When you design upon a star - Out & About Newspaper

AUGUST 

Vol. 6, No. 8, 2007 

© 2007 Out & About Nashville, Inc. 

by Jerry Jones 

Publisher 

Keith Durbin has become Tennessee’s 

first openly-gay elected official after winning 

his bid for Metro Council district 

18. He ran unopposed. 

“I’m thrilled to have earned the 

opportunity to represent the people in 

District 18,” Durbin said. “I don't view 

myself as a major gay activist, but I do 

TENNESSEE’S ONLY STATE-WIDE GLBT NEWSPAPER 

Durbin makes Tennessee history 

Nashville GLBT community now has a real voice in the Metro Council 

by Joey Leslie 

Staff Writer 

Keith Durbin (left) 

and Shane Burkett 

believe this victory 

shows that 

an out person 

in Nashville 

can gain the 

experience, 

nurture the 

relationships 

and be thought by the voters as a person 

capable of handling the responsibilities 

of elected office. What I really feel is 

When you design 

upon a star 

Local interior designer Josh Johnson 

shines on HGTV’s Design Star 

Editor’s note: Brent Meredith also sits down with Josh Johnson 

on Out & About Today TV this month. See local listings for 

dates and times. 

Crowded around a television each Sunday night, many viewers 

might find it a struggle not to be drawn to the magnetic force that 

is Josh Johnson; think Fabio, but much cuter and with a charming 

southern twang. 

And as far as ratings are concerned, that should be a good thing for the 

Tennessee native as he vies for his own television show on HGTV’s 

Design Star. 

Johnson, 33, is one of 11 designers competing in the second season 

of Design Star. 

The show airs Sundays at 8 p.m. central time on HGTV. 

After submitting a video application, going through a series of interviews 

and a casting process, Johnson entered the challenge with nearly 17 

years of design experience up his sleeve. 

Now that the filming is done, Johnson gets to sit back and watch with the 

rest of the country as his reality plays out during the next few weeks. 

pressure to do my best, for all of 

Nashville.” 

Shane Burkett, another openly-gay 

candidate, who challenged incumbent 

Jim Gotto for the council seat in District 

12, lost by less than 850 votes, according 

to unofficial returns. 

You can read an extended version of 

this article and complete election coverage 

at www.outandaboutnewspaper.com 

in the Nashville News section. � 

continued on p. 14 

PAGES 25 

Shakespeare 

Festival 

celebrates 

20 years in 

Nashville 

PAGE 34 

PAGE 35 

Paula 

Poundstone 

writes the 

book on 

comedy 

Jonny 

‘Gay Pimp’ 

McGovern 

goes wild 

yet again 

Gay life is ‘so 

Nashville’ again 

says Scene poll 

read the full story on p. 4 

SERVING GAY, LESBIAN, BI AND TRANSGENDER TENNESSEE AND SURROUNDING AREAS • WWW.OUTANDABOUTNEWSPAPER.COM

NEWS • AUGUST, 2007 

2 • OUT & ABOUT NEWSPAPER

AUGUST, 2007 • NEWS 

OUT & ABOUT NEWSPAPER • 3


4 • OUT & ABOUT NEWSPAPER 

Gay life is ‘so Nashville’ 

again says Scene poll 

O&AN part of this year’s winning entry 

by Joseph Brant 

Senior Writer 

The results are in 

and, again, we’re the 

hottest topic in town. 

Nashville Scene, the 

city’s alternative weekly, 

announced its selection 

from over 1,300 

entries to its annual 

“You Are So Nashville 

If...” reader’s poll. 

The winning entry: 

You are so Nashville if 

you saw Kenny 

Chesney in a Kroger 

reading Out & About. 

A one-two (three?) 

punch, it’s a short quip 

that manages to encapsulate 

the reality and 

absurdity of life in 

Music City today. Just 

two months ago The 

Kroger Company, the Cincinnatibased 

supermarket behemoth of this 

region, abruptly denied access to your 

friendly neighborhood GLBT monthly 

newspaper to its roster of free publications 

displayed in each store’s entryway. 

The company recently readmitted 

Out & About Newspaper to a small 

number of its outlets, those with the 

highest cluster of residents who had 

previously subscribed to the publication, 

after an impressive campaign 

involving local political organizations, 

community groups, and nationwide 

publicity in the GLBT and mainstream 

media. Early in the process the 

Nashville Scene itself weighed in on 

the controversy, and later lampooned 

Kroger’s knee-jerk acquiescence to the 

initial anti-O&AN protest. 

The Kenny Chesney part? A fast 

one, yes, but only at first glance. In 

fact, you can’t help but wonder how 

an entry like this one can place (at the 

top, no less) without assuming there 

must be someone safely hidden away 

SOMEWHERE concealing the perfect 

piece of information, should it 

ever, you know, be called for evidence. 

Upon closer examination, though, 

and what makes this the most brilliant 

entry is that the now high profile marriage 

of a niche publication like 

O&AN with the most mainstream of 

grocery stores in town both acknowledges 

how mainstream gay life is 

(becoming) in this city and it underlines 

the fact that everyone (gay, 

straight, or Kenny Chesney) is free to 

read whatever he or she wants. 

Wherever we want. 

This selection comes on the heels of 

last year’s winner: You are so Nashville 

if you were a gay cowboy before being 

a gay cowboy was cool. 

The last GLBT-themed winner goes 

back to 1998 when it was: You are so 

Nashville if you’re the only one who 

doesn’t know you’re gay; then back to 

1994 for this (admittedly tangential) 

winner: You are so Nashville if you 

think that the HOV lane is for people 

with AIDS. 

Back in the present, it seems the 

GLBT community, and the Kroger 

debacle, was on the mind of many 

who entered. Outside the top three, 

another handful of entries pointed in 

our direction. In summary: You Are 

So Nashville If... 

continued on next page

Two men plead guilty to 

Eric Mansfield’s murder 

by NewsChannel 5 

Used with permission 

Editor’s note: Mansfield, 33, was 

the partner of O&AN senior writer 

David Miller. 

The two men accused of killing 

Eric Mansfield, a Music Row executive, 

have plead guilty and are going 

prison. 

Anthony Robinson, 20, pleaded 

guilty to second-degree murder 

and aggravated robbery to killing 

Mansfield in 2005. Robinson was 

sentenced to 17 years in prison. 

In exchange for pleading guilty, 

Robinson will serve all of a 17-year 

sentence, according to the Davidson 

County District Attorney General’s 

office. 

Deonvelt Miller pleaded guilty earlier 

this summer to shooting Mansfield as 

Mansfield tried to drive away from the 

continued from previous page 

...you complain about Kroger carrying 

that immoral sex rag Out & About as 

you pick up your copy of Cosmo, 

Maxim and the Inquirer. 

...your favorite church is on Gay Street, 

and your favorite bar is on Church 

Street. 

...you can’t decide if you’re pro-family 

or anti-gay. 

...you have never heard of, let alone 

read, Out & About but feel safer knowing 

Kroger has banned it. 

...your local news channel makes a 

moral decision to run episodes of The 

700 Club before Ellen. 

As in previous years, the editors found 

a few strange entries that they dumped 

into a category called “Weirdies.” Don’t 

try to figure out how: You Are So 

Nashville If... 

...you are a gay male, wear real designer 

sunglasses and purchase Green Hills 

clothing whenever your maxed-out credit 

cards permit, have manicured nails and 

highly polished teeth, eat and drink at 

trendy cafes and drive a circa 1988 

Honda. 

What does it mean? No idea but, in 

the name of equality, this entry also landed 

in the “Weirdies” column: You Are So 

Anthony Robinson, 20, pleaded guilty to 

second-degree murder and aggravated 

robbery to killing Mansfield in 2005. 

Robinson was sentenced to 17 

years in prison. 

then teens when they approached his car 

with guns in east Nashville. Police said 

Mansfield was inside his car, trying to 

find a place to park near his home in 

East Nashville when 16-year-old Miller 

shot and killed him. Miller was sentenced 

to 24 years in prison. � 


...you are a single female, wear six-inch 

heels and nails, wear fake Chanel sunglasses 

and carry a fake Vuitton bag (both 

purchased at the Farmers Market), dress 

in a plus-size outfit from Fashion Bug 

and drive a circa 1988 Honda. 

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 

my personal favorites. Hence, You Are So 


...you tell your spouse that you are 

thinking about “going Perry March” on 

her during an argument. 

...you’ve checked your flower bed for 

Janet March (the winner from 1997). 

...you blame Barry Gibb for Johnny 

Cash’s house burning down. 

...towns you’ve never heard of are 

going to be hit by a tornado at 6:51, 6:53 

and 7:01 p.m. (the winner from 2002). 

...you’d rather be a child molester than 

married to Wynonna Judd. 

and because our own Pam Wheeler 

doesn’t care what you think (as long as 

she gets paid): 

...you believe Bart Durham’s office 

should stick to law, not acting. � 

Joseph can be reached at 

jbrant@outandaboutnewspaper.com 

Photo by NewsChannel 5 



CONTENTS • AUGUST, 2007 

c o n t e n t s 

NEWS 

Gay Life ‘So Nashville’ - 4 

Mansfield Murder Update - 5 

Metro HRC New Members - 7 

Goodbye to The Chute - 8 

Lesbian Claims Assault - 10 

Young Gay Dems Elected - 12 

BUSINESS 

Chamber News & Briefs - 17 

LIVING 

Fitness Advice - 20 

‘Running With Scissors’ - 22 

The Art Files - 23 

Shakespeare in the Park - 25 

Athens Boys Choir - 29 

Return of O’Riordan - 31 

Gay Pimp Goes Wild - 34 


Paula Poundstone @ TPAC - 35 

Classifieds - 36 

P.O. Box 330818 | Nashville, Tennessee 37203 

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Metro Human Relations Commission gets new members 

by Bennett Robbins 

Staff Writer 

Mayor Bill Purcell proposed and the Metro Council has 

approved the appointment of three new members to the 

Metro Human Relations Commission: Iris Buhl, Hall 

Cato and Scott Ridgway. 

The new members join others in the Human Relations 

Commission to provide community-wide education to 

lessen discrimination in public accommodations, employment, 

financial services and housing as well as to promote 

respect for diversity, encourage better race relations and 

other consumer concerns. 

“The Commission is extremely fortunate to be the recipient 

of such a vast array of talent and individuals committed 

to making Nashville one city for all people,” said 

Kelvin Jones, executive director of the Commission. “All 

three new members have a background in community service 

as full-time employees and volunteer members.” 

Iris Buhl has lived in Nashville for 64 years and has 

spent most of that time as an advocate for the underprivileged 

and needy. She received her degrees at George 

Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt) a B.S. in English 

and a masters in Arts/Special Education. 

She spent about four years working with a social psychologist 

understanding racial attitude changes. In 1960 Iris 

married Mike and later had a son, Michael, now 40. 

More work as a research assistant led to work at Peabody 

again in the areas of innercity and disadvantaged progress 

and then a preschool program that led to the beginnings of 

Headstart. In 1970 she was with the Regional Intervention 

Program training parents with autistic children. 

A short retirement led to volunteer work at the 

University School of Nashville, fundraising for WPLN 90.3 

NPR radio and being on the Board of Planned Parenthood 

(as well as a volunteer) and working full time for Nashville 

Cares for 18 years, including time as the Development 

Director and on-and-off time on the board. From 1995 

through today she has been with the Franklin Brooks Fund 

Advisory Board through the Community Foundation of 

Middle Tennessee. 

Currently she is on several advisory boards including 

NPR Board of Directors and now the Human Relations 

Commission. Her resume includes so much volunteer 

work and as a member of advisory boards it would take up 

another page just to list them. 

Hal Cato is also no stranger to community service as he 

has served on numerous non-profit boards including 

Family and Children Services, Nashville Cares, Bethlehem 

Centers of Nashville and NCCJ. 

Hal, also a Nashville native, is currently executive director 

for the Oasis Center, a 37-year-old non-profit organization 

that helps youth in times of crisis and providing 

opportunities for leadership and service. His duties include 

leadership, fundraising and community relations. 

