Nashville Demystified

Typically Nashville Demystified is conversation and interview heavy, but again I am just off vacation and so I am without an interview. And, and this is the focus of what follows, on my way back from BNW airport my Uber driver used the n-word twice.

I discuss what unfolded, how my Northern friends shouldn’t believe this to be an isolated incident, and how it relates to state politics here in Tennessee (and also in Maine).

Throughout this episode youâ€ll hear audio from a 2013 panel discussion co-hosted by Vanderbilt University and Frist Art Museum called Reflections of the Civil Rights Movement in Nashville Then and Now. The specific voice youâ€ll hear belongs to Vanderbilt University professor of Philosophy Dr. Lucius Outlaw.

Nashville Demystified is brought to you by Knack Factory – a commercial video and content production company with offices here in the city and We Own This Town. Knack Factory is a commercial video and content production firm in Nashville. We Own This Town is a collective of podcasters based in Nashville.

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“The thing I think we forget is you and I have one life to live on this earth. If you believe in reincarnation, itâ€s awesome, but right now we only have one. What are we gonna do with out life, open our hands or clench fists and cling to own security?”

We talk with Lindsey Krinks, Education and Street Chaplaincy Coordinator at Open Table Nashville, about about the impact of what is being called “hyper gentrification” by some on renters and the rate of homelessness. But damn did I luck out on connecting with Lindsey for this conversation. For a person who has has devoted a better part of her adult life to working on some of the hardest issues facing the city, she speaks with light and joy and in a way that is immediately inspiring. The prognosis for the issues is not immediately great, and she acknowledges that, but in speaking she manages to empower and inspire while also being incredibly real.

But first! We talk with “new Nashvillian” Sarah Marshall (though in this case she’s more of a fleeting Nashvillian). Sarah Marshall is a writer for a number of publications I love, including The Believer and Bitch.

She also hosts an incredible podcast called You’re Wrong About.

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Last week we talked about John Hartford with Matt Combs, the celebrated, respected, and award-winning fiddler and mandolinist who moved to Nashville in the 90s and became close with Hartford.

This week I talk with Olivia Ladd, music journalist and Bandsplainer host, about how John Hartford laid the groundwork for Nashville’s modern music scene. Then we talk about Hartford with Katie Harford Hogue — Hartfordâ€s daughter—who talks about the musician from a much different perspective. Katie, a Nashville resident, has overseen the late musicians†collection and archive for over a decade and a half. She maintains the John Hartford website, which just released a collection of his early and rare recordings, along with a collection of 176 of his original fiddle tunes.

I canâ€t thank Katie enough for having me into her home to talk about her dad and the process of getting to know him better toward the end of his life and by way of the process of sorting through his archive. I got to touch one of Hartfordâ€s signature hats, and his vest.

You can find official John Hartford accounts here:

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Songs in order of appearance, all by John Hartford, courtesy of Small Dog A-Barkin†Records

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