April First Friday, What to do?

New Sculpture, Krutch Park, Knoxville, April 2012

Happy Friday to everyone. It looks like the weather will be awesome for our monthly street party in the city and the crowds promise to be huge. As usual, there is so much to do in such a short amount of time, there is no way to catch it all. The most complete listing of events I've found is here.

A typical First Friday involves art openings all over downtown. Restaurants in particular are often the site of exhibitions of local or regional artists and this month is no exception in that regard. You might want to arrive in the downtown area as early as possible if you'd like to eat in a restaurant as the wait list grows rapidly throughout the evening. With any luck you'll be able to enjoy some art and good food without too much wait.

New Sculpture, Krutch Park, Knoxville, April 2012

While there is still daylight left you might want to wander around Krutch Park where you will find a number of new sculptures which have been installed in the last couple of weeks. The Dogwood Arts committee decided to expand this great program last year to allow for the displays of these works of art for an entire year. I always miss some of the ones to which I'd grown accustomed, but it is also exciting to see the new works as they arrive. I'm already feeling more connected to this group than the last as a whole.

New Sculpture, Krutch Park, Knoxville, April 2012

I also enjoy watching the people, of course. Some great people watching is to be found on Krutch Park where you might typically enjoy a drum circle. Gay Street and Market Square are packed with people ranging from west Knoxville suburbanites to friends from areas surrounding the city and the usual cast of characters from downtown. The crowd is never dull.

New Sculpture, Gay Street, Knoxville

An unusual addition to this First Friday, is  the second annual Salvage Show presented by Knox Heritage. The show includes art made from architectural salvage by a list of prominent area artists. The exhibition will be held on the second floor of 36 Market Square, meaning you get the added bonus of seeing the inside of that great renovation. More details may be found here.

Morelock Music 411 South Gay Street, Music Until Late

The heart of First Friday is the arts and, in addition to art in restaurants and music spread in every direction, there are, of course, the formal galleries and this is their night to shine. The Art Market on Gay Street often has the coolest music going and featured artists from their co-op on hand to tell you about their works of art for purchase. Music is also generally found nearby at Morelock Music (standing room only) and WDVX studios at the corner of Gay and Summit Hill.

Old Photo of the 100 Block

Knoxville also has an Art District and this is where I inevitably spend most of my time. A concentration of galleries and other creative venues is clustered on the 100 Block of Gay Street and this is also the  site this First Friday of special celebrations. You can find more details here (click Art on the Block). Not only are there openings at every turn, but there is live music throughout the block as well as a drum line, fire eaters, $15 all-you-can-drink beer at 11 Cafe and much more.

New Sculpture, Krutch Park, Knoxville, April 2012

What's not to like? Watch for me and say, "hello," if you see me about. It promises to be a great night for everyone.

Morelock Music Feels Like Home

Matt waits on a customer at Morelock Music while his dog smells her feet

We each probably have a few places which aren't our home, but which give us a good feeling every time we walk inside. Downtown has quite a few spots that residents obviously feel that home away from home feeling. Most evenings if you walk down Gay Street you'll see the same crowd at Downtown Grill. Some people have made Java Old City or Coffee and Chocolate their spot.

I have several myself. I feel most comfortable in the businesses in the Daylight building; talking books in Union Avenue Books, buying a few groceries or eating chocolate with Urban Toddler in Just Ripe, talking to John and Amanda or petting Molly in John Black Studio. Outdoor seating at Preservation Pub with Shaft or Trio with Urban Woman on Market Square or the French Market on Gay Street suit me really nicely.

A packed house, Ferd and Matt at Morelock Music

Ferd and Matt at Morelock Music.

One place that invites you in with its smells of old wood, sounds of instruments in the hands of people who know how to use them and a congenial vibe is Morelock Music. I've passed through on a couple of recent Friday nights and enjoyed the music of Matt and Ferd, but also bands passing through. There's a tip jar by the stage and, often, a packed house with most people standing. I'm not sure Matt makes any money when it's that packed, but he certainly banks a lot of good will.

Band plays at Morelock Music on a Friday night in Knoxville.

Matt sits in on Jew's Harp.

A group plays at Morelock Music, Gay Street, Knoxville, 2012.

My favorite moments in the store are when it's less packed and I can look around at the array of new and vintage instruments, listen to a little local conversation and speak to whomever happens to be working or passing through. Almost any local musician is likely to be spotted in a random visit and that's fun, but it's more than that.

Morelock Music, Gay Street, Knoxville, 2012

The place has that something extra that makes it feel like your place and mine. Is it the comfortable couches, the small collection of vinyl albums, the hodge-podge of items lining every wall or the friendly greeting when you walk in? Yes, it's all that, plus a vibe that's hard to describe. It's that home feeling: Familiar places, sounds and people.