Under his guidance, the Oasis Center was recently 

named Youth Agency of the Year by the National Network 

for Youth and a top 10 finalist for the Peter F. Drucker 

Award for Non-Profit Innovation. 

Before the Oasis Center, Hal worked for Bright 

Horizons Family Solutions, the worlds largest developer 

and manager of employer sponsored childcare services. Hal 

created over 115 corporate sponsored child care centers in 

the U.S., England, Ireland and Guam. As past president of 

the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, he developed 

programs to equip 120 play spaces in shelters 

throughout the U.S. and U.K. for preschool-aged children 

whose families are homeless. 

Scott Ridgway is the third new member. He currently is 

the executive director of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention 

Network, (TSPN), who’s motto is “Saving Lives in 

Tennessee”. Scott has a B.A. in Human Services from U.T. 

and a Masters from Cumberland University in Public 

Services Management. 

He currently serves as president-elect for the Tennessee 

Conference on Social Welfare’s Board of Directors. 

Previous work includes serving as past president of the 

Board of Directors for the Middle Tennessee Association 

for Child Care and as a volunteer with Temporary 

Residents of Adolescents in Crisis, First Steps, Crisis Center 

and as a founding member of Renewal House. 

As a dedicated volunteer he continues to act through 

Court Appointed Special Advocates, better known as 

CASA, the Foster Care Review Board, the Nashville 

Citizen’s Police Alumni Association, Leadership Donelson- 

Hermitage group and by serving as a surrogate parent for 

Nashville Metro Schools 

Scott’s involvement with GLBT activities includes Cochair 

of Artrageous 20, Nashville Pride, TEP, SMRA and 

the Grizzlies. � 

Bennett can be reached at 

brobbins@outandaboutnewspaper.com 


EDITORIAL • AUGUST, 2007 


Goodbye to The Chute 

Homo at Large with Joseph Brant 

by Joseph Brant 

Senior Writer 

Editor’s note: Nashville’s oldest gay bar, 

The Chute, closed its doors in the wee hours 

of Saturday, July 28. 

I remember the first time I went to 

the Chute. I had just come out about 

twenty minutes earlier, and...well, let me 

back up. 

I’ve always been a planner. I’m sure I 

could fill a bus with people, friends, former 

employers, coworkers who could 

vouch for how important it is to me that 

as much groundwork be in place as possi- 

ble before I take any significant chances. 

So I came out in 1997 (yes, it’s been 

ten years now) and so much preparation 

went into making that announcement 

that, in some respects, and to a few people, 

it wasn’t much of an announcement. 

In fact, I have an old friend named Mary 

Beth, who I’ve since lost touch with, and 

to her I fully morphed from this closeted 

acquaintance when we met into a full-on 

queer a few years later when she moved 

away. It all happened so slowly, seemingly 

methodically, and she was present for 

it all, that I think formally “coming out” 

to her somehow didn’t have to happen. 

I had read a few issues of the Advocate 

and Out, along with Andrew Sullivan’s 

still brilliant book Love Undetectable 

and Michelangelo Signorile’s Life Outside. 

I’d come to fully, comfortably define 

myself, but I still didn’t know any other 

gay people. 

That’s not quite true. I didn’t know 

any gay people at Belmont, where I was 

a student (we were all closeted during 

our Belmont years back then, remember), 

but I did know a couple gays at 

the restaurant where I worked part-time 

(of course, I did). 

Trouble was: they weren’t the kind of 

gay I had fancied myself to be. In fact, I 

look back now and realize how much an 

idealist I was back then. I didn’t want to 

associate with the waitin’-tables, goin’-tothe-bars, 

Jack-McFarland gays. I styled 

myself as one of the fully integrated, antighetto, 

buttoned-up, we’re-just-like-you, 

Will-Truman gays. 

I suppose (I say this now to conserve 

my ego) that’s how many of us start out 

when we come out, convincing ourselves 

its most important to know and be prepared 

to explain ourselves to all these 

straight friends and relatives who may or 

may not want to comprehend our newly 

uncovered identity. 

Anyway, I suppose it was a Friday or 

Saturday and I had nothing else planned 

so I found my way to OutLoud!, which 

was almost brand new back then. 

Remember the very first 

OutLoud! store, one 

block over from where it 

is now, just past 18th 

Avenue on Church 

Street, right where that 

Indian restaurant is now, 

with those two tiny little 

parking spaces out front? 

I remember that I was 

just so out-and-proud of 

myself that I didn’t hesitate to take one 

of those spaces right out front (funny, I 

know, yet to this day—or, at least up until 

I moved away a couple months ago—it 

was still fairly routine for someone to 

park one or two blocks away and walk 

the distance, all the while passing whoknows-how-many 

empty spaces in front 

of the gay store, and the gay bar, and the 

other gay bar). 

Once in the store I found a copy of 

Xenogeny, or was it Query? I dunno. 

Remember Query? (For that matter: 

remember Xenogeny?). Always with the bar 

listings, and the advertisements of all sizes 

with the smiling, sometimes devastatingly 

attractive people, imbibing and ... well, 

gaily enjoying themselves, or so we were 

led to believe (even at the slummy bars). 

Never a mistake, though, The Chute was 

on the back page, selling to us its six bars, 

its show lineup, its drink specials. 

I know that first time I visited The 

Chute that it wasn’t bear night or leather 

night. I look back now and see it was just 

a regular ol’ night at the gay bar. I walked 

in, paid my cover and what with all that 

idealism pent up in me for so long, I was 

destined to have a terrible time. 

What was I looking for: love? Sex? A 

friend? I didn’t know. These were my 


Photo by Linda Welch 


people, I figured, and it was time to take 

this next step, to engage with my people. 

I suppose, now when I look back, that I 

was likely looking (though I must have 

convinced myself otherwise) for all of the 

above. 

The one vivid image to be forever 

locked in the vault of my memory, the 

one that proved (whether I was cognizant 

Chute owner Don Hartsfield 

of it or not) that I wasn’t gonna find love, 

sex, or a friend that night was the vision 

of this older man who was just off-his-ass 

drunk. Practically off-his-barstool drunk. 

I’m talking dah-ruuunk. I knew he wasn’t 

my people. 

I didn’t even make it back to the 

show bar when I knew it was time to 

go home. 

It took more time, and a lot more 

relaxing of my idealism, my expectations 

of myself and to understand that 

an acknowledged identity doesn’t 

demand that I “represent” that identity 

to everyone the world over at all times, 

before I ventured out into gayland. 

I suppose there are a lot of us, and 

I say this for the sake of my ego, who 

needed to learn how to just give up, 

and relax, before everything made 

sense. 

Over the past few years I’ve come to 

love my visits to The Chute; now that 

it’s gone, I suppose my memory will 

tell me I always loved it. 

I’ll miss sitting in the piano bar with 

a glass of wine, complaining under my 

breath to nobody that I seem to be the 

only person who enjoys a good coun- 

try song, muttering quickly under my 

breath when the room goes silent: 

“play some Dwight Yoakam.” 

I’ll miss the twenty minute eardrumbusting 

prelude to the show in the 

Rainbow Room, when it’s so loud you 

wonder if maybe you should go back 

outside and risk not getting a seat by 

coming back in when the entire bar 

flocks in. 

I’ll miss how those shows, 

and some of the pageants, 

tended to run far too long, but 

for the sake of providing equal 

time to each performer (we’re 

all liberal gays, right?), we all 

understood and just continued 

to sit there. Or not. 

I’ll miss bartender Timmy 

acknowledging me by name 

when I came in. I’ll be honest 

now: I don’t believe I hang at 

the bars that often so I can’t 

say I was at The Chute all that 

much, yet that one gesture 

unfailingly assured that I’d add 

The Chute to my list the next 

time I went out. 

The bad news: I won’t miss 

the bathrooms and I won’t miss 

that there was only one bar 

that accepted credit or debit 

cards. If those two things had 

been different, I guarantee you 

that I, at least, would’ve spent a 

lot more and pee’d a lot more. 

I could tell as many stories as I want 

right now but the truth is I’m not of 

the generation that will remember the 

heyday of The Chute. 

Find someone now in his (I dunno) 

mid-40s who was out in Nashville 

twenty-ish years ago. I guarantee he 

will talk your ear off about how hip, 

citywide, The Chute was, as well as its 

then neighbor the Warehouse. I’ve 

heard stories of stars, cool people 

across the southeast and the nation 

traveling here from larger, major cities 

to be at The Chute. 

While you’re at it, ask one of your 

older lesbian friends about the various 

“women’s only” incarnations of that 

bar on 2nd Avenue where DeVil’s was 

located before it closed. That one small 

building I hear is filled with just as 

much history and, as these years pass 

on, I’ll bet less and less people know 

about it. 

It’s our history, so if we don’t take 

the time to learn about it, who will? � 

Joseph can be reached at 

jbrant@outandaboutnewspaper.com 

AUGUST, 2007 • EDITORIAL 




Lesbian claims assault 

over sexual orientation 

by Joey Leslie 

Staff Writer 

Editor’s note: Updates to this story will be 

posted on our Web site as events unfold. 

When some friends from Halls, 

Tenn. made the 45-minute drive to 

Jackson for a night out, they had no 

idea they were about to be involved in 

an incident that led to a protest on 

Saturday, August 4. 

On Saturday, July 14, Mandy Greer, 

of Halls, and two friends met at 

Tequila Joe’s, a bar in Jackson. Greer 

claims that shortly after arriving she 

was assaulted by a male patron of the 

bar after he made a slur against her sexual 

orientation. 

Greer said the man told her, “There’s 

no room for faggots in here.” 

“I said, ‘Sorry, I think you have it 

mistaken,’” Greer explained. “I’m a 

lesbian.” 

As she turned away to continue 

dancing, Greer said the man struck her 

in the eye with a beer bottle. Another 

patron tried to pull Greer out of the 

way of the disgruntled man, but, 

according to Greer, he was still able to 

hit her with the bottle several more 

times before the two fell to the floor 

and began to wrestle. 

Greer said a bouncer pulled her off 

of the man by her neck, drug her to 

the door and pulled her outside where 

he held her in a choke-hold. She said 

another bouncer came outside and 

ripped her shirt during the altercation 

as she tried to fight free of the bouncer’s 

grip. 

Managers at Tequila Joe’s who were 

present the night of the incident were 

contacted three times for comment, 

but no response was received by 

press time. 

Greer said her attacker fled through 

a back door. 

Hostile atmosphere 

From the time she entered the bar 

until she left the hospital early the next 

morning, Greer said she felt surrounded 

by hostility, as if most people 

blamed her for the incident. 

She said that during the night, a particular 

bouncer repeatedly told her and 

her friend Mike, who was at the bar 

with her that evening, they could not 

dance in certain areas of the bar that 

were “out in the open.” 

Greer said later that night police told 

her there was nothing they could do 

after the assailant fled the scene and 

no police report was filed that evening. 

She said no pictures were taken and no 

witnesses’ names or statements were 

written down by police. 

Investigating officers from the 

Jackson Police Department were contacted 

three times for comment, but 

no formal response was received by 

press time. 

In an ambulance en route to the 

hospital, Greer said an EMT told her 

she needed to “look more feminine.” 

“She said, ‘you know, if you didn’t 

look like a boy, this wouldn’t have 

happened,’” Greer explained. 

Andrea Laws, a friend of Greer also 

of Halls who was not at the bar that 

night, said they had often felt the 

brunt of bigotry in the Jackson bar 

scene. 

“I used to go to that spot [Tequila 

Joe’s] every now and then and always 

had something rude said to me, but 

never anything like that happen,” said 

Laws. “A lot of people in this area are 

very hostile to queer people.” 

Uprising 

Greer said she now has only blurred 

and bubbled vision in her left eye and 

can’t see in her periphery. She said she 

plans to take legal action against all 

whom she feels acted inappropriately 

that night. 

While the trauma of that evening is 

still evident in the wounds on Greer’s 

face, it is the emotional trauma she 

endured that night that prompted 

hoards of people, including several 

of Greer’s closest friends, to plan a 

civil protest outside of the bar to 

raise awareness of bigotry in the 

Jackson area. 

