Calendar of Events

Created and originally directed by Ted Swindley – Based on a true story
Directed by Lianne Kressin

April 20 – May 15 | CBT MainStage

Crazy good!

Back by popular demand after a sold-out run in 2003, this fabulous musical is based on the true story of Patsy’s long friendship with fan, Louise Seger, and features 27 classic songs including Crazy, Walkin’ After Midnight, She’s Got You, Sweet Dreams, and Back in Baby’s Arms.

Single tickets on sale March 31. https://clarencebrowntheatre.com/2021-2022-season/

The Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce and the Farragut Business Alliance (aka SHOP FARRAGUT) are seeking are excited to join forces to create a fantastic late afternoon and evening opportunity to the community and businesses to meet, mingle, and find out more about the many fantastic and unique businesses in Farragut and West Knox County... literally speaking, we want to show everyone "What's Out West!"

The pop-up EXPO will take place on Wednesday April 20, 4:00 to 8:00pm at 11437 Kingston Pike in Farragut. This event will happen rain or shine because we'll be popping up INSIDE the former location of Stein Mart in the Village Green Shopping Center at Campbell Station Road and Kingston Pike!

http://members.farragutchamber.com/events/details/what-s-out-west-a-pop-up-business-expo-6556

Wednesday, April 20 at 8PM

Back in 2014, the members of My Morning Jacket spent time up in Stinson Beach, a tiny Northern California town set right on the ocean and near the majestic Muir Woods. Massively inspired by their idyllic surroundings—and a sense of charmed isolation that frontman Jim James likened to “living on our own little moon”—the Kentucky-bred five-piece ended up creating over two dozen songs at the mountaintop studio known as Panoramic House. Though they flirted with the idea of putting out what would have been a triple album, the band ultimately decided that less would be more at the time and divided the project into two halves, releasing the first segment as The Waterfall: a 2015 full-length that earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. My Morning Jacket are now set to share the second half of the project as The Waterfall II, an unforeseen and timely continuation of a psychic and sonic journey begun long ago.

As James reveals, the decision to unearth The Waterfall II was sparked from a bit of serendipity in the early days of self-quarantine. While out on a walk, he placed his music library on shuffle and soon stumbled upon “Spinning My Wheels,” a tender rumination on the struggle for presence, its lyrics confessing to feeling “hypnotized from doing the same old thing.” Struck by the song’s enduring relevance, James revisited the other tracks reserved from the Panoramic House sessions and found that they invited a welcome moment of self-reflection—an outcome perhaps even more perfectly suited to the chaos of the current day than the circumstances of their recording.

Like its predecessor, The Waterfall II mines its mood of dreamy contemplation from certain heartbreak James had recently experienced, including the demise of a monumental relationship. Unfolding in a loosely threaded narrative of loss and recovery, the album conjures an indelible pain but never drifts into despair, gracefully conveying James’s message that “there is hope beyond the pain and loss, if you learn to flow with life like water.”

Opening with the profound reverie of “Spinning My Wheels,” The Waterfall II endlessly illuminates My Morning Jacket’s eclectic sensibilities, encompassing everything from lilting sunshine-pop to fantastically ramshackle rock and roll. While the album slips into heavenly psychedelia on tracks like “Feel You” (a mesmerizing epic James developed deep in the Muir Woods), a more ominous tone permeates “Magic Bullet” and its rattled response to gun violence. An intimate documenting of keeping an open heart in the face of devastation, The Waterfall II embodies a wistful longing on “Run It” (a song about “the desire to disappear and turn back into water,” according to James) and later gives way to overwhelming gratitude on “Welcome Home” (a portrait of “coming home from tour feeling so sad and defeated and lonely, but realizing how much love I was lucky to have in my friends and family”). And on “The First Time,” My Morning Jacket close out the album with a sweetly rambling meditation on the possibility of finding love again, channeling both ineffable sorrow and wide-eyed hope to incredibly glorious effect.

Even in its most heavy-hearted moments, The Waterfall II radiates an undeniable sense of wonder, a testament to the wild-mindedness that’s long imbued the music of My Morning Jacket. With their unabashed curiosity infinitely stirred by their time at Stinson Beach, the band hopes that the album might lead others to look beyond what’s human-made in the search for solace and renewal. “As so many of us feel out of tune and long for the world to be a better place, we have to look to nature and the animals and learn from them: learn to love, accept, move on, and respect each other,” says James. “We gotta work for it and change our ways before it’s too late, and get in harmony with love and equality for all of humanity and for nature too.”

Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum, 500 Howard Baker Jr Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: www.knoxvillecoliseum.com

Union Ave Books is excited to be partnerning with Knox Brew Hub for Book Club at the Hub!

Each month, we will choose a fiction and non-fiction book to read for the month's meeting. Participants can read either both or just one.

On the third Wednesday of every month, we are going to be meeting at KBH to chat about the books and enjoy the many craft beers and non-alcoholic options KBH has to offer!

For the month of April, we are reading:
Non-fiction: They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
Fiction: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

You can order online, in-store, or over the phone at (865).951.2180. Use the code KNOXBREW at checkout to receive our Club discount! https://www.unionavebooks.com/event/book-club-hub

Join Pellissippi State Community College in celebrating the life and art of Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, an “Appalachian Original.” The event, hosted by Pellissippi State Libraries Appalachian Heritage Project, will be held 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, on Zoom. While the celebration of the internationally acclaimed musician, painter and storyteller from Campbell County, Tennessee, is free and open to the public, those interested are encouraged to register in advance to receive an email with instructions about joining the webinar.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WafhsMcuQEGpefSrKpQDeQ

Armstrong (1909-2003) is renowned for a lifetime of playing jazz, blues, folk and country music. Along with his mastery of 22 musical instruments and seven foreign languages, Armstrong is considered one of the nation’s finest Black string-band musicians, having received the National Education Association’s National Heritage Fellowship and the Tennessee Governor’s Folk Heritage Award.

The April 20 celebration will be led by musicians and educators Sean McCollough, Kelle Jolly and Chris Durman, who will discuss Armstrong’s life and influences as well as his impact on the music of the United States and his significance to the Appalachian region. A Q&A will follow their presentation.

Durman is an associate professor and coordinator of the George F. DeVine Music Library at the University of Tennessee. Jolly, “The Tennessee Ukulele Lady,” is a music entertainer and educator who shares stories and songs from the South, including traditional African American music of blues, jazz, spirituals and folk. McCollough is a musicologist, musician, producer and festival organizer who teaches Appalachian Music, the History of Rock and Introduction to Western Music at UT. All three are involved in organizing and performing in the annual Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival at Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County.

For more information about this event or the Appalachian Heritage Project, contact Strawberry Plains Campus Librarian Allison McKittrick at almckittrick@pstcc.edu.

Please join the Classics Department at our annual Haines-Morris Lecture in Classics, given this year by Deborah Beck (UT Austin) on "The Shepherd and His Flock: The Story of a Simile Motif." Professor Beck's research focusus on how to tell a good story that connects emotionally with its audience(s), especially in a literary genre with the scope and grandeur of epic poetry. She has published extensively on Homeric epic, and her forthcoming book (Cambridge) explores the theme of her lecture, namely how similes about shepherds and domestic animals in Homer, Apollonius, and Vergil allow us to see both the power of the simile world to shape epic narrative and the distinctive features created by the simile world of an individual poem. This fascinating talk will be of wide interest to anyone who appreciates classical literature or literature in general.

Wednesday, April 20 at 4:45pm to 6:00pm

John C Hodges Library, Lindsay Young Auditorium
1015 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville TN
https://calendar.utk.edu/event/deborah_beck_haines-morris_lecture_in_classics#.Yl2Sn-jMLct

The Guild of the Knoxville Museum of Art presents Artists on Location 2022, an art show and sale, from 5:30 to 9pm Saturday, April 23 at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Artists on Location promotes the museum’s connection to the local and regional art community and provides both new and seasoned collectors a rare opportunity to buy original paintings of Knoxville and East Tennessee.

From Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, talented artists selected through a rigorous juried process will be painting outdoors in and around the Knoxville area. The public is invited to watch AOL’s artists in action as they capture on canvas a wide variety of subject matter, from urban street scenes to pastoral garden settings. The artists’ specific locations will be published on the KMA website www.knoxart.org prior to the event and will be followed on the KMA Guild’s Instagram page @artistsonlocation.

