Arts & Entertainment — Writers’ Choices

BEST BAND NOT TO GET SIGNED: TIE: JETPACK/THE PRIVATES Rolling Stone’s David Fricke said, “Any band worth its salt—who knows it’s worth its salt—wants to be heard by the widest possible audience to effect change.” He was talking about Nirvana, but hell, this year we’ve seen more local rock bands than we can keep track of follow that logic, hitting the road and clamoring for the nation’s adulation. It’s too bad the envelope still hasn’t gone to two of the city’s best pop/rock acts: Jetpack and The Privates. And it’s all for lack of trying. Both are gargantuan talents in their own right—Jetpack with their smart, expertly crafted pop, and The Privates with their stinging, cacophonous rock—but neither has gotten out there and hustled. We waited patiently while Privates’ singer Dave Paulson ran off to play with The Pink Spiders, and for drummer Rollum Haas to get home from touring with The Features. We found substitute rock shows to attend while Jetpack auditioned a new rhythm section and made a video. But now that both bands have sorted out their respective personnel issues, we say: Go forth! Get into a van and spread the gospel of rock! —TRACY MOORE

BEST TERRIFYING BAND: BIRDFEEDER You often hear musicians talk about their synth work as “pads,” little cushiony flourishes of sound that make the music a little more accessible, but this threesome use their synths as a wedge, working their way into the subconscious and then widening the pathway for Lovecraftian evil. Birdfeeder draw strength from the eldritch analog gurgles of Goblin and John Carpenter, but something in their malevolent midrange makes Goth kids and grandmas alike run for cover. Such normal-looking guys making such unholy sounds—to experience their music is to realize that the horror movie is happening around you and it’s far too late to run. —JASON SHAWHAN

BEST REINCARNATION OF PRINCE: RICHIE KIRKPATRICK, GHOSTFINGER When you invoke His Purpleness, you make a statement about musicianship—an adaptable madness that can throw down with a drum machine and a couple of keyboards just as easily as it can mesh with a band onstage. Anyone who has seen a Ghostfinger show or who has heard their new CD These Colors Run knows that these guys have their shit down, mixing thrash, twang and funk in a way that never feels less than innovative. But what of frontman Richie Kirkpatrick’s experimental solo shows, where he tries out new tracks with just a guitar, a boombox of scratch tracks and a pair of briefs? What of this mad genius who is mapping a sound that the rest of the planet hasn’t picked up on yet? If the analogy holds, let’s call Ghostfinger The Revolution, and Kirkpatrick the kind of musical fusion reaction that keeps the city grooving and guessing. —JASON SHAWHAN

BEST MALE SINGER-SONGWRITER: RODNEY CROWELL Crowell’s The Outsider completes a powerful trilogy that started with an examination of his childhood (The Houston Kid) and then took a gutsy look at the challenges of holding onto idealism into middle age (Fate’s Right Hand). His latest album is topical and polemical, standing up for compassion and humane convictions while acknowledging one’s own faults and prejudices—a rarity in today’s political discourse. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST FEMALE SINGER-SONGWRITER: MARY GAUTHIER As a fortysomething lesbian, Gauthier never figured she’d get a chance to record for a major label. Now under contract to one, she’s stuck to her convictions without pandering to commercial viability. Mercy Now, her debut for Universal/Lost Highway, balances unflinching descriptions of life’s darker side with rays of poignancy and light. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY SINGER: JOY LYNN WHITE White’s knack for creating soulful country set to terse, roots-rock arrangements lost none of its attitude or insight during her extended break from recording. Her new album, One More Time, cuts the crap with hard-eyed realizations, party-with-the-guys spirit and a forceful voice made more powerful by the sneer that delivers it. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST NEW SINGER-SONGWRITER: AMY LOFTUS Most newcomers bearing acoustic guitars take aim at Music Row formulas or get lost trying to find a distinctive voice. Loftus is that rare find who sounds fully developed on first blush, offering tender songs that barely hide her anger and angry songs cut with tender empathy. She’s strong on melody, which is good, because her soprano has an airiness that she anchors by knowing just when to bear down and when to whisper. Her Will Kimbrough-produced debut, Straight to Amy, includes a heavenly reworking of The Clash’s “Straight to Hell.” —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST ACOUSTIC ARTIST: ADRIENNE YOUNG Young avoids the old-time music trap of imitating bygone styles by bringing contemporary melodies and lyrical ideals to arrangements that still draw on hoedowns and the earthy side of folk music. Her strengths are her liquid alto, fresh songwriting and ability to make a song like the Grateful Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” her own. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST ROCK PRODUCER: JASON BULLOCK Nowadays, recording software like GarageBand lets any wannabe with a computer make a record, but that doesn’t mean they sound good. Enter indie producer Jason Bullock. The MTSU alum got his start engineering in Murfreesboro, then opened a studio in his Nashville apartment, where he began recording a who’s who of local rock bands: The Privates, Character and The Pink Spiders, to name a few. Not only has Bullock’s work gotten some of the aforementioned acts industry attention, he’s earned a reputation for working fast and cheap, and helping bands sound like themselves. Even though he’s got new digs on Music Row, he still doesn’t even charge B-room rates, making him the most band-friendly rock producer in town. —TRACY MOORE