Heather Hebert, a Memphis resident, 

helped organize the protest that took 

place on the evening of August 4. 

“People are just outraged,” Hebert 

said. “It started out small, but people 

realized this is ridiculous and we really 

needed to do something.” �



POLITICS • AUGUST, 2007 


Gay Democrats elected to lead 

Young Democrats of America 

Chris Anderson of Tennessee elected executive vice president 

Staff Reports 

The National 

Stonewall 

Democrats (NSD) 

congratulated a 

newly-elected leadership 

of the Young 

Democrats of 

America (YDA) on 

Tuesday, July 24, 

including two openly-gay 

Stonewall 

Democrats who will 

now lead the organization 

as President and Executive Vice- 

President through 2009. 

“Young voters are the new base of the 

Democratic Party, and we are proud the 

Young Democrats of America support 

equality for LGBT families and have 

placed their faith in the leadership of 

two great Democratic leaders who happen 

to be gay,” said Jo Wyrick, NSD 

executive director. “The future of our 

party now has an opportunity to 

demonstrate to all Democrats how fully 

engaging our community is politically 

viable and smart.” 

“Young voters are the new base 

of the Democratic Party, and we 

are proud the Young Democrats of 

America support equality for 

LGBT families and have placed 

their faith in the leadership of 

two great Democratic leaders 

who happen to be gay.” 

On Sunday, July 22, David Hardt 

(Texas) was elected as President of the 

Young Democrats of America with 93% 

of the delegate votes during the organization’s 

national convention in Dallas. 

Also elected the same day was Chris 

Anderson (Tennessee) as the organization’s 

Executive Vice President. 

The election of Hardt and Anderson 

mark the first time that the Young 

Democrats of America will be led by an 

openly-gay leadership team. 

The Young Democrats of America 

GLBT Caucus also elected its new leadership 

on Saturday, July 21, including 

Chris Anderson of Tennessee, left, vice president of 

Young Democrats of America and David Hardt 

of Dallas, president. 

the election of NSD Board Member 

Kyle Bailey (Georgia) as Caucus Vice- 

Chair. Bailey also serves as President of 

the Atlanta Stonewall Democrats. 

The other elected GLBT Caucus officers 

include Rachel Kau-Tayler 

(California) as Caucus Chair, Rob 

Hudson (Florida) as Caucus Secretary 

and Byron LaMasters (Texas) as Caucus 

Treasurer. 

The Young Democrats of America 

have undertaken a dramatic outreach to 

LGBT Democrats over the past several 

years. Congruently, the National 

Stonewall Democrats have also 

increased their outreach to LGBT Young 

and College Democrats. 

NSD has established youth scholarships 

for national trainings, including 

the “Keith Smith Fund” designed to 

honor the outreach work of former 

NSD Board Member Keith Smith of 

Oklahoma. Over the past two years, 

young leaders within the Stonewall 

Democrats have also established 

Stonewall Young Democrats chapters 

across the country, which serve to 

organize LGBT Youth within the 

Democratic Party. 

As the official youth arm of the 

Democratic Party, YDA mobilizes 

young people under the age of 36 to 

participate in the electoral process, 

influence the ideals of the Democratic 

Party and develops the skills of the 

youth generation to serve as leaders at 

the local and national level. YDA has 

43 chartered states and US territories 

with over 1,500 local chapters. 

In 2003, members of the National 

Stonewall Democrats authored and 

passed language adopted by YDA which 

declared the organization’s support for 

civil marriage for same-sex couples. � 

Provided





Design upon a star... 

continued from the cover 

Interior design was his shtick early on, 

Johnson said. As a child he was inspired 

by his grandmother who continuously 

revamped her own living space. 

“She wasn’t afraid to try something 

new, to be bold,” Johnson said. “Style 

wise, I learned from her.” 

Bold, opulent and glamorous are 

Johnson’s designs and his personality. 

But from his wardrobe to his interior creations, 

Johnson is true what he calls liveable 

luxury. 

“I like a lot of glamorous elements,” he 

said. “But I think everyone should be 

able to live in their house and not have 

rooms for special occasions.” 

His early inclinations toward designing 

didn’t lead him to pursue the career 

immediately. 

In college, Johnson worked as a proba- 

Design Star season two cast with host Clive Pearse (standing far left). 

tion officer during summers while studying 

business at the University of 

Tennessee, Knoxville. 

“I didn’t deal with hardcore crimes,” 

Johnson said. “I worked with DUI 

offenders, making sure they followed 

through with court orders and things like 

that.” 

Josh pitches his design style to the judges during the finalist round. 

He said his exposure at that age to the 

inner workings of the court system 

helped him learn how to deal work with 

continued on p. 16




Design upon a star...continued from 14 

many different personalities. 

“Sometimes designing can be like a courtroom,” 

Johnson said. “Somebody ultimately has to make the 

final decision.” 


After graduating, 

Johnson took on 

assistantship and 

worked with different 

design firms to learn 

the art of interior 

design. Now after 

nearly 17 years of 

designing, he is vying 

for his own television show and a lifestyle as glamorous 

as his own interior creations. 

Johnson has already garnered national attention 

during the past six 

months from TV 

and radio appearances. 

And as each 

episode brings the 

finale closer, 

Johnson said his 

excitement grows. 

Should he win, 

Johnson hopes to 

host a show where 

he designs for, 

shops with and 

interviews celebrities. 

But win or not, the 

show has offered him 

national exposure that 

Josh and fellow finalist Will Smith work together on a 

project during the first design challenge. 

could give him a variety of career moves. 

“It’s a tremendous achievement,” Johnson said. “It’s 

not something I expected, but I’m glad I got a chance to 

be on the show.” �

Nashville GLBT Chamber news briefs 

by Rachel Stanton 

Business Writer 

Reed’s Custom Framing 

closes doors 

Randy Reed announced the August 

2007 closing of Reed’s Custom Framing 

in Madison, Tennessee, owned by the 

Reed family for the past 39 years. 

Reed’s parents began their framing 

business from their Madison basement 

in 1968. Reed’s Custom Framing has 

been in its current location for 23 years. 

When asked why he decided to close 

the store, Reed commented, “After 39 

years, there is a new chapter for Reed’s. 

I am joining with the team at Belle 

Meade/Green Hills Framers.” 

Reed will serve as Creative Director 

Provided 

and Sales Representative at the 

Green Hills location beginning 

August 20. 

Auction to be held August 15: 

A liquidation auction will be held 

at 216 Douglas Street in Madison. 

Contact Randy Reed for auction 

information at (615) 717-5017. 

Sondra Goldstein helps 

insure Tennessee 

After serving the Tennessee 

Insurance market for over a 

decade, Sondra Goldstein opted 

to open her own insurance 

agency in Brentwood. Goldstein 

Insurance Agency, www.goldsteininsurance.com, 

is an independent 

agency, which represents 

numerous insurance carriers. 

Goldstein offers a full range of 

insurance products, from home 

owners to automotive and life 

insurance policies, with ‘same carrier’ 

discounts available. 

Auto Insurance for Same-Sex 

Couples - Goldstein Insurance 

offers automotive insurance in 

Nashville and surrounding areas, 

allowing 

same-sex 

partners to 

be insured 

on the same auto 

policy. 

Goldstein 

Insurance 

Agency is located 

at 217 Jamestown 

Park Rd., Suite 

Sondra Goldstein 12 in Brentwood. 

Owner Sondra 

Goldstein is available to answer O&AN 

readers’ insurance questions at (615) 

221-1117. 

Nashville goes high tech in 

unexpected places 

Mapco’s Touch Screen Service Enters 

Nashville Market - Paying for gas at the 

pump with a swipe of your credit card, 

or using Mobile’s Speedpass is commonplace 

these days. 

Mapco, headquartered in Brentwood, 

has decided to take technology to the 

next level, expanding the horizons of 

the sometimes dreaded gasoline experience. 

According to Mapco’s Vice 

AUGUST, 2007 • BUSINESS 

NGLBTCOC 

BUSINESS PAGE 

The first-ever Nashville GLBT Chamber 

Mayoral Candidate Forum was held at 

the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on Wed., 

July 18. More than 135 people were 

present for the event. (L to R) GLBT 

Chamber of Commerce President John 

Wade, candidates David Briley, Karl 

Dean, Buck Dozier, Kenneth Eaton and 

Howard Gentry. 

Photo by Shane Burkett 

President of Marketing, Paul Pierce, 

Nashville was the first market to allow 

customers to order a custom meal via a 

bilingual touch screen at the pump or 

within the store itself. 

By the time a customer’s gasoline 

pumping is finished, the custom meal 

should be ready inside at Mapco’s Grille 

Marx. When asked about customer 

reactions to the touch screen service, 

Pierce commented, “Customers immediately 

embraced the touch screen order 

concept. Since our touch screens provide 

both a Spanish and English version, 

they have also attracted Nashville’s 

Local Hispanic community.” 

Make Your Own Smoothie - A few 

months ago, Mapco also added a high 

tech smoothie maker station, where customers 

place the frozen smoothie or 

milk shake in the machine and the high 

tech machine does the rest. 

Sixteen local area stores offer the 

smoothie maker and touch screen. 

Locations include, yet are not limited 



BUSINESS • AUGUST, 2007 


Chamber news briefs, continued from 17 

to the following: 

• 1100 Hillsboro Road, Franklin 

• 667 South Hartman Drive, Lebanon 

• 1021 Almaville Rd, Smyrna 

• 1101 Bell Road, Antioch 

• 2924 Franklin Road, Murfreesboro 

• 4314 Harding Road, Nashville 

A second traditional industry experiencing 

a wave of high tech improvements 

is the local framing store. 

Advances at the local frame shop 

Local framers in the Nashville area are 

now offering several technology tools, 

such as in-house fine art computer searches, 

digital framing/art combinations displayed 

on a computer screen and photo 

restorations captured with a scanner. 

Digital Imaging and Scanning 

Advances - When asked about technology 

advances in the framing industry, 

Karen Haden, Owner of Eaze Custom 

Framing, told O&AN, “The framing 

shops have taken recent steps to incorporate 

digital imaging, scanning and database 

searches to make the framing experience 

more interactive. For instance, our 

clients often have difficulty visualizing 

the finished framed product and really 

appreciate seeing how their art or photo 

will look with different framing choices 

via computer.” 

Haden further commented on the new 

scanning process used for photo restorations 

and colorizing. “Never having to 

part with a treasured photo requiring 

restoration is a big plus in this industry. 

Customers may now just bring the photo 

in for scanning with it never leaving their 

possession.” 

Retrieving Framed Images - Another 

advance employed by a local framing 

shop is the ability to retrieve a previously 

framed item from a computer database. 

Randy Reed, creative director and sales 

representative for Belle Meade/Green 

Hills Framers, stated, “We find it valuable 

to save our customers orders on our computer 

for easy access at a later date. 

Customers may not recall the exact matting 

color, size, or frame they selected earlier 

and often wish to reference their prior 

purchase when shopping for a new frame 

and matting combination.” � 

Rachel can be reached at 

rstanton@outandaboutnewspaper.com 

AUGUST, 2007 • BUSINESS 


LIVING • AUGUST, 2007 


A pain in the back: Part one 

by Jeffrey Howerton 

Fitness Writer 

Nearly 80 percent of Americans suffer 

lower back pain at some point in 

their lives. We like to blame this discomfort 

on our age, our bed or on the 

fact that we’re on our feet a lot. Well, 

considering the fact that we can’t stop 

getting older, sleeping or walking, 

we’ve got to find a way to be proactive 

about eliminating lower back pain. 

Granted, back pain can be a complex 

condition, but its prevention (and 

cure) can sometimes be as simple as a 

few exercises and stretches. In fact, 

since I opened LEAN, I have heard 

more testimony about “healed” lower 

backs than any other exercise-recovered 

injury. 

Why do so many of us experience 

this pain? It’s largely due to our 

sedentary lives and our lack of proper 

movement and posture. When we sit 

at a desk, computer, television, etc., we 

tend to drop into a poor posture of 

slumping shoulders, rounded back and 

flexed hips. Because we earn a living and 

take in entertainment at this posture, we 

spend a lot of time reinforcing it. Our 

bodies, essentially, learn to take on this 

form, which shortens pectoral (chest) 

muscles, weakens posterior shoulder muscles, 

weakens back and glute muscles and 

shortens hip flexors. 