The paintings produced will be sold from 5:30 to 9pm on Saturday, April 23 at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Proceeds of the sale will benefit both participating artists and the Knoxville Museum of Art. Artists on Location is organized by the Guild of the Knoxville Museum of Art. The Guild raises funds to support the Knoxville Museum of Art and promotes the museum’s programs in the community while educating and building appreciation for visual arts.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-5pm, Sunday 1-5 pm, closed Mondays. Information: 865-525-6101, https://knoxart.org/

Mondays-Fridays, April 18-22, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Free!

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Reception: Friday, April 29, 2022, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Artists’ Talks: 6:30 p.m.

"THE PROMISE OF THE HEART" in Exhibition Hall B
I believe that the power of art can inspire and affect change in one's self and others. This exhibit is an expression of a joyful heart that flows from a spirit that is nourished by understanding one's emotions, character, and passions. It features thirty-six original works of art by Suzanne Jack.

Photography by David Liles Exhibition Hall A
I seek to create art through photographic imagery. Inspiration often comes from the natural world. Great material is everywhere & seeing it is limited only by opportunity and imagination. My eyes are trained to look for textures, patterns, contrasts, and plays of color in everything I experience on a daily basis. My imagery is often an abstraction, a departure from the normal “snapshot” type photograph. I use mostly digital photography with cropping and image enhancements of color saturation, tone, and contrast, but no additions. The computer is my darkroom, via software tools of digital manipulation.

Gallery Hours: Mondays 10 am - 4 pm, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10 am - 3 pm. Other times are by appointment only. Sign-in and masks are required. At Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-523-4176 x101, www.tvuuc.org

Sat Apr 9, 11 AM - 4 PM - champagne opening and meet the artists (1-3 PM)

In conjunction with the premier of the concerto Cycle of Life, created in celebration of Richard Jolley’s monumental Cycle of Life: Within the Power of Dreams and the Wonder of Infinity permanently installed in the Ann and Steve Bailey Hall at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Bennett is proud to be mounting a gallery-wide exhibition of Richard Jolley’s work focusing on both large scale hot formed glass sculpture, smaller blown pieces, and acrylic paintings from the last 20 years. The work of his partner, Tommie Rush, will be displayed alongside Richard’s work.

The progression of work during Richard’s 4-decade career will include glass pieces, works on paper, and paintings. Bennett has partnered with Richard and the KMA to present a truly spectacular reflection of Richard’s career and growth as a glass artist, and as a Knoxville art icon. Cycle of Life is a violin concerto composed by Michael Schachter that was jointly commissioned by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Museum of Art, and their supporters. GRAMMY nominated violinist Tessa Lark will return to Knoxville to take perform this long-awaited concerto.

Richard’s art falls into distinct series, each serving as a stage in his evolution toward increasingly evocative and technically challenging forms. Jolley spent much of his childhood in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and became fascinated with sculpting glass as a student at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee. Since 1975, he has maintained a studio in West Knoxville, where he continues to create glass sculpture notable for its inventiveness and sophistication. He is represented in public and private collections across the country.

For more information contact claras@bennettgalleries.com or roberts@bennettgalleries.com. Bennett, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-Sa 10-5:30. Information: 865-584-6791, https://bennetthome.com/

During April, I will be doing a short reading every Monday at 7pm. I will also be issuing a writing challenge every day for NatPoWritMo.

https://www.rheacarmon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RheaSunshinePoetry

Award-winning wordsmith Rhea Carmon is a force that weaves passion, purpose, and power into poetry. She is a teacher, mentor, motivational poet, and inspiration to all that come in contact with her. Rhea's life lessons and stories create space for conversation and understanding. She will motivate and inspire students and adults to be the best form of themselves on a daily basis. She is the City of Knoxville's Poet Laureate.

JOIN US FOR A VIRTUAL CELEBRATION! The Orchids Awards have been presented to Knoxville and Knox County's most beautiful properties, public spaces, and public art since 1979. Throughout the month of April, Keep Knoxville Beautiful will host its annual Orchid Awards online via our Facebook page. Awards will be presented to winners in six different categories: New Architecture, Redesign/Reuse, Outdoor Space, Community Space, Public Art, and Regreening.

Join us in celebrating the architects, artist, developers and community members that are beautifying our dynamic city.

Stay tuned for information to support Keep Knoxville Beautiful Mural Fund, which will support Knoxville's next murals. Four generous sponsors will match your individual donations. Help us reach our goal of $9,500!
https://www.keepknoxvillebeautiful.org/orchid-awards
https://www.facebook.com/KeepKnoxvilleBeautiful