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCER: DAN PENN A legendary songwriter best-known for contributions to the classic soul catalog like “The Dark End of the Street,” “Do Right Woman” and “I’m Your Puppet,” Penn began producing back then, too, notably the early Box Tops records and Solomon Burke’s 1968 classic King Solomon. His website says he stopped producing years ago when his talents became “anachronistic,” a claim he’s consistently disproved over the last year or so. Penn’s perennial ability to give a soul feel to country and roots rock informs several of 2005’s stronger albums, including The Hacienda Brothers’ self-titled debut, Bobby Purify’s comeback album and Greg Trooper’s sublime Make It Through This World. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST INDIE MVP: KEITH LOWEN If you run in local rock circles, you know it’s all about Keith Lowen, a seasoned bass player and consummate insider on the local scene whose band-hopping is virtually unrivaled. Lowen had a major-label deal by the tender age of 18 with his former band Lifeboy. Now 25, he’s committed himself to some 20 different bands over the years, from Rich Creamy Paint and Mostly Robot, to the Luxury Liners and Verde. During March of this year alone, he kept the beat steady in seven. Lowen is good enough to be a session player, but his love of playing live keeps him faithful to the local scene. Last year, he decided to keep things interesting by picking up a guitar and launching a solo project, the aptly named Hail to the Keith. Current a sideman with Harper and The Privates, Lowen now enjoys the unique opportunity of opening for himself at shows. Just don’t ask him to borrow his bass amp. —TRACY MOORE

BEST GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT: MUZIKMAFIA Nashville’s Mafia looked to subvert Music Row’s business model by letting artists be artists—rather than smiley-face suppliers of entertainment who fit easy-to-market formulas. Faster than any of its principals dreamed, the movement wielded enormous impact on the Row, thanks to the success of Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, Cowboy Troy, Jon Nicholson and Cory Gierman, the last of whom Warner Bros. gave his own imprint to manage. That’s just the tip of the iceberg: The MuzikMafia continue to support upcoming acts, backing artists who come out of rap, bluegrass, techno and R&B, as well as country and rock. Here’s hoping they bring back their free weekly shows soon. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST RAGS-TO-RICHES CLIMB ON MUSIC ROW: JOHN RICH You could call Rich the hardest working man on Music Row, but if you did, he’d tell you he’s always spent every waking hour writing, recording, performing or hanging out with musicians tossing around ideas. It’s just that someone finally started listening. A MuzikMafia “godfather” and one-half of Big & Rich, he recently had seven singles on the chart at once, several of which he also co-produced. From discovering, producing and writing with Gretchen Wilson to giving Faith Hill her comeback song to playing an important role in the development of several new artists (Cowboy Troy, Keith Anderson, Shannon Brown), Rich is country music’s auteur of the year. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST SHOT AT RAP STARDOM IN 2006: ALL STAR Music City’s hip-hop scene has grown considerably in the last few years. Young Buck’s major-label debut and the underground success of Pistol, Kool Daddy Fresh, Haystak and Quanie Cash have raised both the bar and the hopes for local rappers. Several acts have the goods to go nationwide, most notably All Star, whose signing this year to Cash Money Records—home to Juvenile, Lil Wayne and Baby a.k.a. Birdman—is an especially auspicious development. It doesn’t hurt that Young Buck brought All Star out on BET Television during a Dirty South videos countdown. All Star’s Cash Money debut, Streetball, is due the first quarter of 2006. —Jack Silverman

