Important advice for all phases of life.
(JUNE 21, 2012) KNOXVILLE, TN — This thing of wanting to move to every town I visit has to stop. I just can’t afford to buy that many houses. Or any, for that matter.
Of course, a big part of what’s making these towns special is the people who inhabit them. Today I hung out with Clint Mullican and Hunter Deacon, who took me around Knoxville and showed me some of the sights. They’re two laid-back, generous guys and very good at hanging.
We started out at The Tomato Head, a restaurant in Market Square. (Marillion, anyone?) It’s a vegan-friendly restaurant with very tasty food. And it was packed.
Then we strolled around downtown Knoxville, past Elvis, suffragettes and a guy pooping out the world.
We walked across the Gay Street Bridge and got a great view of the dismantling of the Henry Street Bridge:
This building may be the (a) oldest building in Knoxville or (b) the oldest building on Gay Street or (c) none of the above. If I were a betting man, I’d pick (c).
According to Clint and Hunter, Knoxville’s downtown has really come back from the dead in the past five years. There are clubs and restaurants and bars and stores where once there was nothing, or at least nothing you’d particularly want to visit. Now downtown is full of life and activity, particularly around Market Square and Gay Street. I don’t know where all the money is coming from to fuel this renaissance, but apparently it’s still coming because there’s quite a bit of construction going on.
Then it was off to Morlock’s music store, where I bought some new microphone cables and came very close to buying a ukelele:
The Mast Market was an impressive general store with everything from clothes to gewgaws to sundries to whatnots. And candy, big barrels of candy:
Clint and Hunter had never been inside the Sunsphere, which was built for the 1982 World’s Fair. Am I the only one who didn’t realize they were still having the World’s Fair in 1982? Anyway, it’s impressive and weird and if it doesn’t make you think of Sun Ra then I don’t know what to tell you. (Side note: Samarai Celestial [sic], who played drums with Sun Ra, lived in Knoxville for years. Died here, in fact.)
There used to be a restaurant in the sphere, but not anymore. But there’s an observation deck on the fourth floor from which you can see all of Knoxville. It’s beautiful, although discolored by the gold-green panels on the sphere. One of the things you can see is the neighborhood of Fort Sanders, birthplace of author and Pulitzer Prize winner James Agee. Speaking of authors, Gay Street is the setting for at least one of Cormac McCarthy’s novels. And there’s a bar on Gay Street called Suttree’s.
Later in the afternoon, I interviewed pianist, composer and educator (and former Jazz Messenger!) Donald Brown at his home in Knoxville. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him. He told good stories and had important insights into learning the craft of jazz. That interview will be posted on The Jazz Session in a few weeks.
Then I went with Clint to Baker Peters to hear him play in the University of Tennessee faculty trio with guitarist Mark Boling and drummer Keith Brown (no relation to Donald). Clint was subbing for Rusty Holloway, the usual bassist, who was teaching at a bluegrass camp.
It was an evening of well played standards, with an original or two thrown in from Mark Boling’s new album, which features Keith and Rusty. The highlight for me was hearing them play Pat Metheny’s “Bright Size Life,” my favorite tune from my favorite Metheny album. I also got a chance to meet Keith Brown’s son, Thad, who is also a drummer and a fan of my show. (Thanks, Thad!) Thad played the third set:
Tomorrow I’m going canoeing by myself on the Little River. I’ve realized that I need some time to decompress. I’m just going, going, going all the time and I need to be on the water, alone, with no distractions. Then I’m reading poetry tomorrow night at 9 at 1006 Luttrell Street at the home of Kay Newton. Please come by if you’re in town. I’ll also be sharing a few stories from my tour and reading some new poems from the tour, including one I wrote tonight.
(If you’d like to support my tour, you can make a one-time donation and get great thank-you gifts HERE. If you’d like to become a member of The Jazz Session and make recurring monthly or yearly payments, you can do that HERE.)
Another town, another good dog. I’ll leave you with this photo of Clint’s dog, Lucy:
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