Basically, we take on this “bent over” 

posture and it breeds lower back pain. 

What can we do to prevent this? We 

have to stretch and strengthen. Try these 

exercises... 

For the shoulders: 

• Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and 

raise them to shoulder height. Slowly 

draw them behind you and strengthen 

the back of the shoulder. These muscles 

keep your shoulders in good posture. 

• Now, stretch that same area by raising 

your hand as if to take an oath. Press 

your elbow against a post or wall and 

turn the opposite direction so that you 

stretch that particular side of the chest. 

• Our goal here is to lessen the tension 

pulling from the front of the shoulder 

(the chest) and strengthen the muscles 

pulling from behind the shoulder.Next 

month, we’ll talk more about back pain 

and address specific exercises and stretches 

for the lower back, itself. 

LEAN’s 4 Week Fitness 

This program consists of TWO (or 

Jeff Howerton is a trainer and owner 

of LEAN personal training. 

THREE) Fast and Fit sessions per week at 

$30 per session. Each session includes 15 

minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of 

resistance training with a LEAN personal 

trainer. The program lasts one month, 

but clients who take advantage of this are 

welcome to continue at the same rate if 

they wish to do so. 

In addition to helping develop an exercise 

routine, a LEAN trainer will offer 

some basic nutritional guidelines that will 

help meet personal goals, as well as offer 

testing on flexibility and strength. 

The 4 WEEK FITNESS can begin any 

day. In order to learn more or schedule a 

session, please contact Jeff at (615) 279- 

1900 or Jeff@leannashville.com. 

Coffee Time 

Would you like to talk with us about 

your exercise routine? 

One of our trainers at LEAN would 

be happy to talk with you over a cup of 

coffee. We can help you with designing 

your fitness program, as well as explain 

more about how the LEAN functional 

training philosophy works. 

Just call (615) 279-1900 or email 

Jeff@leannashville.com to schedule. 

Jeff Howerton is a trainer and owner of 

LEAN personal training, where he and 

his trainers work with clients to lose fat, 

develop lean muscle and implement 

strategies for healthier living. �

AUGUST, 2007 • LIVING 



by Tommy Rocco 

A&E Writer 

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by 

Augusten Burroughs, Running With Scissors is 

essentially a story about a boy (Joseph Cross) 

trying to find his voice and himself under quite 

unique circumstances. 

Burroughs’ Anne Sexton obsessed mother 

Dierdre Burroughs (played brilliantly by 


‘Running With Scissors’ is a unique film masterpiece 

Annette Benning), is an aspiring poet who never 

quite makes it in her field. When Dierdre’s character 

brings her eccentric psychiatrist, Dr. Finch 

(Brian Cox), into the picture, Augusten’s life is 

taken to a whole new level of insanity. 

Within the painful and often hilarious 

world of Valium-popping and electro-shock 

therapy, young Augusten does his best to 

adapt and grow in a world with no rules. 

When he is left by his unstable mother with 

Dr. Finch and his offbeat family, Augusten 

develops a sexual relationship with Dr. Finch’s 

adopted, but long since disowned, son Neil 

Bookman (the hardly recognizable Joseph 

Feinnes). What ensues is one dysfunctional 

disaster after another, seen through surprisingly 

non-judgmental eyes. 

Throw in charming performances by Jill 

Clayburgh (Agnes, the last semi-sane Finch), 

Gwyneth Paltrow (Hope, the Finch with the 

least amount of), and Alec Baldwin (the abandoned 

alcoholic father of Augusten), and 

you’ve got an all-star cast in a story 

that has never been told quite like 

this before. 

One of the highlights of this 

truly original film is when Augusten 

and his new semi-sister Natalie 

(played by the adorable Evan 

Rachel Wood) plow through the 

ceiling until the kitchen is newly 

decorated with a huge hole and 

pieces of plaster all over the table 

and floor. The true dysfunction is 

revealed when Dr. Finch enters the 

ravaged scene and expresses how 

the hole “gives the kitchen a much 

needed sense of humor.” Augusten’s 

hilarious response to his action was, 

“I need high ceilings.” 

At first glance, this is a film 

about a gay boy growing up 

under unique and bizarre circumstances, 

but upon further observation 

it becomes something else, 

something much more powerful. 

This is a film about each and 

every one of us, and how we all 

must learn to find our own voices 

using the cards we’ve been dealt 

in this life. 

Sometimes we’re given a lot to 

work with, sometimes not, but the 

message at the heart of this film is 

this: No matter our circumstances, 

there is beauty within each and 

every one of us, and happiness 

comes from what we possess inside 

rather than what goes on around us. 

Augusten finally escapes from the 

world that held him captive his 

entire life. He flees to New York and 

becomes the writer his mother tried 

so hard to prevent him from 

becoming. His first of many novels 

is entitled Running With Scissors. 

Truly uplifting and inspirational, this 

is a must see for all humans, gay 

and otherwise. 

Stop in Outloud! Books and Gifts 

located at 1703 Church St. in 

Nashville to either rent or buy this 

instant classic. � 

Tommy can be reached at 

trocco@outandaboutnewspaper.com

Stacey Irvine, used by permission 

The Art Files: Cafés, white 

dresses and tomatoes 

The Café at Outloud to offer 

original artwork 

Starting this month, The Café at 

Outloud Books and Gifts will be hosting 

an opening of new original art the first 

Thursday of every month. The art work is 

being reviewed and juried by two curators 

hired by Outloud. 

There is a submission guideline available 

via their website at www.outloudonline.com/cafe 

or you may pick it up at the 

bookstore. Submissions received before 

October 1, will be juried for the inaugural 

year. There will be solo shows as well as 

group shows in all mediums and formats. 

The first opening was held Thursday 

August 2, and featured the brilliant photography 

of Stacey Irvine. I’ve written 

about Stacey before. Her travel photography 

dances with color and depth of personality. 

She has traveled worldwide in 

pursuit of 

new experiences,recording 

them with 

her camera. 

In 1999, after 

graduating 

with a B.A. in 

Philosophy 

from 

Vanderbilt 

University, 

she received 

the presti- 

Cool Smile 

gious 

Margaret 

Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award 

from Vanderbilt’s Fine Arts Department. 

With funds from the Hamblet award, 

Irvin embarked on a four-month photographic 

journey through parts of Asia, and 

returned to Northwestern China five years 

later. In 2003 she spent a month at the 

family-owned and -run cattle ranch in 

Southwestern Montana. Don’t miss these 

very personal photographs at The Café at 

Outloud from August 2, to August 29. 

Stacey is preparing for a month-long 

trip to Africa but, fortunately, she will be 

present at the opening to talk about her 

work. Please make plans to attend. 

White Dresses: New Paintings 

by Deb Garlick 

I have had the joy of finding special surprises 

in galleries before. However, a few 

months ago I found a few treasures that I 

just will not leave my mind. I relate to 

them in a way that is rare and I really need 

to find a way 

to get one on 

my own wall. 

Thanks to 

Estel Gallery, I 

now have my 

chance, and so 

do you. 

When was the 

last time you 

asked yourself, 

Deb Garlick, provided by Estel Gallery 

“May I have 

the next 

dance?” Estel 

Book 1 

Gallery is 

pleased to present a celebration of introspection, 

White Dresses: New Paintings by 

Deb Garlick from July 25 to August 25. 

The reception with the artist will be August 

4, from 6-9 p.m. 

In our culture, white dresses represent 

innocence not tainted by the stains of life. 

Canadian artist Deb Garlick captures this 

purity in her paintings with sophisticated 

elegance and whimsy. In her work the color 

seems to emanate from the women and 

girls donning these dresses. Garlick 

explains, “I strive to achieve an understated 

complexity and a stillness that I hope creates 

enough momentum to make people 

stop.” 

From grand moments in a wedding dress 

in “Big Deal” to the simple play of a cotton 

summer dress in “27,28,29...” Garlick 

invites viewers to take a peek and find the 

joy within. 

Deb Garlick earned a B.A. in Visual Arts 

and Art History from the University of 

Victoria in Canada in 1995. Upon graduation, 

she lived in England for six years, 

where she worked as a voiceover artist for 

international radio and television broadcasts. 

In 2003, she returned both to Canada 

and to painting. She has been successfully 

exhibiting her artwork since, and she has 

developed a strong style that is diverse but 

always recognizable. She is also a professional 

photographer and continues to lend 

her voice to documentary narration. Garlick 

currently lives in Victoria, British 

Columbia. Her work is in private collec- 





The Art Files, continued from 23 

tions in Canada and the United States. 

Estel Gallery opened in downtown Nashville in October 

2006. The gallery strives to expose patrons and collectors to 

exceptional new and emerging contemporary artists, whose 

work is innovative, stimulating and moving. Located at 115 

8th Ave. North, the gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 

from 11a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 

p.m. Before or after hours appointments are welcome 

The Fourth Annual Tomato Art Fest 

Put on the calendar: TOMATO ART PREVIEW 

PARTY August 10. 


A special evening for 

those who just can’t 

wait to get a look at all 

that Tomato Art at Art 

& Invention Gallery! 

Always a popular 

event, add great music, 

shake it up with the 

great art and great 

The 2006 Tomato Parade 

food, and you will be 

guaranteed a wonderful evening! Space is limited, so 

make your reservations today! This year, East Nashville’s 

own Eastland Cafe will be providing all the tasty tomato 

Provided 

treats. We can’t wait to see what they dream up! 

Time: from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Cost: $30/person. 

Location: 1106 Woodland Street Art & Invention 

Gallery Phone: 615.226.2070 

On August 11, the festivities begin at 10 a.m. 

Located in Historic East Nashville’s Five Points area, 

which has been coined by Budget Travel Magazine as 

“Nashville’s version of New York’s East Village,” this 

FREE costume-friendly event is not to be missed. 

The Motto: The Tomato... a uniter, not a divider - 

bringing together fruits and vegetables. � 

Nancy can be reached at 

nvanreece@outandaboutnewspaper.com

Nashville Shakespeare Festival celebrates 

20 years of ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ 

Artistic Director Denice Hicks talks to O&AN 

by F. Daniel Kent 

A&E Editor 

One of the most well respected and high-profile arts 

events every year is the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 

Shakespeare in the Park, which is held several weekends in 

a row during the late summer at the Centennial Park Band 

Shell. 

Shakespeare in the Park has become a yearly summer 

tradition for many in a city where professional theatre has 

not yet attained traditional status. 

Indeed, many-if not most-of the 500 to 1,500 patrons 

who attend every night of the Festival’s presentations do 

not attend professional or community theatre anywhere 

else in the city. At a Shakespeare in the Park presentation 

one will find every age range, social and economic class, 

race, creed and cross section 

represented proving 

beyond a doubt that the 

Nashville Shakespeare 

Festival has with 

Shakespeare in the Park 

achieved that rare and 

often unattainable goal of 

returning Shakespeare to 

the masses as it was 

intended to be performed. 

In order to help celebrate 

the company’s 20th 

year of Shakespeare in the 

Park, the Nashville 

Shakespeare Festival will 

be presenting two shows 

this summer instead of 

the traditional one. 

Opening August 16 is 

The Merry Wives of 

Windsor directed by 

Brenda Sparks. In this 

version of the show 

Windsor is a small town 

in southern Louisiana 

around a celebratory time 

not unlike Mardi Gras. 

A week later on August 

23 The Nashville 

Shakespeare Festival 

Apprentice Company will 

open Two Gentlemen of 

Verona, which has never 

been performed by the 

Festival before because of 

its high number of young 

characters. The Nashville 

talent pool for youth has 

never quite been up to 

the demands of the script 

until recently and consequently 

resulted in a total 

blackout of the 

script by the 

Festival. 

As of last year 

The Nashville 

Shakespeare 

Festival’s Apprentice Company has gotten 

incredibly strong and the training that the 

Festival provides them has finally paid off. 