BEST RETURN TO NASHVILLE: GREG GARING “I’ve been away from Nashville for a while—can someone tell me what the fuck ‘alt-country’ means?” Garing’s question, posed during a recent set at The Basement, might seem like innocuous stage banter, but in Nashville, where bands strive to meld old-school country with rock and folk to create an original sound, it’s refreshing to hear a guy who thinks honky-tonk is fine all by itself. What’s most refreshing about Garing is that despite his grounding in country’s roots, there’s no retro-fetish vibe; it’s just his nature to sing that way. Not to mention his incomparable guitar playing, which is, well, incomparable. It’s unclear how long Garing will be staying around town, so enjoy him while you can. —Jack Silverman

BEST DOWN-LOW INFORMATION CONDUIT: DOYLE DAVIS, GRIMEY’S NEWSLETTER The most eagerly read online music publication in town, at least where rock is concerned, may be the newsletter that co-owner and 91 Rock deejay Doyle “D-Funk” Davis posts every week on the Grimey’s website and emails to more than 3,000 subscribers. Started as a round-up of weekly promotions, it has evolved into a kind of localized Pitchfork Media: a tip sheet that surveys the week’s releases, offering succinct and sometimes startlingly candid assessments (Liz Phair—ouch!). It also carries TV listings for musical appearances and concert dates, along with a sales chart that’s essentially a heart monitor of the local music scene’s pulse. Customers have been seen wandering the narrow aisles with printouts of the “Hittin’ the Racks” section, with asterisks next to titles Davis recommends. With Davis as tastemaker, the newsletter only boosts Grimey’s growing position as an anchor of Nashville music and a lure for touring acts. Sign up at www.grimeys.com. —Jim Ridley

BEST AMERICANA ALBUM: GREG TROOPER, MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WORLD This native of New Jersey has been making journeyman folk-rock records ever since he moved to town more than a decade ago. On his best album yet, his lyrics gain in detail and poetic feel, and are only deepened by the relaxed warmth of his vocals and simmering soul of his record’s arrangements. Trooper has been on a run since 2000, and Make It Through This World suggests he’s getting better as he goes. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST SOURCE FOR KNOWLEDGE OF LOCAL RAP (TIE): C-WIZ AND DJ INFAMOUS Read the papers, turn on the radio or check out the local music clubs and it’s not hard to take the pulse of Nashville’s rock and country scenes. Gauging the local hip-hop subculture requires more effort for several reasons, among them a lack of media coverage and fewer live performances. If you’re curious about rap in Nashville but don’t know where to start, track down C-Wiz at New Life Records on Charlotte, or DJ Infamous at Platinum Bound on Jefferson. They’re both double threats—record store guys who DJ—placing them in the vortex of the Ca$hville underground. They’ll tell you who’s hot and who they like, and they won’t mince words. Bryan Odom, manager of SoundStream Records on Clarksville Highway, is another great source for tips. —Jack Silverman

