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As usual, the constant on the A&E front was change. Old names found new fame; while old institutions planned new looks. Through it all, visiting acts blew through town and blew off our socks. And, so we boogie, sockless, in to the new year.

We're number one!

Last year, Knoxvillian Tina Wesson was the center of much media ballyhoo. This year, the same swirl surrounds another—one Johnny Knoxville, a local boy transplanted to L.A. who, like Tina, made his fortune by eating disgusting foods, completing arduous tasks, and, ultimately, surviving. Knoxville's Jackass scored big at the box office, spending a few weeks squatting in the number one stall.

In related news, local News-Sentinel scribe Terry Morrow continues to report every last blink, burp and bowel movement of these nationally known homegrown celebs. Who knows who will receive his scrutiny in 2003? Bad boy Brad Renfro perhaps?

Speaking of whom, Renfro kept popping up in the strangest places, from the crime blotter to the Preservation Pub stage to the screen (DeucesWild).

Nip and tuck

Some institutions started major facelifts in 2002. The Tennessee Theatre launched a capital campaign to restore this Morrocan-esque landmark. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra announced that Lucas Richman, currently resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, would replace conductor Kirk Trevor starting with the 2003-04 season. Also new to town is KMA director Todd Smith, who traveled to East Tennessee from Fargo, N.D. No word yet on whether he owns a wood chipper. And Theatre Central—the little live theatre that could—moved from ever-changing Market Square to a new niche at 319 Gay Street, which was the former home of a little club that couldn't.

Takin' it to the streets

With the success of Sundown in the City, other festival organizers saw the center city's potential for good times. Saturday Night on the Town rocked (and rolled) Gay Street with two stages, while Knox Opera's Rossini Festival celebrated this Italian composer's legacy with jugglers, pasta, and cigars. Here's to hoping that the trend continues in the new year.

Walls are for hanging

Ah, the Convention Center. Or, perhaps better put, the Controversy Center. While in years past the focus has been on whether or not the thing should be built, how much it should cost, and what it should look like, there was a debate in 2002 about what was hanging on its walls. Of the $1 million that went to the building's art installation, a small amount wound up in the pockets of local artists. Should one of our more prominent hubs for tourism better reflect the artists living in this community? Clearly, the Public Building Authority has already voted with its checkbook.

In related news, a concert pitched to the young guests of one of the first and most publicized out-of-town conventions—the Junior Olympics—featured alleged rapist Mystikal. Once his predilections were brought to the Sports Corp.'s attention, the show was quickly denounced by the same board that was, um, pimping it. That's showbiz.

The sounds of this town

There was no shortage of local releases this year, proving that the Knoxville music scene is alive and kicking. Here are some of the records and CDs released by local artists in 2002:

Jodie Manross Band, going somewhere soon; Leslie Woods, Velvet Sky; Dixie Dirt, Springtime is for the Hopeless and Other Ideas; Gran Torino, The One and Only....; Jag Star, Crazy Place; Superdrag, Last Call for Vitriol; The Rockwells, little symphonies for kids; The Westside Daredevils, all things small produce a spark; Newport, Newport; St. Somewhere, St. Somewhere; Past Mistakes, Demonstration; Left Foot Down, we got somethin'; ShadowWax, Stories...; Rus Harper, Dogfood for the Soul; Randall Brown, The HomeMade EP; Copper, Exchange; Immortal Chorus, Premonition; Mountain Soul, Trotline; Five Day Outlook, A Demonstration 0f Weather; Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, One for the Team! and a day in the life of the band....; Donald Brown, At This Point in My Life; Lemon Drop Kid; MinimalAnimal; Arrison Kirby, Eye M ewE; Bill Swann, Awake But Somehow Dreaming; TN1, It's On; Adlin and Appleford, Jaundice Bitters; Atropos, Industry Vs. Inferiority; Solid Earth Collective, Sacred Styles; Senryu, Stars and Garters; HiFiDriveby, One Saturday Night in November and Life's Not This Book You've Been Sold; Pink Sexies/Bitter Pills split 7-inch; Jennifer Niceley, Gone; Todd Steed, Knoxville Tells. We also got another of the fine local Southeast eXports compilations. Apologies to anyone we forgot.

Let's go honky tonkin'

Running a bar or a restaurant is damn tough work, which is why every year, it seems we have a list of clubs that have come and gone. New entries on the club scene include Tonic, a restaurant and hangout spot next to Blue Cats in the Old City; the jazz/blues club 4620, in Bearden, which proves West Knoxvillians can do cool, interesting things; the Preservation Pub, the Market Square bar that is becoming the hip downtown hangout; Sugar Plums, a club that at first targeted over-weight people but changed its name to Ivey's and decided the over-weight weren't their demographic. Market Square also saw the arrival of Brazo, a coffeeshop, bar, and restaurant. A block away on Gay, the old brewpub began its fourth life, this time as the Downtown Grill & Brewery. The Cumberland Avenue bar, Hanna's Café, opened a bar in the Old City. Here's hoping we won't have to eulogize any of them next year.

There were grumblings from the masses in 2002 that maybe the generic tripe the mass media produces isn't quite what they want. It came in the form of three venues—a pirate radio station known as Knoxville's First Amendment Radio (KFAR, located at 90.9 FM), a bi-monthly tabloid called Restore Knoxville, and Spark*, a bi-weekly music zine. Since they're all low-budget operations (and one of them is illegal), it's hard to know how long they'll last. But one of them may have already affected those of us who are professionals (yeah, right!). KFAR spent a good deal of airtime playing hip hop. It might have been just a coincidence, but not long after they started broadcasting, Knoxville got its first FM commercial hip hop station, Wild 98.7, which plays party and rap. That it took so long for the commercial market to embrace the genre shows how conservative Knoxville can be.

Not much changed with Knoxville's other mass media. The biggest news is that the News-Sentinel moved its offices out of the central business district to the fringe of the Mechanicsville neighborhood. Another noteworthy event: the Volunteer Valley Business Journal, an attempt by the Farragut Press to produce a business-to-business publication, shut down in October. The Knoxville Journal, meanwhile, continued its tradition of yellow journalism, hiring Pamela Reed (of Wade Gilley's fall from grace notoriety) to write for them under the pseudonym Ashley Rhea.

Metro Pulse experienced its own upheavals this year. Editor extraordinaire Jesse Fox Mayshark left to seek fame and fortune in the Big Apple (but not before driving in the winning run of his final MP softball game and marrying his sweetie). He was replaced with Bill Carey, a hot-tempered journalist, Navy vet and the author of two Nashville history books. Metro Pulse also lost the talents of long-time art director Lisa Horstman, but gained those of Martha Shepp-James. And Scott McNutt came on board as managing editor, because, well, he manages. Barely.

December 18, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 51
© 2002 Metro Pulse