The Apprentice Company will have the leading 

roles in this year’s performance of Two 

Gents and be supported by professionals 

from the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 






Shakespeare Festival, continued from 25 

mother company in what is sure to be an excellent 

role reversal because members of the Apprentice 

Company have traditionally been consigned to 

being faeries and spirits and other supporting roles 

in the Shakespeare in the Park productions. 

In an effort to reinterpret some of the harsher 

elements of Two Gents, the Apprentice Company 

will be staging the show in a clown world where 

life is always a circus. In preparation for the 

upcoming show the Apprentice Company have 

been training hard this summer not only with traditional 

acting training but also such things as juggling 

and pratfalls. 

The Merry Wives of Windsor will run August 16- 

19, 25-26 & 30-31 as well as September 3, & 8-9. 

Two Gentlemen of Verona will run August 23-24 and 

September 1, 2, & 6-7. All shows take place at the 

Centennial Park Band Shell. Curtain is 7:30 p.m. 

Pre-Show entertainment begins at 6:30 p.m. 

Recently, Nashville Shakespeare Festival Artistic 

Director Denice Hicks sat down with O&AN to 

tell us about this year’s productions. 

For more information on the Nashville 

Shakespeare Festival or Shakespeare in the Park 

visit www.nashvilleshakes.org. 

O&AN: Everyone is familiar with Shakespeare 

in the Park, but that’s certainly not everything the 

Nashville Shakespeare Festival does. Why is the 

work that you do outside of Shakespeare in the 

Park so important? 

Hicks: I feel like we are warriors fighting hard to 

keep the English 

language important 

to young people. It 

can be so empowering 

when you know 

how to express 

yourself through 

language instead of 

through fists or 

guns. Every oppor- 

Nashville Shakespeare 

tunity that we have 

Festival Artistic 

to get Shakespeare Director Denice Hicks 

into the mouths of 

young people we 

do. We’re not going to show you how to do 

Shakespeare; we’re going to play with you and 

encourage you to do it too. 

Young people really have a sense of what theatre 

is all about that seems to sometimes get lost on 

older professionals who have been jaded by working 

for money all their lives. We also subsidize with 

grant money for the poorer schools. For the production 

of Hamlet we have coming up at the new 

Belmont Theatre in January, we have some grant 

money earmarked for Title One schools to be able 

to bring their students to see the show. Hopefully 

we will be paying for their busses as well as for 

their tickets. 

O&AN: Do you feel that bringing theatre into 

continued on next page 

Provided


public schools is even more important now as arts and 

drama programs are being forced out of the curriculum in 

many areas? 

Hicks: I think it’s even more important now than ever. 

For the teachers who are kind of corralled into teaching 

Shakespeare it becomes less relevant if they don’t understand 

that it’s drama and not literature which is where 

Shakespeare is usually taught in school. Frankly, 

Shakespeare is boring when it’s read on the page. That’s 

not what it’s written for. Once those characters are in 

someone’s body and in their heads and they can come to 

life it is a whole different experience 

that is wholly unlike reading flat 

words on a page. When you perform 

Shakespeare, you have a real 

sense that you are invoking something 

primal and unique that has 

been invoked over the years by 

every actor who has ever stepped 

into the role and if we can share 

that with someone then we really 

want to be able to do that. 

O&AN: Celebrating 20 years as a 

professional theatre company in 

Nashville is no mean feat. Other 

theatre companies who put on 

equally engaging offerings have 

come and gone at a seeming breakneck 

pace. What is it that makes 

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival 

endure in the midst of all of this? 

Hicks: I really think we have 

managed to carve out a niche for 

ourselves over the past 20 years 

because we are always in the same 

place at the same time every year 

with a fairly consistent product that 

people have come to trust in expecting. 

If they have been before, they 

already have a good idea of what 

their experience is going to be like. 

Our concepts may vary widely, 

but there is always the sense that 

you are going to get a quality performance 

unlike anything else that 

can be found in Nashville. Between 

us, People’s Branch, the Tennessee 

Rep and Nashville Children’s 

Theatre-Nashville’s only four professional 

Equity (union) companies-we 

have a great talent pool from which 

to pull. 

We are so fortunate to have some 

of the great actors like Ross Brooks 

and Jenny Littleton here in 

Nashville because they could work 

anywhere and do well. They choose 

to stay here. I feel a real obligation 

to make sure they stay employed so 

they will continue to choose 

Nashville over Atlanta or New York. 

The more quality actors we keep 

here the more diverse and quality 

actors we will attract to the city. We 

are totally committed to helping the 

great actors we have in Nashville keep their bills paid so 

they will stay. 

O&AN: How can people who are interested in helping 

keep The Nashville Shakespeare Festival alive and well best 

contribute to the cause? 

Hicks: Giving money is always the best thing that people 

can do to help. The more money we raise the better 

shows we are able to put on. Every hundred dollars that 

someone gives us helps a thousand people see our shows. 

About a third of our budget comes from donations. 

When the community supports our work it lets us and the 


local arts commission know that this is important to the 

community. Without people who care enough to support 

our work we might go away, but I really feel like the arts 

commission and the other funding that we get is largely 

based on community service as well. Their support speaks 

volumes about how important it is to them. � 

F. Daniel can be reached at 

fdkent@outandaboutnewspaper.com 




Provided 


A&E Editor 

Katz, the sole “choirboy” of 

Athens, Georgia’s Athens Boys 

Choir is truly a spoken-word 

artist unlike any other. Born 

“Elizabeth,” it didn’t take long 

before Katz was aware “she” 

was different than other girls. 

Namely, “she” was meant 

to be a “he” but through 

some roll of the dice he was 

born a female. Katz’s unique take on life as a transgender 

man living in the deep south helped inform his voracious 

writing that eventually found its voice on a stage 

under the ABC name alongside one other trans-male and 

then later on a debut release from Indigo Girl Amy Ray’s 

Daemon Records. 

Katz has since become a solo act releasing two more 

independently released albums-the most recent being 

Jockstraps and Unicorns-and has begun incorporating 

intense multi-media and hip-hop back beats into his 

shows while still delivering powerful, and often poignantly 

hilarious smokin’ spoken word that is unafraid to push 

buttons in order to make a point. 


Spoken word powerhouse Athens Boys Choir to perform at 

Outloud Café — ABC opens for Team Gina and Katastrophe with Queerioke to follow at Blue Gene’s 

Katz, the sole 

“choirboy” of 

Athens Boys Choir 

Katz turns a phrase on a dime delivering mad rhymes 

in an unstoppable flow exploding from his mouth like a 

geyser covering diverse topics from rough ridin’ cowboy 

love to dropping bombs on foreign countries, from frustrating 

transgender invisibility issues to late night visits to 

porn stores and everything else in-between that captures 

the attention of the verbal virtuoso. No topic is taboo 

and delicate sensibilities and preconceived notions should 

be checked at the door when Katz takes the stage because 

they will quickly be deflated under the razor sharp edge of 

his cunning linguistics. 





Athens Boys Choir, continued from 29 

On August 29, Athens Boys 

Choir will join the all-girl Seattle 

hip-hop dance duo Team Gina 

at the Outloud Café next to 

Outloud Books and Gifts on 

Church Street as part of Team 

Gina’s Heatwave Tour. The 

show starts at 7:30 p.m. and 

everyone is invited to join in the 

Queerioke After-Party at Blue 

Gene’s next door afterward. 

Fresh off a recent tour opening 

for Ani DiFranco, Katz took 

time to speak to O&AN in an 

exclusive phone interview from 

the road. For more information 

on Athens Boys Choir 

visit www.myspace.com/athensboyschoir. 

O&AN: When you first started 

out as Athens Boys Choir 

you had a partner in rhyme 

named Rocket but you perform 

solo now. Why did Rocket leave 

the Choir? 

Katz: It’s much less dramatic 

than people tend to think. 

Rocket graduated college 

and the truth of the matter 

is you are sort of meant to 

be on the road or you’re 

not. You really have to be 

able to handle the fact that 

you might not be able to 

see the people that you 

love for weeks at a time. 

You won’t be in cozy 

beds. So I really think it 

wasn’t something that was 

really fulfilling for him, so 

he decided when he graduated 

that he wanted a 

whole new start and he’s 

doing really well for himself. 

We are still good 

buddies. 

O&AN: How did 

Rocket’s absence affect 

your approach to your performances? 

Katz: I’m really the 

kind of person that if I feel frustrated 

or limited I will go out 

and try to kick it up a notch or 

two and try to put out something 

amazing. I really feel like 

Rocket leaving was a kind of a 

kick in the behind that told me 

it was time to do or die. I needed 

to do something so I recorded 

Rose Cuts the Cake but I feel 

like that album happened way 

too fast. I didn’t take my time 

at all with it because I was 

almost kind of panicked to get it 

out. With Jockstraps & 

Unicorns I think I really put 

some extra special effort into it 

and everyone tells me it’s the 

best I’ve done so far. 

O&AN: Do you ever feel 

like you are trying to prove 

yourself because people have 

pre-conceived notions about 

you and your work? 

Katz: Without a doubt I am 

constantly trying to prove 

myself to people because I’m 

not only an independent performer 

but I am also a spoken 

word artist who is a trans man 

and people always have pre-conceived 

notions about what all of 

that means. I feel like I always 

have to prove something to 

these people. A lot of times I 

find myself warning people that 

this may not be the type of spoken 

word performance they’re 

expecting because once I get 

into it things happen and 

people don’t see that coming. 

O&AN: You recently got 

to up your game even more 

while opening for Ani 

DiFranco. What was that 

like? 

Katz: It was really great! 

I had lots of people come 

up to me telling me they 

had never heard spoken 

word performed on such a 

large level and that was an 

amazing feeling because I am 

constantly explaining what I 

do to people. When I say 

I’m an independent spoken 

word artist they get a sort of 

blank on their face. I just try 

to go out on stage and do 

the best that I can but there 

is always this voice in the 

back of my head that wants 


Listen for the return of O’Riordan 

Former Cranberries lead singer debuts solo ‘Are You Listening?’ 


A&E Editor 

Limerick, Ireland native Dolores O’Riordan 

auditioned for and won the role of lead singer for 

a band called 

The Cranberry 

Saw Us in 1990. 

By the time the 

band made its 

international 

major label 

debut in 1993 

with Everybody 

Else Is Doing It, 

So Why Can’t 

We? she had 

managed to convince the rest of the band-thankfully-to 

shorten the name to simply “The 

Cranberries.” 

Over the course of five albums, a number of 

Billboard Hits, nonstop critical acclaim, strong 

sales worldwide and more hairstyles than Annie 


to show off and prove that I can do whatever I 

want. This is the kind of performance that can be 

performed in a small crowd or to an audience the 

size of Ani DiFranco’s usual size crowd. 

O&AN: How did that experience change your 

approach to your work? 

Katz: I was already moving in the direction of 

making the changes that I did on the current 

album but touring with Ani and being in front of 

that many people at once was a definite encouragement 

to bring my game up to another level. 

Her audiences were such incredibly good listeners. 

You could have heard a pin drop and the energy 

that they give off is just mind blowing. 

Performing in that kind of space really changed 

how I approached my work in that now it doesn’t 

matter if I’m in front of two people or two thousand 

I perform as if I’m in that crowd and it’s 

made a huge difference. I have energy now I didn’t 

even realize I had. 

O&AN: What was the direction you wanted to 

go with Jockstraps and Unicorns that would set it 

apart from your two previous offerings? 

Katz: It was important in this album to really 

show the evolution of my writing. It has become a 

lot more relaxed now. Writing material has 

become so effortless to me now that I think as it 

has become easier for me, it also becomes easier 

on the listener. I write about things a lot of times 

because I feel like they need to be addressed and I 

feel like this album is a true reflection of my personality 

and who I am right now. It’s a sort of “If 

life gives you lemons make lemonade” approach 

in a way. 

O&AN: You seem to enjoy walking on an 

edge with your work. Have there ever been 

Lennox, Madonna and Dolly Parton combined, 

O’Riordan’s powerful Brogue-toned lilting cry 

remained one of the most well-recognized and 

powerful voices of the time until 2003 when the 

band took a well-earned hiatus. 