BEST COMMERCIAL COUNTRY ALBUM: LEE ANN WOMACK, THERE’S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM The best way to correct a wrong move is to make a good one, as Womack proved by returning to earthier songs and emotions on this back-to-country collection. It’s not that she shouldn’t sing contemporary music—much of this is fairly sophisticated stuff. It’s just that Womack’s at her best when conveying subtlety rather than bombast, and this album is a clinic in phrasing and inflection. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST LARGE CONCERT VENUE: RYMAN AUDITORIUM For many artists, the Ryman isn’t just their favorite place to play in Nashville. It’s their favorite performance space in the world. It’s not just the history; it’s not just the great acoustics; it’s not just that there’s hardly a bad seat in the house (and, for the most part, the Ryman’s managers avoid selling tickets directly behind the columns downstairs). It’s all those things, but also how close the artists are to the audience and how the applause seems to thunder back across that stage. It’s why the likes of Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams and scores of others always request it. It’s also why a band like Garbage, making their Ryman debut earlier this year, smiled with amazement and gave what they considered the best show of their tour there. The stage brings out the best in whoever walks onto it. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST COUNTRY DUET ALBUM: CAITLIN CARY & THAD COCKRELL, BEGONIAS In a good year for the seemingly antiquated duet album, one of the best is a sweet, wistful affair from a Nashville transplant and his former North Carolina neighbor. Cockrell and Cary take a stripped-down, Everly-style approach to songs more about regret and longing than about pain or true love, and their non-auto-tuned voices crack and crisscross in all the right places. —MICHAEL McCALL BEST AMERICANA ALBUM: GREG TROOPER, MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WORLD This native of New Jersey has been making journeyman folk-rock records ever since he moved to town more than a decade ago. On his best album yet, his lyrics gain in detail and poetic feel, and are only deepened by the relaxed warmth of his vocals and simmering soul of his record’s arrangements. Trooper has been on a run since 2000, and Make It Through This World suggests he’s getting better as he goes. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST MUSIC ROW DEBUT: BOBBY PINSON, MAN LIKE ME Pinson’s chainsaw rasp delivers small-town songs that wipe away the postcard-prettiness of most Music Row confections, addressing boredom, substance abuse and family disappointment in language that gets the tone and details right. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST FIRST COUNTRY MUSIC CUT FOR A SONGWRITER: “MONDAY MORNING CHURCH,” ERIN ENDERLIN AND BRENT BAXTER Too many country songs in recent years suggest death as a transition to a romantic afterlife where couples live happily ever after—forever. “Monday Morning Church” speaks a plainer truth, about a man who loses his wife too soon, puts his Bible in a drawer, refuses to answer the door when the preacher comes ’round and spends his nights cursing God. Alan Jackson’s the only modern star who could’ve put this in the Top 10, and country radio is better for it. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST REVIVED VENUE: WAR MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM There used to be these rock shows at the War Memorial Auditorium downtown. Ask around, and you’ll hear veteran scenesters get misty-eyed about seeing Elvis Costello or Iggy Pop back in the day, or rumors of a circulating $3.50 ticket from a late ‘60s Rolling Stones show. No one remembers for sure why the place stopped booking shows. Some folks vaguely recall a metal gig gone bad that shut the place down in the ’80s; in the interim, the space has been used for state meetings and little else. But now she’s back. It’s The Ryman with the floor seats torn out, with a capacity of just under 1,800. Plus, it’s all ages. We’re not sure if it will ever bring a hard rock act in the future, with the likes Nickel Creek and Death Cab already booked, but the acoustics are exceptional, the architecture is breathtaking and there’s not a bad seat in the house. —TRACY MOORE

BEST UNDERRATED VENUE: THE MUSE When you think about rock shows in Nashville, you think about The End, Exit/In, The Basement or any of the other venues that dominate the local rock scene. But rarely does the over-18 set think about going to The Muse. It’s a shame, because you can drink beer at this all-ages venue that doubles as the Kung Fu Coffeehouse. The shows start at 7 p.m., and for seven bucks, you can see as many as five bands on a given bill. Sure, you never know whether you’re gonna get death metal, a solo bassist or a Goth-synth duo from St. Louis, or all three in the same night. But we saw the Boston pop-metal sensation Damone there once and, on another night, accidentally discovered Cowboy Dynamite, the teen trio from Franklin who belt out rowdy punk with only an acoustic guitar, bass and drums. Beware: immediately upon entering, you’ll probably get sized up for coolness and possibly even mocked by the self-exiled tweens who dominate the place. Still, it’s worth putting on your old studded rock belt and heading downtown every once in a while, if for no other reason than to acquire a finger-on-the-pulse-of-the-young credibility, and to discover talent in the making. —TRACY MOORE

BEST KARAOKE: ROCK STAR KARAOKE, MERCY LOUNGE OK, so Mercy Lounge technically calls it “Everyone’s a Rock Star – Live Karaoke,” but we call it Rock Star Karaoke, because it just sounds more succinct. After a few times watching people awkwardly hold a mic and attempt to generate a stage presence at some of the more regular karaoke nights around town, I lost all interest in this form of humilitainment, which endures cheap derision for good reason. But when I heard you could embarrass yourself with a live band, I was intrigued. Yes, you will hear someone do “Ace of Spades” at least twice in the same night, but with a kickin’ live band and a large selection of songs, this is the most fun you can have while openly mocking people. —TRACY MOORE

BEST CONCERT SERIES: NIGHT TRAIN City fathers may have razed Nashville’s vibrant black entertainment district of the 1960s, but as the overwhelming success of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s “Night Train to Nashville” project attests, they couldn’t erase its vital history. While we’ll never know what it was like to see Johnny Jones cut heads with “Jimmy” Hendrix back in the day on Jefferson Street, or to see the cream of Nashville’s R&B talent raise the rafters at the legendary Del Morocco, it’s been a thrill to experience the old-pro polish of soul warriors like Frank Howard, Charles “Wigg” Walker and the Dynamic Dixie Travelers in a club setting at B.B. King’s, before large and delighted audiences. The exhibit closes late this year, but here’s hoping the “Train” keeps on rolling. —JIM RIDLEY

