First Night Knoxville 2012, Part 4: Black Atticus, Poetry, The Theorizt and Hip Hop

Black Atticus at the Hotel Oliver

It's a long title to a post and it was a lot to take in. After I left the sweet sounds of Carrie Rodriguez at the East Tennessee History Center, I walked to the Hotel Oliver, which is looking very nice these days, and served as the "spoken word" venue for the evening.  I couldn't really imagine where this might happen other than in the Peter Kern Library, but of course Mr. Kern had some celebration libation to share with the revelers, so that space was taken.


Advertised as a "poetry slam," I'm not sure that quite described it. Black Atticus hosted the event and for the time I was there he was the only person scheduled to recite. Eventually a couple of audience members agreed to share a poem. A young woman recited a cute, brief Shel Silverstein poem and a young man, who appeared to be acquainted with Black Atticus, presented a love poem more in the oral poetry style.

Poet at the Hotel Oliver

Poet at the Hotel Oliver

Black Atticus, who describes himself and many local fellow poets as "Carpet Bag Babies," referring to the local Carpet Bag Theater and the nurture they provide young artists, gave several stirring recitations. He's by turns funny, poignant and occasionally combative.


The poetry slams I've attended tend to feature angry poets and then a few angry poets. Emotion has to be powerful to come across from the stage in front of a tough audience and, I suppose, anger is the easiest emotion with which to do the trick. His poetry is much more complex and refined than most of the slam fare. He also mentioned that he likes to speak to middle and high schools and given that some of his poems seemed to challenge current assumptions endemic in teen culture, I'd say he has a good word to deliver and he certainly has the presence, intelligence and persona to pull it off in front of that extremely difficult audience.

The Theorizt, Latitude 35, First Night Knoxville 2012

The Theorizt, Latitude 35, First Night Knoxville 2012

From the Oliver we crossed Market Square. By we, I mean at least myself and Black Atticus because he was to be part of the next act performing downstairs in Latitude 35 in the space formerly known as the World Grotto. The Theorizt is a local hip-hop band voted the best in our city in the most recent Metropulse poll. With a little jazz, folk, mariachi and poetry under my belt for the night, it seemed like a logical next stop.


They blasted the crowd of about fifty who trickled into the underground space. The most enthusiastic was a ten-year-old (or so) with Kanye glasses and an Angry Birds t-shirt who wallowed about on the ground as if break-dancing and brought the house down. He was pretty proud of himself. A small contingent danced around him.

The Theorizt, Latitude 35, First Night Knoxville 2012

The Theorizt, Latitude 35, First Night Knoxville 2012

The music is difficult to pigeonhole. The first thought I had was Arrested Development, but that was mostly because I think Black Atticus looks a bit like Speech and maybe has some of him mannerisms. His poetry also breaks some of the same earth, at least thematically as Arrested Development. Additionally, this is hip-hop with actual music. By that I mean the drummer holds sticks, not a computer. The bass player actually plays a bass. The guitar player does not play a guitar, he coaxes, caresses and shreds the guitar. He's the most exciting guitarist I've run into in a while.


In addition to the music laying the foundation and the rapped lyrics, there is also melody. I realized early in the advent of rap that I need a little melody mixed in with the beat to listen for very long. So, Arrested Development, yes, but they are also heavier and harder driving. There is nothing like that guitar in Arrested Development. Then I thought of the Roots and that's a better analogy. If you like the Roots and their intelligent, hard-driving, musically sound in-your-face sound, you will like these guys. There is also a bit of Living Color (the band) in the sound of the guitarist and you'll surely hear a little Outkast. Mainly what you will hear is excellent music.

The Theorizt, Latitude 35, First Night Knoxville 2012

Black Atticus did most of the singing for the night and unfortunately I haven't sorted out the names of the others. They mentioned the guitarist was new, I believe, so I'm not sure the web page is accurate on that count. Just trust me that he is incendiary.


So, this turned out to be my favorite stop of the night. Something different from my usual fare became a new pleasure. I've "liked" their page and if you visit the web page linked above you can download five songs from their in-progress CD, "Samurai Love Songs," for free. I'm posting the the single "Call Me" below. See if you don't hear some Roots roots. I think you will.

Breaking News, Bad News and Old City Business Bits

Breaking News: The Oliver Hotel (they are no longer Saints) is open for business. The first customers checked in yesterday. Dann Black, the assistant general manager was kind enough to show me around. He asked that I not take pictures until they have photographs on the website, but he was very gracious as he showed me the rooms and talked about the renovation and decoration of the rooms and lobby. The entrance is beautiful, with a gorgeous chandelier and beautiful chairs framed by the new doors. Art is on the way. The rooms range widely in size and shape, but all have been completely re-done with larger bathrooms complete with hand-laid tile floors inlaid with the new emblem. The restaurant is still six months away from opening, but nine rooms are ready and all twenty-eight should be set to go soon and many are already booked. Prices range from $109 to $319, though they may change a bit, yet. Go by and check it out.

Pieces being broken from the bridge.

Bad News: Another worker was killed on the Henley Street Bridge project. Work has been halted and the green-way is closed in that area. April 13 I wrote "The work must be very dangerous. The side railing is being removed first and each piece is knocked off onto a barge below. There are people working the machinery, people guiding the machine operators from the bridge and people on the barge below where the pieces fall. The large pieces must weigh hundreds of pounds. Of course, one person has died already and it is easy to see how a moment of inattentiveness on any one's part could result in a disaster."

Barge where the pieces fall (notice the person standing beside the crane).

It apparently happened very much like that. I have no way of knowing if the construction company is attending to safety as ardently as they should, but hopefully changes will be forthcoming, if not.

Old City Business Bits:

Jig and Reel, Old City

There are a few more business developments in the Old City worth noting. Manhattan's went out of business a few months ago, leaving a prime location available and it will be filled by a Scottish pub called Jig and Reel. Progress toward an opening appears to be slow moving. This will give us a British pub, Irish pub and Scottish pub in the Old City. I'm not sure what that means, but it's interesting.

Bliss, Old City

Interior of Bliss, Old City

Not so with Bliss, Old City or Old City Entertainment Venue (It seems to want to be both.) at 118 S. Central. The bar seems to be operational and quite attractive, describing itself as an event location and a wine bar. The confounding thing to me is that anyone would name a downtown business "Bliss," given the success and long-time standing of Bliss and Bliss Home on Market Square. It seems the predictable confusion would not be beneficial. I wonder what the owner of the Bliss stores on Market Square think about it. All that said, it looks like a very nice place and locations for events are surprisingly limited downtown.

Organized Play, 131 S. Central

Finally, Organized Play is open on the same stretch of Central. I believe it moved from Cumberland on the other end of downtown. It appears to be a gathering spot for the Dungeons and Dragons crowd and features comics (this is a big week for Green Lantern according to their website). It seems to fit the personality of the Old City - and I mean that in a good way. It's just a little edgier, a little more eccentric than uptown.