Now after four long years, songstress, smoldering 

iconic siren and the critically acclaimed voice 

of The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan is back 

with her first-ever solo effort Are You Listening? on 

Sanctuary Records. Co-produced by Youth and 

Dan Broadbeck and engineered by Rich Chycki 

the album is O’Riordan at her best ever. 

Written and recorded between her homes in 

Canada and Dublin, the album is a striking return 

to form, punctuated with angular chords and that 

crystalline voice. Folk-tinged, electric and deftly 

powerful, it’s also a relentlessly melodic success. 

O’Riordan was kind enough to take time from a 

stop in Italy at the beginning of her European tour 

to talk with O&AN during an exclusive phone 

interview about her newly solo status and being a 


instances where you toed that line and someone 

took it the wrong way entirely? 

Katz: Some of my work isn’t easily digested by 

people. There has never been anything really 

extreme as far as reactions from people at shows 

but I have found myself sort of shocked at some 

people’s responses before. I was in Canada once 

and I got an e-mail from a person who was at the 

show who was offended about a piece that I do 

about cowboy love. 

In Canada the image of a cowboy is something 

that is looked up to in a much different way than 

it is here and I had kind of fetishized this image in 

such a way that it had become a sort of cultural 

insensitivity that I was totally unaware of. 

Regardless of the concern I always try to write 

folks back and discuss things because I don’t speak 

for my entire community. I speak for me alone. 

O&AN: For every negative reaction I’m sure 

there are plenty of positive reactions as well. 

Katz: It’s really awesome for me to have people 

come up and thank me for doing what I do 

because they don’t realize a lot of times that doing 

a show for them that night means that I have to 

give up my bed for the night or sometimes even 

being comfortable for the night or getting a good 

meal. 

It really means a lot to me when I get e-mail 

from people thanking me because that makes it 

worth the inconveniences that traveling independent 

artists have to endure. It’s a humbling experience 

really. � 







O’Riordan, continued from 31 

full-time mom (she has four children) and an international 

celebrity. For more information on O’Riordan visit 

www.doloresoriordan.ie or www.myspace.com/doloresoriordan. 

O&AN: After having been so strongly identified with a 

phenomenon like The Cranberries for so long, how did 

you decide it was time to branch out on your own as a 

solo artist? 

O’Riordian: It was really a quite organic process that 

led me to record a solo effort. The priority of my life has 

been spending time with my kids and taking a big break 

from the music industry completely. I’d been in The 

Cranberries for 15 years and we had accomplished quite a 

lot in that time. It was a journey with highs and lows 

through which I discovered much about myself. I grew up 

in a kind of unusual way during this time as a young girl 

in the public eye. Nonetheless when I came to the end of 

that journey I needed to take time to myself to maybe go 

back and recapture what I felt I might have lost by becoming 

famous at such an early age. 

O&AN: How has your songwriting evolved now that 

you are no longer constrained to a collaborative project 

with a strong group dynamic? 

O’Riordian: I suppose that it is much easier for me to 

experiment with things now in that I’m not limited by the 

group dynamic. I can hire someone who can create whatever 

I want to create now, so a lot of those boundaries that 

existed are gone. 

O&AN: Was there any fear going into this project of 

fans that enjoyed the group who wouldn’t get you as a 


solo artist? 

O’Riordian: I didn’t really worry much about if people 

would accept me as a solo artist or not. When you have 

kids and you go through death and you go through birth 

and all of these big things in life that are so much bigger 

than being a stupid singer. It makes it all seem kind of silly 

really. The old saying is It’s only Rock-n-Roll but I like it. 

O&AN: Do you feel that you will ever return to The 

Cranberries or is that part of your life finished now? 

O’Riordian: I feel The Cranberries are a part of my life 

that is behind me for the foreseeable future. Maybe in ten 

or fifteen years we could do a reunion tour just for oldtime’s 

sake like the Police are doing. � 




Provided 



Jonny ‘Gay Pimp’ McGovern goes wild again 


A&E Editor 

With Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis 

locked up in a Florida on tax evasion 

charges, there is a vacuum in the “Gone 

Wild” universe. Never fear! Scandalously 

self-proclaimed “Gay Pimp” Jonny 

McGovern is set to take over the reigns 

with his unique patented brand of wild 

summer fun. 

Gays Gone Wild follows in the tradition 

of Jonny’s past underground solo hits 

Soccer Practice and Lookin’ Cute, Feelin’ Cute. 

However, this summer’s album pushes the 

filthy envelope further than ever before 

with a more polished sound and superior 

musicianship. 

By incorporating booty bass, house and 

even hip hop and R&B beats - two genres 

often associated as anti-gay - Jonny hopes 

to spark a gay positive music revolution. 

In fact, he calls Gays Gone Wild “the gayest 

record ever made” and he may be right. 

Between his outrageously gay music, 

his infamously popular weekly pod cast 

“Gay Pippin’ with Jonny McGovern,” his 

crazy-cool exclusive parties and post-fabulous 

entourage of trannies, weirdoes and 

go-go boys, or as a member of the cast of 

Logos Big Gay Comedy Show, McGovern 

certainly seems to be well on his 

way to big gay domination of every 

form of media. 

The Gay Pimp himself took some 

time from his busy pimp schedule to 

talk to O&AN. For more information 

on the Gay Pimp or his new 

album visit www.gaypimp.com or 

www.myspace.com/jonnymcgovern. 

O&AN: It seemed like you made 

your adoring fans wait forever for 

this album. Why did it take so long? 

Pimp: I had been working on 

GGW for almost two years in bits 

and pieces, baby! My main producer 

moved out of New York so for a 

while I was trying to figure out who I 

was going to continue on with on 

the project. Without a producer 

around it can be hard to create a new 

sound or figure out where you want 

to go, so I was just writing things a 

little here and there. 

O&AN: How did you manage to 

break out of that slump? 

Pimp: I finally hooked up with a 

high-class producer named Adam 

Joseph through a few people and we 

started working together and it really 

started to click. 

O&AN: What are the biggest 

changes in your sound and style 

since Dirty Gay Hits? 

Pimp: Dirty Gay Hits was written 

and recorded in a hot minute! This 

time I was working with producers 

who really knew music. I can hear in 

my head what I want it to sound like 

but it really helped to have people 

who could relate to the kind of 

booty grinding R&B direction I 

wanted. 

O&AN: Did you ever imagine 

you would be where you are now? 

Pimp: My plan from all the way 

back before I was The Ricki Lake Show 

correspondent was gay world domination 

one step at a time. I think 

I’m well on my way, but I’m not 

done by a long shot! � 


fdkent@outandaboutnewspaper.com


Comedienne Paula Poundstone packed the house at TPAC 

Appearance helped benefit the Friends of Nashville Public Library 


A&E Editor 

Paula Poundstone recently performed 

at The Tennessee Performing Arts 

Center’s (TPAC’s) Polk Theatre to a 

packed house. A portion of those ticket 

sales and proceeds from her new book 

will be donated to the Friends of 

Nashville Public Library. 

Known for her honesty and an 

off-kilter view of the world, Paula 

Poundstone’s ability to create 

humor on the spot is legendary. 

Whether she’s talking about politics 

or being a single working 

mom with three kids, her quirky 

observations and spot-on timing 

have earned her the reputation of 

being one of the best comics 

working today. 

Poundstone is so quick and 

unassuming that audience members 

at her live shows often leave 

complaining that their cheeks hurt 

from laughter and debating 

whether the random people she 

talked to were planted in the audience. 

An Emmy Award winner, Paula 

recently premiered her hilarious 

one-hour stand-up special on 

Bravo, Paula Poundstone: Look 

What the Cat Dragged In, and her 

new laugh-out-loud biography, 

There’s Nothing In This Book I 

Meant to Say, is also now available on 

bookshelves nationwide. 

Voted the first woman to ever receive 

a cable ACE award for best stand-up 

comedy special and an American 

Comedy Award for funniest comedienne, 

Paula can be heard regularly on 

NPR’s popular weekly news 

and information show Wait, Wait...Don’t 

Tell Me! 

Despite a busy schedule, Paula is a single 

working mom and remains resolute 

about devoting the bulk of her time to 

being at home in Santa Monica with her 

three children ages 8, 12 and 15. 

Recently, Paula took time out from her 

busy schedule as a full-time mom to talk 

with O&AN about her appearance in 

Nashville as well as the recent announcement 

that she has become the National 

Spokesperson for the Friends of the 

Library, USA and, of course, her children. 

O&AN: Do you find it hard to be a 

full-time celebrity and a mother? 

Poundstone: *chuckles* I don’t know 



CLASSIFIEDS • AUGUST, 2007 

ACCOMMODATIONS 

GET AWAY 

Timberfell Lodge 2240 Van Hill Road, 

Greeneville, TN 37745 (800) 437-0118 

www.timberfell.com 

ADVERTISING 

Get noticed by our 35,000+ readers! 

With more than 2,700 home subscribers and 

a print run of 14,000, Out & About 

Newspaper is Tennessee’s largest monthly 

newspaper. Distribution points in Nashville, 

Chattanooga, Memphis, and Knoxville. Call 

one of our advertising reps for more information. 

615-596-6210. AJ@outandaboutnewspaper.com 

outandaboutnewspaper.com 

Reach Your Desired Market Reach 

your desired market and accelerate your market 

position using Diversity Builder’s effective/ 

affordable strategies. 615-424-2323 

rachel@diversitybuilder.com. www.diversitybuilder.com 

AIDS SERVICES 

Nashville CARES Nashville Cares: 501 

Brick Church Park Dr. off of I-24/65 Exit 

West Trinity LN, then right Brick Church, in 

Nashville, TN 615-259-4866 1-800-845- 

4266 www.nashvillecares.org 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Mr A fund of the Community Foundation of 

Middle Tennessee, providing funding for programs 

that prevent disconnection, provide 

education, promote understanding of GLBT 

issues in Nashville. www.thebrooksfund.org 

Vanderbilt University’s Office for GLBT 

Life Programming, education, training, and 

social events for all VU community. For more 

information: 615.322.3330 www.vanderbilt.edu/glbt 

Watch “Out & About Today” TV Only 

on Newschannel 5+ (Comcast channel 50 in 

Nashville). Saturdays at 9:30pm and Sundays 

at 10:00pm 

AUTOMOBILES 

Jaguar For Sale - $7,000 Jaguar XJ6 - 

1997 Black, Sedan, Auto, 6 cyl, 107K miles, 

loaded, power brakes, power steering, 6 cd 

changer, a/c, am/fm stero, runs well, sunroof, 

leather int, good condition. $7,000. Call 865- 

755-8723 

Music City Dodge Put a Music City 

Dodge in your garage! 710 Murfreesboro Rd. 

Nashville (615)244-6666. www.musiccitydodge.com 

BARS 

Lucky’s Garage 207 14th Avenue No. 

Nashville,TN 615-329-1383. The entrance to 

the club is in the rear of the building on the 

alley.We are adjacent to the Hustler Hollywood 

store. Lucky’s offers free parking. (Do not park 

at Hustler or you will be towed.) Call 329- 

1383 if you need directions. www.luckysnashville.com 

Play Dance Bar PLAY at Nashville’s dance 

club, featuring DJ Lenny B. Church Street, next 

to Tribe. www.playdancebar.com 

Tribe Big City Hot… Nashville Friendly. 

1517 Church Street. Nashville,TN Daily happy 

hour, 4-8 p.m. (615) 329-2912 

www.tribenashville.com 

CAMPERS - RV’S 

RV’s - Service & Parts Family Campers 

in Lebanon, TN. RVs, Service, & Parts - New & 

Used - WHOLESALE TO THE PUBLIC. Save 

Thousands $$$. Our Family Is Here For Your 

Family. Call 866-378-7904 or 615-547- 

0000. Sales@FamilyCampers.NET www.familycampers.net 

CLEANING 

Let Us Cook/ Clean/ Fix The 

Domestic Divas clean, prepare meals and 

even have a handyman to help with household 

repairs. (615) 338-4242 www.thedomesticdivas.net 

COUNSELING/SUPPORT 

Barbara Sanders, LCSW Barbara 

Sanders, LCSW, By appt only: 615-414- 

2553. bsw@barbarasanderslcsw.com 

Carlton Cornett, LCSW 20 years of 

experience in gay-affirming individual psychotherapy, 

couples & family counseling 

2817 West End Ave., Suite 208 Nashville, TN 

(615) 329-9509. www.bigfoot.com/~ccornett 

Charla McCall LPC Licensed Professional 

Counselor. Life solutions through confidential 

counseling and education. Individuals, 

couples, groups. (615)337-8103 

CharlaMcCallLPC@comcast.net 

John Waide, Ph.D., LCSW 1501 16th 

Avenue South, Nashville, TN. 615-400-5911; 

Barbara Sanders, LCSW, By appt only: 615- 

414-2553. 