BEST FINE ARTS SERIES: GREAT PERFORMANCES The 31-year-old performing-arts series is Vanderbilt’s ongoing cultural gift to the city; it’s been around so long that most people take it for granted, even as Vandy institutions like the Sarratt Cinema dwindle. But that is changing under director Bridgette Kohnhorst, who has started moving the artists and productions off campus to energize the community. Equal parts ambassador, educator and cheerleader, Kohnhorst has helped to bring in noted figures from the worlds of music (performance artist Laurie Anderson), theater (actor Ed Asner and LA Theatre Works, Djali poet/playwright Sekou Sundiata) and dance (Richard Alston Dance). That alone is important work. But through outreach programs such as Performance on the Move, which features the artists in Nashville public exhibition spaces, the series is cultivating new audiences and encouraging give and take between performer and spectator. Let a thousand flowers bloom, especially in places with better parking than the Vanderbilt campus. —JIM RIDLEY

BEST SOUNDING STAGE: THE BASEMENT “Basement” was an apt description of the sound of this Eighth Avenue nightspot’s stage, which had three strikes against it: brick walls, a low ceiling and a short throw. But since taking over the venue in February, Mike Grimes and Geoff Donovan have turned the place around sonically and commercially. With the addition of some well-placed curtain fragments, the club’s stage is now as comfortable and controlled as a living room, albeit one with a 2,000-watt PA system. “It was just a small adjustment,” Grimes says. “Next we’re going to add some lights.” —PAUL GRIFFITH B

