initiative. Earlier this year, Bloomberg Philanthropies selected Nashville as one of 25 cities to join their venture, which helps leverage “historic levels of federal funding” to build “low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities.” According to O’Connell, James is “the first of what will be a three-person team funded by Bloomberg dollars.” In addition to equipping Nashville for a low-carbon, energy-efficient future, James and his colleagues will “engage in the process of building relationships in historically disadvantaged communities.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🎟️ Ticket to Ride Last Tuesday, the Titans announced that every WeGo bus route in the city will be free on home game days. “This is a great opportunity for Titans fans to experience riding WeGo Public Transit to and from Nissan Stadium, and it's a free way for anyone to explore a new part of our city on game days," said Mayor O'Connell.
If you’ve driven by the stadium lately, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the giant pile of dirt and construction equipment sitting in what used to be a parking lot. Both the team and the city hope that offering free bus rides will alleviate some of the difficulties caused by the absence of parking until the new stadium is completed. As for parking at the new stadium and the broader East Bank development, the city has yet to commit to anything, so the program, more than anything, is a way to promote alternative means of getting to the stadium. DAVIS HUNT
DEVELOPMENT
- Sam Fox details 12South restaurant; Germantown gets Italian eatery (NBJ)
- Mixed-use tower project proposal progresses (Post)
- Four industrial properties sell for combined $98.5M (Post)
- Sweets shop owner pays $1.1M for east side property (Post)
✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (September 17th)
Shōgun (FX/Sling/Hulu) Though it premiered last February, FX’s take on James Clavell’s classic historical novel about the culture clash between a British sailor and Japanese feudal lords more than sustained its hype as its record-breaking Emmy dominance this weekend indicates. Violent, vibrant, and action-filled, it shows just how far TV has come since the debut of its early 80s NBC event miniseries predecessor.
Days of Heaven (Criterion) Terrence Malick shot this turn-of-the-century tale about the love triangle involving a farmer (Sam Shepard), a criminal (Richard Gere), and the woman they love (Brooke Adams) entirely during the golden hours of dawn and dusk. Those that missed the Belcourt’s repertoire screening last March have all month to take in a movie that exudes exquisite autumn magic in every frame.
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (Hulu) As we’ve said time and again, millennials’ moviemaking prowess may be worse than their financial health. But Joanna Arnow’s wry look at the reality of urbanite thirtysomething life makes a case that the generation’s artistic output may not be all that bad. Arnow’s self-deprecation actually deserves the use of that hackneyed blub staple “fearless” while the movie’s refusal to deify the activist class is an all-to-rare act of defiance. The very definition of what indie films are supposed to be.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.
TONIGHT
🪕 AMERICANAFEST 2024 @ Multiple Venues, $125, Info
+ Aoife O'Donovan, Paul Thorn, Oliver Wood and more...
🪕 AMERICANAFEST Old Fashioned String Band Throwdown @ Dee's Lounge, 12p, Free, Info
+ presented by WMOT
🎻 The Lone Bellow with the Nashville Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $40+, Info
+ Co-presented by the Nashville Symphony and AMERICANAFEST
🎸 Weezer, The Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr. @ Bridgestone Arena, 7p, $34.15, Info
🪕 Green River Review @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.