Leslie Ratliff, LCSW Individual & 

Couple Counseling. 1719 West End Ave, Suite 

614 East Nashville, TN 615-226-2929. 

FINANCIAL SERVICES 

John Wade, CFP, UBS Financial 

Services, Inc John Wade, CERTIFIED FINAN- 

CIAL PLANNER, Nashville, TN. Retirement, 

estate, long term care planning. 401(k), 

403(b), IRA Rollovers. No cost, no obligation 

initial consultation. 615.750.8028. 

john.wade@ubs.com www.ubs.com/fa/johnwade 


CLASSIFIEDS 

FOR RENT 

Mr. Experience unique downtown living at 

one of Nashville’s most historic addresses. 

Expansive views of downtown and the 

Cumberland river, appliances furnished, 12-ft. 

ceilings, original hardwood floors and more. 

Studio, one- and two-bedroom units. 211 

Union Street, Nashville. Call 615-242-3777. 

www.thestahlman.com 

FUNERAL/CREMATION 

Frank A. Burns Funeral & Cremation 

Services A new tradition in affordable funeral 

service. 530 Third Ave S. Ste 4 Nashville 615- 

770-0023 www.webfh.com/frankaburns 

GENERAL 

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 

CPA Services Finally a GLBT-friendly CPA! 

Teresa H. Driver, CPA, for big and small companies. 

Let me help you for your company’s 

bookkeeping. 108 Donelson Pike. Call Teresa 

at 615-758-8943 thdrivercpa@comcast.net 

Solutions for hair loss! Hair restoration 

centers of Tennessee. Dr. Dan Hale. Call today 

for a free hair and scalp analysis. Johnson City, 

Nashville, Knoxville. 1-800-MD-HAIRS. 

GROUPS 

Community Advisory Board of the 

Vanderbilt AIDS Clinical Trials Center Monthly 

meetings providing a forum for discussion 

about the latest developments in HIV/AIDS 

treatment and research locally and globally. 

345 24th Avenue North, Suite 105 Nashville, 

TN 37203. 615-467-0154 Ext 106. vandyactccab@bellsouth.net 

www.aidscalendar.net 

Join Nashville’s GLBT Chamber of 

Commerce For its meeting the fourth Tuesday 

of each month at Lowe’s Vanderbilt Plaza. 

www.nashvilleglbtchamber.org 

One-In-Teen Youth Services Assisting 

sexual minority youth create support & leadership 

for themselves and their peers. 

www.one-in-teen.org 

PFLAG Nashville Help Mom & Dad Out! 

PFLAG Nashville welcomes you and especially 

your parents to Scarritt-Bennett Center the 

third Tuesday of each month. 

www.pflagnashville.org 

Smoky Mountain Rodeo Association 

SMRA is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization 

that promotes education and enjoyment 

of the western lifestyle and the production of 

fundraising events with the commitment to 

raise funds for charitable organizations within 

our community. membership@smra.net 

www.smra.net 

HEALTH 

Bradley Bullock, MD. Comfortable, 

compassionate, competent care for the whole 

family. Cool Springs Internal Medicine & 

Pediatrics. 1607 Westgate Circle, Ste 200, 

Brentwood 615-376-8195. 

Downtown Chirporactic Clinic A chiropractic 

and rehabilitative facility: exercise 

rehab, physical therapy, massage theraphy, 

most insurance accepted. Dr. Angela Walk. 

AmSouth Center downtown Nashville. Parking 

validated. 615-255-9469 dtchiro@bellsouth.net 

Eye Care and Eye Wear State of the art 

eye care center within a designer glasses boutique. 

Great looks in a spa-like atmosphere. 

Optique * Eye Care * Eye Wear. 615-321- 

4EYE. 2817 West End Ave. Nashville, TN 

www.optiquenashville.com/ 

Nashville Pharmacy Services 

Offering fast, friendly, personal service. Free 

delivery & free shipping on all prescriptions. 

2222 State Street, Suite A, Nashville, TN 

37203. Call 615-371-1210 www.rxfd.com/ 

Pharmacare Specialty Pharmacy 218 

20th Avenue Nashville, TN 37203 

Too Young To Look Old? Make changes 

today with Arbonne NutriMinC RE9. 

Botanically-based, PH-correct, Hypoallergenic, 

Dermatologist-tested, never on animals. Men 

and women formulas. Let’s talk! seattlejomac@aol.com 

seattlejomac@aol.com 

HELP WANTED 

Chef/Manager Needed Private men’s 

resort in Tennessee seeks chef/manager. 

Qualified applicant must have 3 years experience 

in hospitality/restaurant industry, strong 

organizational skills, personnel management, 

professional decorum and appearance. 

Competitive salary package 30-40K/year 

based on experience, housing and meals, 

health insurance, retirement plan, and paid 

vacation. Staff positions also available for 

housekeeping and grounds. Resume and references. 

Email mensresort@gmail.com or mail 

Boxholder PO Box 383 Duffield, VA 24244 

Lawn/Landscape Assistant Full and 

Part-Time positions available with professional 

lawn and landscape company. We offer a 

friendly work environment with competitive 

wages DOE. If you are dependable, with a 

great work ethic, and some lawn or landscaping 

experience, we would love to meet you! We 

offer flexible schedules. For consideration contact 

Steve at 615-370-9540 or email 

steve@brentwood-landscapes.com. EOE. 

steve@brentwood-landscapes.com 

www.brentwood-landscapes.com 

Licensed Real Estate Agent - GLBT 

Market Licensed Real Estate Agent that is 

familiar with the GLBT community and market, 

needed to sell downtown condos for builder. 

Email resume to: S.Fox@hndllc.com 

HOME SERVICES 

Free GLBT Referral Service - Are you 

looking for someone to do lawn service? 

Skilled electrician? Dry waller? Plumber? I 

can find the right person for the right job. Sybil 

Knows - contact Sybil at 615-848-4782. 

daisyvictory@bellsouth.net 

Morris Home Inspection & Energy 

Solutions Exceptional service, includes 

DIGITAL PHOTOS and an ENERGY AUDIT for better 

home performance, ASHI Certified. 

Experience COUNTS in real estate inspection! 

Call Rick 615-585-1576 rick@morrishomeinspection.com 

www.morrishomeinspection.com 

Shawins Construction Over 25 years 

experience. Drywall hanging & finishing, painting, 

lawn work, decks, privacy fences, plumbing, 

etc. For all your construction needs. Call 

Sherry 615-830-5954 - 24/7. Also emergency 

work. cshawin@yahoo.com 

cshawin@aol.com 

HOMES FOR SALE 

Custom Homes Built For You - D.L. 

Smith Construction A custom home is one of 

the greatest investments you’ll ever make. D. L. 

Smith Construction will be with you throughout 

the entire process. Quality requires attention 

to the homeowner’s wants and needs and 

you can expect that from D. L. Smith 

Construction. PO Box 50753 Nashville, TN 

37205 615.646.8303 www.dlsmithconstruction.com 

INSURANCE - HEALTH 

Health Insurance for GLBT selfemployed 

and small businesses Low premiums, 

comprehensive coverage. Health, life and 

dental insurance for everyone! R.J. Stillwell, 

Regional Director, National Business 

Association. Call today for a FREE quote! 615- 

256-8667 or MusicRow@aol.com musicrow@aol.com 

INSURANCE 

HOME AND AUTO 

Goldstein Insurance - Tennessee GLBT 

Friendly Protect your family, business, home, 

auto, & property - 10 years experience! Call 

Sondra for your free quote! (615) 221-1117 

www.diversitybuilder.com/listings/yellowresult.php?go 

Your friend in the GLBT community. 

#1 State Farm agent in TN,Todd is in tune with 

your home, auto and other insurance needs. 

Call him at 615 642-3465. todd@tennis.com 

LAKE HOME SITES 

CAMPGROUND 

Tennessee Lake Living! 1+ acre with 

free boat slip. $24,900. Enjoy private fishing 

lake with 3 miles of shoreline and 40+ acres

of nature trails. Gated community with paved 

roads, utilities. Excellent financing. Call 1-888- 

792-5253, x1316. 

LEGAL SERVICES 

Bart Durham, Injury Attorneys 

Justice is your right and we demand it 615- 

242-9000 www.bartdurham.com 

Mediation, Legal & Consulting Services - 

Family and Business Benjamin Papa, Attorney 

at Law. Practice focused on family law, elder 

law, estate planning, and mediation. Free 

initial consultation. 615-236-1488. 

bpapa@forwardfocusmediation.com www.forwardfocusmediation.com 

Patricia Snyder, Attorney at Law No 

charge for initial consultation. 810 Broadway 

Ste 502 Nashville, TN 37203 615-726-3311 

Rubenfeld & Associates. Attorneys at 

Law Serving the community since 1979. 

2409 Hillsboro Road Suite 200 Nashville, TN 

37212 arubenfeld@rubenfeldlaw.com 

Salas Slocum Law Group The firm’s 

focus is bankruptcy, and they have over 12 

years of combined bankruptcy experience.The 

attorneys and staff of Salas Slocum Law 

Group are committed to quality and efficient 

legal service for individuals and businesses 

facing financial difficulties. Maria Salas, 

Attorney. 615-244-6246.1611 16th 

Ave. Nashville, TN 37212 www.salasslocumlaw.com 

LIMO RENTAL 

About Town Limo GLBT owned. Call Jeff 

Shaver at 615-330-6885 or Sheila at 615- 

424-6924 

LOFTS & CONDOS FOR 

SALE 

Velocity in the Gulch Free skyline view 

with every purchase on our rooftop Skylounge. 

Sales office now open. Village Real Estate. 

615-770-2775 www.velocityinthegulch.com 

MASSAGES 

BODY WORK FOR MEN Holistic 

stress relieveing Body Work,Sports 

Conditioning,Health and Relaxation 

North Alabama Southern Tenn. Opening June 

1st a Rural Retreat 256-776-5475 outncountry@gmail.com 

Classic Touch Massage Brian 

Johnston, LMT. Specializing in Deep 

Tissue Massage. Relaxation and sport massage 

also available. 615-714-2966 jbarjfarmboys@yahoo.com 

Got Stress. . .Got Muscle Pain 

Michael D. Duke, Licensed Massage Therapist. 

Deep Tissue, Neuromuscular, Sports, Chair 

Massage. Out calls available, Call 615-430- 

6158 for prices. or email miked206@bellsouth.net 

MORTGAGE/LENDERS 

Sheryl Murray - Countrywide Home 

Loans. Home Loan Consultant. For all your 

home financing needs. 615-596-0000 or 

615-309-7948. sheryl_murray@countrywide.com 

Yes! Financial Mortgage Brokers We are 

out to serve our community. Melanie M. Bailey, 

branch manager. 1042 Graysville Road Suite 

1, Chattanooga 37421. Call 423-892-7347 

or info@goyesfinancial.com info@goyesfinancial.com 

PERFORMING ARTS 

Nashville Ballet 615-297-2966 

www.nashvilleballet.com 

Nashville Opera 615-832-5242 

www.nashvilleopera.org 

Tennessee Performing Arts Center 

615-782-4000 www.tpac.org 

Tennessee Repertory Theatre. 

Entertaining, Engaging Live Professional 

Theatre. 161 Rains Avenue, Nashville, 

Tenn. 37203. 615-255-ARTS. www.tennesseerep.org 

PET & SUPPLIES 

Doggie Day Camp A complete, full animal 

health care facility but much more. 