EST MUSIC VENUE TO MEET AN UNTIMELY DEMISE THIS YEAR: ANGLE OF VIEW There have been shows on and off at this video production facility in East Nashville for years, including a marathon night featuring the Argentinean band Reynols years ago. For the last year, the venue has been the home for psych and noise bands, improv groups and fringe folk singers. The black box space had great sound, and a great sound guy, and the lack of an alcohol sales-based business model made it feel homey. So did the chill room in the back. But all good things must come to end, especially when it comes to music venues, and the sale of Angle of View’s building over the summer brought an end to this era in Nashville’s underground music scene. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST ESTABLISHED VISUAL ARTIST: TIE: BOB DURHAM AND SAM DUNSON Durham and Dunson are figurative painters who probably will end up as adjacent entries in a future encyclopedia of Tennessee art. Durham is a post-photorealist, whose technical skill in representation is the first thing you notice, but upon reflection, areas of ambiguity emerge in his work. He has an irreverent sense of humor, but effortlessly and respectfully draws from a wide frame of cultural and artistic reference. Compared to Durham, Dunson has a folksier style, convening images that address the complexity of black experience in the U.S. He reflects traditions, religious faith and webs of family history, but also absorbs the angularity and disjointedness of hip-hop. Like any great painter, his pieces work on a more general level, in his case as an exploration of the ways that myths and stories take form and function. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST UP-AND-COMING VISUAL ARTIST: LISA KLAKULAK Klakulak makes jewelry, handbags and hats of felt and very small seed beads. Many of her pieces incorporate organic materials like chunks of seashells that make the functional objects seem strange, encrusted, rough and texturally discordant. She plays games with forms, as in a felt tureen that looks like an empty turtle shell, or a purse decorated with the shapes of house keys, referencing its contents and the ideas of enclosure and security. Like ceramicist Jason Briggs, but maintaining more functional character in her work, Klakulak endows “crafts” with sculptural qualities that make her pieces something more than nice decorative objects. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST MAINSTREAM ART GALLERY: CUMBERLAND GALLERY Representation at Cumberland Gallery has become the ne plus ultra indicator of an artist’s status in the local art world. The gallery’s signature style comes from the figurative painting and drawing of Ron Porter and Marilyn Murphy, from Barry Buxkamper’s surrealism, Donald Earley’s portraits and Kurt Meek and James Lavadour’s landscapes. Cumberland’s aesthetic has room for strong artists outside of that broad description (just as their roster includes many out-of-state artists), whether it is Carrie McGee’s abstractions using rust and rusting as a material and technique, Billy Renkl’s combinations of collage and drawings, or the book illustration and comics-inspired drawings of Mark Hosford. The gallery’s exhibits consistently show these artists at their best, with coherent bodies of work displayed well. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST UNDERGROUND ART VENUE: TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM By underground, we mean literally below grade. The Tennessee State Museum’s facility has to be the most uninspiring space imaginable for viewing art. The Red Grooms mural of human evolution that follows the escalator eases the descent, but there’s no getting around the fact that you’re going into a basement with no natural light and with furnishings that show wear around the edges. In spite of the facility, the State Museum stages valuable shows. Most have a Tennessee focus, like the Best of Tennessee Craft or a pairing of Tom Rice and Olen Bryant, but the museum also hosts the occasional traveling show like the current Rau collection of Old Masters and Impressionists. As if one was needed, the quality of the programming makes a case for funding a proper building to house this museum. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST EXHIBITION SERIES: TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISSION GALLERY Through the course of the year, the Tennessee Arts Commission provides a good sampling of accomplished artists working throughout the state. The gallery isn’t large, but it’s big enough to give the artists whose work it exhibits a solo or duo setting room to display multiple works and to convey a sense of their current work. The Commission makes a point of selecting artists from across the state, including crafts as well as traditional fine arts. If you did nothing but drop in on their shows, you’d have a decent idea of what artists in Tennessee are doing. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST PROGRESSIVE GALLERY: ZEITGEIST Zeitgeist combines the intentions of a commercial gallery and an art space, promoting well-conceived and well-executed art that may have traces of provocation. They’ll show work like Ward Shumaker’s art books, which are visually attractive and unruly at the same time, a balance that reflects the hand of a mature artist. At the same time, Zeitgeist will provide a gallery setting for people who have cut their teeth on the intellectually vibrant atmosphere of grassroots venues like the Fugitive Art Center. As a bridge between the fringe and the commercial, Zeitgeist leads artists from the “anything goes” realm of rough spaces to a place where they will encounter a different audience while trying to move audiences in the opposite direction. In both cases, they lead or coax people outside their comfort zones. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST NEW EXHIBITION SPACE: 310 CHESTNUT ST. The collective responsible for the Secret Show series of one-night shows graduated from college and then made the move from a migratory to a more stationary existence. They now have 501(c)(3) status in the works and a lease on a former record plating plant in the warehouse corridor along Chestnut Street. So far they’ve done one Secret Show, a much-deserved solo exhibition by Erin Hewgley; they also have a show of the work of MTSU and Sewanee students coming up. Their transition from single-night programming to shows that will stay up for weeks fills the gap left when the Fugitive’s gallery space closed. You do have to wonder if the move will be anything like trying to resettle the Tuareg in villages. Hopefully, the Secret Show crew will take to their new way of life and sustain the excitement they have brought to their efforts to date. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST LOCAL ARTS MENTOR: BARBARA YONTZ As one of the core Fine Arts faculty at the Watkins College of Art and Design, Yontz is in a prime position to influence the growing number of students going through the BFA program there. You can see her impact in the enthusiastic way students talk about her, and in the way their efforts bear clear artistic evidence of her example and guidance. As a maker of “poetic objects” and a voracious student of critical theory, analytical and intuitive, object-oriented and idea-filled, Yontz has a thoroughly integrative approach. These combinations make art a self-sustaining reaction that produces a steady flow of ideas and experience. Her students are getting the idea and running with it. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST VISUAL ARTIST TO MOVE TO THE AREA: TERRY ROWLETT Rowlett’s paintings portray a gallery of contemporary people transported into settings drawn from the Renaissance and Romantic eras. Coming from a religious background, he sees the people he paints as magnetic figures endowed with a spiritual force that is the power that turns people into saints and the subject of poetry. Rowlett, who has lived in Georgia and New York, recently moved to Nashville and introduced himself to his new home audience in a remarkable Zeitgeist show this summer. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST VISUAL ARTIST TO LEAVE TOWN: ANDREW KAUFMAN Kaufman is one of those artists for whom medium seems much less important than the idea. You might call his work installation art, but he is deeply engaged with the universe of two-dimensional art, like the recent work he showed at the Tennessee Arts Commission that pursued ideas about painting, or the digital images he displayed the summer before at Zeitgeist and Ruby Green. He has a remarkable ability to create idea-based art that has visual richness and graspable emotional content. This fall, he left Tennessee to be reunited with his wife in the state of Washington. As much as one wants to promote the local art scene, you can’t argue with his decision. —DAVID MADDOX