Morelock Music, Gay Street, Knoxville, 2012

It's definitely one of the places that defines downtown, making us distinctive from about any other place that you can name. We have several of those. But mostly, it just extends a welcome out onto the sidewalk, gently tugging anyone passing by to pause and slip inside. Why not do that yourself next time you are downtown? You'll be glad you did. In the meantime, why don't you tell me - which places downtown give you that "at home" feeling?

Knoxville Busking Militarized! Martial Law Declared pending Bill and Jake vs. City of Knoxville Outcome!

As I walked through Market Square on my way to the recycle center, I passed these guys and did a double take. They didn't look like any buskers I'd seen there before. The group played a polka and sang about the virtues of beer. This seemed a little edgy to me, given that we are very serious about our open container laws when we want to be and we are keeping an eye on buskers in particular. I asked them why they were here and one of them coyly responded, "Because we were told to be." As I continued to look throughout the square, I realized all buskers not in a military uniform had been removed (or re-clothed?).

Bill and Jake, pictured above, were no where to be found. Days later I went to court to find that their case had been moved to a later date. Very suspicious. Where are Bill and Jake and what have you done with them?

As I walked toward the stage on Market Square I realized just how determined the military has become to thwart this little busking problem before it can infest the city with any sort of cultural illusions: The entire stage was full of military men and women (Army, from Nashville) and one extremely pregnant woman in red. They even had a soundboard manned by the military. A female military type sang a song extolling the virtues of keeping God, who I thought was free to go where she wanted, in America.

To confuse those of us who might suspect these weren't our usual buskers, they added a guitar player in sunglasses, just so we couldn't be certain which of our buskers might have donned the camo and gone electric.

Apparently even the military can't be trusted to busk within bounds in Knoxville, so the KPD kept a watchful eye on the whole event.

Not to be outdone, but continuing the trend, a few days later I found a smaller military contingent from another branch of the military working the same portion of the square. The musical style seemed similar to the first bunch. I miss our old folk music. Bill, where have you gone? Whereforth art thou, Jake?

"You Will Wind Up Peaking Through Her Keyhole Down upon Your Knees"

The Entrance to Black Market is Prepared Before Opening

Often that's the case. We're so interested in the next new thing to open downtown that we strain to see through cracks in the windows or doorways in anticipation of what might be inside. In the last few months, there have been some significant closures downtown such as Manhattan's, Ten Thousand Villages and Vagabondia. These usually make the news and the commenters on local media websites predict doom and gloom for the city. Of course, when new places open they predict doom and gloom for those businesses, as well, so I guess some people are just going to see the dark clouds between the silver lining every time. For the rest of us, new businesses bring excitement as we see the neighborhood growing more vibrant with each step. There are a number of new ventures in the works, but today I'll note some that have started in the first half of this year.

Morelock Music is a cool addition to Gay Street. Matt Morelock has long been a downtown fixture and had temporary quarters a few doors down, but has now moved into his permanent home at 411 S. Gay Street. They sell new and used musical instruments, give lessons, repair instruments and even have men's hats and vintage clothes. For all the musicians downtown, it's a godsend to have picks, strings and capos readily available and it's also a hub for itinerant musicians moving around the area.

Black Market provides a great source of affordable, funky clothes for women - and a few things for men. It opened in the last week and is already getting rave reviews and lots of business.

Aisle Nine promised to be the long awaited grocery store for downtown. That appears to be a bit of a stretch. One would be hard-pressed to survive by purchasing groceries at Aisle Nine. Still, it isn't an unwelcome addition to the mix of retail downtown. It seems to me more like a convenience store with a very good selection of beer. As a convenience store, it isn't bad to add another. The closest one is The General Store on Gay Street and that's a long hike from the Old City for a beer and a bag of chips. I wish them well, but I've stopped holding my breath for them to be the grocery store we'd like to see. Their web site looks good, but, if you look closely, they are hyping an event from May and I promise you, the pictures of deli meat and vegetables they have posted were not taken in that store. If they get better, I'll be the first to shout, "Hosanna."

Rala opened on Union Street just after the beginning of June in a store front that had been empty. Significantly, it is just three doors down from Reruns, which like Rala is owned and operated by Nanci Solomon. The concepts are similar. Reruns features used women's clothing and Rala features used art. Both are very tastefully done and the average customer wouldn't know the items had been previously owned. Reruns has been successful for years and here's hoping the same for Rala.

Swagger opened this spring on Market Square after moving from Bearden. This is the business that took the place of Ten Thousand Villages, which closed after a successful run when the operators decided to do other things. Swagger moved in immediately and manager Ricky Hopkins (pictured, right) says all is going well. The store sells "limited-edition, re-created, old-school athletic shoes starting at around $90." That's according to Metropulse. I couldn't make up a line like that, but I hope they do well. Stop in and meet Ricky. He's a fun guy to talk to. And check out those shoes!

There are other businesses which promise to open later, but this is a pretty good start on a good year. I'll write more on the others in coming months.