BEST CHANCE TO PUT NASHVILLE FILMMAKERS ON THE MAP: THE SECOND CHANCE This Nashville-shot drama about a white suburban minister and a black inner-city pastor thrown together in the same neighborhood marks the feature debut of director Steve Taylor and stars Michael W. Smith and jeff obafemi carr. Whoopee, right, doubters? Listen up. Word is that the rough cut was unusually good—and this comes from folks who are decidedly not in the target fan base. And while Taylor’s been keeping his cards close to his chest, the movie reportedly has a major distributor and a theatrical release scheduled for Feb. 17. With lots of people in the local film and recording industry pulling for him, Taylor might have all the chances he needs. —JIM RIDLEY

BEST CHANCE TO PUT NASHVILLE FILMMAKERS ON THE GLOBE: O’SALVATION! It was not local news when filmmaker Harmony Korine, then based in Nashville, formed a production company last year with the French fashion designer Agnès B. It was international news, reported in Variety and the overseas trades. Through her other company Love Streams, the designer has backed major talents such as Claire Denis, Gaspar Noé and Patrice Chereau. Now O’Salvation! is putting its resources behind Korine and Nashville writer-directors James Clauer and Brent Stewart—potentially the most exciting development on the city’s film scene since Robert Altman shot here 30 years ago. Clauer’s half-hour film Aluminum Fowl is a category-defying marvel: a semi-documentary about black Louisiana cockfighters, shot in a lyrical yet earthy style that suggests Terrence Malick working in tandem with Les Blank. It’s haunting, funny and otherworldly, just like the performance pieces Clauer used to stage at Lucy’s Record Shop. Stewart’s locally filmed Blackberry Winter is a post-apocalyptic mood piece, strikingly shot in high-contrast black-and-white; both films will likely appear on a single DVD after touring the festival circuit. Meanwhile, Korine is overseas in pre-production on Mister Lonely, a film he reportedly co-wrote with his brother Avi and his first feature since 1999’s remarkable julien donkey-boy. The Internet is abuzz with hilarious rumors about the plot (“a guy lives in a giant soda bottle!”) and the casting (wouldn’t dream of spoiling that surprise); the great thing is that with Korine, they could be true. If people really want to see Nashville become a destination and a home for world-class filmmaking, show these guys some of the love Craig Brewer’s getting from Memphis these days. —JIM RIDLEY

BEST ADDITION TO NASHVILLE FILM COMMUNITY: PAUL YOUNG Technically not a new addition, Young has been an assistant professor at Vanderbilt since 2003 and has been at the helm of their film studies program since its inception last year. But even as his academic duties have become more hectic, including arranging a permanent home for the new program, he has increased his presence outside the university. Anyone lucky enough to have caught one of his intros at the Frist or Belcourt knows his enthusiasm can be infectious—and he has a gift for silencing hecklers. Nashville has been blessed with several film academics with a strong pop sensibility and a movie geek’s passion for the medium (Watkins’ David Hinton, for example), but Young is in a unique position to bridge the divide between ivory tower and hoi polloi. —SCOTT MANZLER

BEST PLACE TO WATCH INDEPENDENT FILMS: THE BELCOURT Too bad nobody’s watching them at the moment. I don’t mean to get all PBS-pledge-drive on your asses, but the Belcourt’s first problem is that more people love it and vote for it than actually go there. Hence its strong first-place showing in the readers’ poll, while movie after movie tanks. They’re good movies—hell, even great movies; they’re just unknown quantities compared to North Country or Doom. And that brings up a second problem: the theater’s ongoing David-and-Goliath fight with Regal Cinemas, which has the resources to tie up any potentially profitable movie the Belcourt wants to show. (The movies are hardly sure things at Regal: the beautiful Japanese film Nobody Knows took in less than $500 for an entire week. Guess nobody knew.) So hey, all you distributors like Samuel Goldwyn, who have movies like The Squid and the Whale and Mirrormask and Pretty Persuasion circling the runway—how about sharing the wealth? To end on an upbeat note, here are a few of the reasons why the Belcourt deserves this honor, and our support: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul; Au hasard, Balthazar; The Conformist; The Corporation; El Crimen Perfecto; F for Fake; The Leopard; Los Angeles Plays Itself; Los Olvidados; Once Upon a Time in the West. Coming soon: Bresson’s Pickpocket and Mouchette. —JIM RIDLEY

BEST PLACE TO WATCH MAINSTREAM FILMS: STARDUST DRIVE-IN, WATERTOWN Wanna know why movie attendance is declining? Because going to the movies is not special anymore. In today’s anonymous googolplexes, moviegoing makes viewers feel like disembodied wallets: endless commercials, assaultive product placement, jacked-up concessions—and typically with shoddy projection as a reward. It’s no coincidence that the drive-in, once expected to vanish entirely, is making a modest comeback. I haven’t been to the just-opened two-screener in Woodbury, but the twin-screen Stardust, located 40 minutes down I-40 East in Watertown, is pure Americana from the instant “The Star-Spangled Banner” echoes across the lot. The snack bar is fine, the atmosphere’s priceless, and the drive-in sprinkles pixie dust over movies you couldn’t endure otherwise. True, I peeled out in a cloud of gravel midway through White Chicks, but I did stay about 10 minutes longer than I would have anywhere else. In White Chicks terms, that’s an eternity. —JIM RIDLEY

BEST MUSIC FILM CONCERT TAPING: NEIL YOUNG AT THE RYMAN The invitation-only crowd expected something special. But few had heard Young’s then-forthcoming Prairie Wind, the album that provided the material for the first half of the show, so listeners weren’t prepared for how emotional and openhearted he would be onstage. Set against a backdrop of earthen hues and efficiently directed by Jonathan Demme, who kept delays between songs to a minimum and never had Young repeat a song, the night proved that someone as legendary as Young could still surprise and touch an audience. —MICHAEL McCALL

BEST EMERGING NEW THEATER COMPANY: JOHN HOLLEMAN AND COMPANY Well over a year ago, writer and director John Holleman searched for a venue where he could present theater of a different kind. He found willing collaborators at the Travellers Rest Plantation & Museum, who allowed him to mount historical dramas and comedies in the performance style that had caught his fancy: mask theater. Holleman gathered actors with talent, some with little knowledge of the mask discipline, and began to hone their abilities in an ages-old craft that rarely receives contemporary exposure. Holleman then began taking his strangely beguiling performances to the Darkhorse Theater, the Frist Museum—even to the Parthenon in Centennial Park, where local audiences were able to experience the magical art form that entranced the Greeks centuries ago. Holleman has continued his classical stage experiments in other ways, including his company’s stirring production of The Book of Job at Christ Church Cathedral. In a town where finding conventional places to perform is often a chore, Holleman has boldly taken his unique brand of theater to wherever the people might be, reinvigorating the scene with something so old that it looks brand new. —MARTIN BRADY

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR: JAMEY GREEN Green’s been doing excellent work at Boiler Room Theatre for more than four years now. He often pulls double duty as musician-in-charge and stage director and is highly capable at both tasks. But last fall he passed the musical baton to Mark Beall and focused his efforts on staging the Sondheim classic Sweeney Todd at his company’s small venue at the Factory at Franklin. With the action compressed into a narrowly daunting yet functional setting, Green managed to wring dynamic performances out of a solid cast and transform what is usually a wider-scope operetta into an emotionally charged and eerily moving chamber opera. It was a heroic directorial effort against tough odds, yet both the ghoulish tale and the challenging Sondheim score emerged triumphant. —MARTIN BRADY

BEST DRAMATIC DIRECTOR: RENE COPELAND Noises Off is certainly not a drama; instead, it’s one of the wackiest, most demanding farces ever written. Yet Copeland’s direction of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s production this year certainly required every dramatic sensibility available to pull off what is, in essence, a three-ring circus of pratfalls, deftly timed entrances and exits, and sharp comic repartee. Set designer Gary Hoff supplied Copeland with a full-scale two-sided rotating set filled with staircases, platforms and doors, and the director set about shepherding her energetic cast—up and down, in and out, over and under—in an exercise that would have challenged the logistical talents of an army commander. The results were consistently, and satisfyingly, hilarious. —MARTIN BRADY

BEST ACTOR/ACTRESS: BARRY SCOTT & KIMBERLEY LAMARQUE Scott is an often heralded local talent with serious stage presence and a big distinctive voice. His leading performance as Boy Willie in Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson was equal to the enormity of the role. Yet in this case he has to share honors with his co-star LaMarque, who, in the role of his sister, Berniece, provided the combative, passionate histrionics necessary to characterize the play’s elemental African American struggle between progress and the past. This was a yin-and-yang situation: you couldn’t have one without the other. —MARTIN BRADY