Doggie apparel and gifts. A spa for your pet. 

Call 615 874-8527 dogdaycafe1@aol.com 

PUBLICATIONS 

Gay Yellow Pages Available at OutLoud! 

or visit www.gayellowpages.com to order 

direct. www.gayellowpages.com 

inside OUT Nashville Tennessee’s #1 GLBT 

Entertainment Weekly Advertise in both iOut & 

our media partner Out & About Newspaper for 

an addition 15% discount! iOut & Out & 

About Newspaper proudly works together to 

promote community unity. 

www.insideOutNashville.com 

Out & About Newspaper One year 

subscription only $24! Serving readers in 

Tennessee, delivered to your home in a plain 

envelope via U.S. Mail. Send check, name, 

address to P.O. Box 330818, Nashville, TN 

37203 or call 615-596-6210. 

subscriptions@outandaboutnewspaper.com 

www.outandaboutnewspaper.com/subscriptions/ 

REAL ESTATE AGENTS 

A Choice in East Tennessee Real 

Estate Dreaming of a beautiful home on the 

lake? Call me, I can help make your dreams 

become a reality. Make your choice an 

Executive Choice for real estate. Johnny Jones, 

affillate broker, Executive Choice Real Estate. 

Call 865-755-8723. johnnywjones@bellsouth.net 

www.thelakeladyteam.com/ 

Distinguished Service to the Greater 

Nashville Area “Prestine service, extraordinary 

attention to every detail. Ruthann’s knowledge 

of the real estate business caused our sell to 

fly! There’s no other agent than Ruthann Gray 

in our opinion!” Teri and Tony Wiesman 

nashvillerealestate@hotmail.com 

www.ohrea.com 

Houston Has Homes! Isn’t it time you 

relax in your own home? Call any time for your 

FREE buyer’s agency representation. Jennifer 

Houston, ABR, Realtor, GRA. Hodges and 

Fooshee Realty. (615)833-4397 jen_kackley@hotmail.com 

Jane & Beth Sell! Jane Anderson and 

Beth Vincent are your partners in real estate. 

They are both experienced and professional 

REALTORS with Village Real Estate Services. 

Call them at 615-321-0577 or visit their Web 

site listed here. www.janeandbethsell.com 

Jim Bolen/Crye-Leike, Realtors 

Bringing buyers and sellers together. 5055 

Maryland Way 615-373-3513 Office 615- 

352-7046 Direct jimbolen@comcast.net jimbolen.crye-leike.com 

John Chambers, ABR, GRI, CRS Village 

Real Estate 615-300-0547 direct. Ivan 

Everitt, ABR, Realtor. 615-390-3391 direct. 

2206 21st Avenue South. 

JOHNNA BAILEY - Bob Parks Realty For 

your foreclosure, commercial, new construction, 

land and residential real estate needs, 

call Johnna Bailey at Bob Parks Realty. 615- 

397-4567 (cell). jbailey@realtracs.com 

Judy, Judy the Friendly Real Estate 

Lady... I would love to work for you! I work 7 

days a week anywhere in TN, specializing in 

Sumner county! Call me anytime. 615-593- 

0677 woodjudy@realtracs.com 

Kate Nelson Discover the economic power 

of homeownership. Office: 615-383-6964 

Mobile: 615-268-0319 knelson@villagerealestate.com 

Nicole A. Coppersmith, Realtor Nicole 

A. Coppersmith, Realtor - The Key To Your Real 

Estate Needs... Listing and Selling in all of 

Middle TN! - Forest Hills Realtors, Cell: 615- 

300-8809 or email soldbycole@aol.com 

www.soldbycole.net 

Roger Tucker - Village Real Estate 

Services Find your place online at our 

Web site. More than just another realtor 

Web site. Roger Tucker: 615-512-2324 

www.RogerDTucker.com 

Sheila D. Barnard, Realtor - Kelly 

Can Realty Associates. Voted 2005 GLBT 

Realtor of the Year by O&AN readers! 615- 

424-6924, SDBRealty@aol.com. hometown.aol.com/sdbrealty/ 

Steve Deasy and Phillip Haynes - 

ReMax/Elite Steve Deasy and Phillip Haynes 

are your ReMax/ Elite PARTNERS. Let us 

sell your home or find you a new home. 

Cell: 615-596-1826. sdeasy@realtracs.com 

www.stevesellsnashville.com 

Toni Pack, Bob Parks Toni has lived in 

Nashville since childhood. She makes her 

home with her partner, a custom home builder 

and their two dogs, a Westie and the most 

wonderful mixed breed in the world. 

Continuing through a relationship built on 

trust, as your Realtor I will always have 

your wants and needs in the forefront. 615- 

405-9106 ToniPack@realtor.com www.tonipack.com 

Your Hermitage area Broker No matter 

what type of property you are looking for Carol 

Slate will find it for you. A proud member of 

the GLBT community. 391-9080 or 818-7619 

carol.slate@crye-leike.com 

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE 

New Listing Near 12 South! 

Renovated cottage with more than 1800 sq ft. 

3 bedrooms, 2 baths, rec room, master suite 

with fireplace, updated kitchen, new plumbing 

and electrical, attached garage. 804 Montrose 

Ave. MLS#875866. Betsy Bass Miller, 

ABR. Zeitlin In Town. (615)383-0183. 

bmiller@shirleyzeitlin.com 

Pier 23 on Florida’s Gulf Coast 23 

coastal residences, one picture-perfect 

lifestyle. Come be our guest in Navarre - 

Florida’s best kept secret. Find out more at 1- 

888-600-PIER www.pier23navarre.com 

Schone Ansicht townhomes Eauropean 

architectural design by DAAD. Germantown at 

Hume and 6th Ave. N. Offered exclusively by 

Natasha Yokley, Keller Williams. 615-425- 

3600 or natashayokley@kw.com. 

RELIGIOUS SERVICES 

Christ Community Church We invite 

you to follow Jesus! 4425 Ashland City 

Highway, Nashville, TN 37218. 

615.259.9636. Worship 10 a.m. Sunday. 

Bible Class 6 p.m. Wednesday. www.cccnashville.com 

Covenant of the Cross A great place to 

call your home! 916 W Old Hickory Blvd 

Madison TN 37115 615-316-7719 

www.covenantofthecross.com 

Holy Trinity Community Church An 

affirming Christian community that ministers 

to all people without regard to race, gender, 

sexual orientation or social status. 

6727 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, TN 

37209, 615-352-3838. 

www.HolyTrinityCommunityChurch.com 

Struggling Gay Christian? Reconciling 

Journey: A Devotional Workbook for Lesbian 

and Gay Christians by Michal Anne Pepper. 

Free copy while supplies last. Send your name 

and address to jfreemantn@comcast.net. 

Church information for West End United 

Methodist Church will be included with the 

book. jfreemantn@comcast.net 

The Church of the Living Water 731 

South Dickerson Pike Goodlettsville, TN 

37072 Church: 615-851-2345 Pastor: 615- 

948-2679 revtonyandronnie@aol.com 

www.churchofthelivingwater.org 

RESTAURANTS 

Red Restaurant 1515 Church Street. 

Nashville, TN Right next to Tribe Serving 

Lunch: Tuesday - Friday , 11-2; Sunday 

Brunch 11:30-3. Serving Dinner: Sunday- 

Thursday, 5-10; Friday-Saturday, 5-11. Closed 

on Mondays. www.tribenashville.com/dining.html 

The Café at OutLoud! 1707 Church St 

Nashville, TN right next to OutLoud! Books. 

Serving lunch Mon-Sat 11-2. Serving coffees, 

teas & fresh juices as well as select foods & 

pastries during all hours. Open 10am-10pm 

Sun- Thurs, 10am-11pm Fri & Sat. Sunday 

brunch 11-3pm. Weekend midnight breakfast 

coming soon. We are a smoke & alcohol free 

environment serving the entire community. 

Free WiFi. www.outloudonline.com/cafe 

RETAIL 

Bridgestone Where technology drives the 

tire. www.bridgestone.com 

AUGUST, 2007 • CLASSIFIEDS 

Disc Exchange Knoxville’s place for 

new&used CD/DVD titles. Two locations: 

2615 Chapman Highway (865)573-5710 

and 8420 Kingston Pike (865)470-0120 

www.buymusichere.net/stores/discexchange/ 

Mr CDs, DVDs, games and more. Two 

great locations: 230 Papermill Place Way, 

Knoxville, TN 37919. Phone: 865-588-0331 

and; 6435 Lee Highway, Chattanooga, TN 

37421. Phone: 423-892-0067.Soon to be in 

Nashville. 

OutLoud! Books & Gifts For our entire 

community: Books, videos, DVDs, music and 

gifts. 1703 Church Street, Nashville, TN. 615- 

340-0034. www.outloudonline.com 

Vinea City of Wine Not your ordinary 

wine store! Selections as unique as you are. 

Wine tastings EVERY Saturday. In the heart of 

“Little Italy” at 2410 12th Avenue South. 615- 

269-6880 www.vineawine.com 

Visual Eyes Sunglasses - Frames - 

Accessories - Gift certificates 2011 Murphy 

Ave. Suite 602 6th Floor Baptist North 

Medical Building 320-EYES (3937) 

ROOMMATES 

House Share (Jackson) Seeking professional 

to share home, furnished room, 

private bath, all amenitys, utilites included, 

$350/month + security deposit. 731-444- 

0633 or m1ru12@hotmail.com 

SALONS 

Men’s Services Private Salon on West 

End offering hair, color, shaving, waxing, chemical 

peels, facials. Contact Jacob at 615-297- 

3774. 

TRAINING 

Diversity Training in the Workplace 

Diversity Builder provides a customized workplace 

diversity training program to meet all 

corporate, small business, and organization 

needs. Topics include: Cultural Diversity, 

Sexual Orientation in the Workplace, Gender 

Identity, Spirituality at Work, Disability, and 

much more. 615-794-5047 rachel@diversitybuilder.com 

www.diversitybuilder.com 

VOLUNTEERING 

Vanderbilt HIV Vaccine Program The 

Vanderbilt HIV Vaccine Program is asking 

healthy, uninfected people from all backgrounds 

to help find a vaccine to prevent HIV. 

You cannot get HIV from the vaccine. You 

should be available for 12-18 months.You will 

be compensated for your time. Call 322-HOPE 

(322-4673) or 1-888-559-HOPE for more 

information. www.hivvaccineresearch.com 

WEB SITE DESIGN 

Are you unhappy with your Web 

site design? Get a clean, modern, stunning 

new Web site or graphic design! Call 

or e-mail today! out@nathangrimes.com 

www.nathangrimes.com 




Paula Poundstone, continued from 35 

how full I would say my celebrity is but 

what I do is no different than the balancing 

act that any parent does. My 

son told me recently that he thought if 

I got a job it would be better and I tried 

to explain that this was my job. He just 

didn’t buy it. 

So I asked him what I could do for 

work that would make him feel better. 

He said he wanted me to work at the 

school cafeteria. Granted, it may be 

honorable work but I would have to 

deal with spills and hairnets and things 

so I just don’t think I could do it. 

O&AN: You seem to have a great 

rapport with your children...especially 

when they call you on stage, which 

seems to have become a permanent-and 

hilarious-fixture to your stand-up act. 

Poundstone: I let the kids call while 

I’m on stage so that it pretty much 

insures they have at least the illusion 

I’m available all of the time when I’m at 

work. There was one time my daughter 

called while I was on stage and she 

wanted to watch a DVD that she had 

rented, but the babysitter felt it might 

be inappropriate for her. 

It was Lady in the Water or something 

like that, and I didn’t know what it was, 

so I asked the audience what they 

thought and they told me it was terrible 

for kids. So I told her right then that 

the audience said it was inappropriate 

for her to watch. I felt really good 

about it because I had the audience 

there to back me up. 

O&AN: Your book is just as laughout-loud 

hilarious as your spoken comedy. 

When did you decide you wanted 

to put together a book? 

Poundstone: It took nine long years 

to write my book. It’s my hope to have 

another one in the next nine years. It 

involved a lot of research and I’m also 

OCD so I had to write it all neatly by 

hand. It was a real challenge for me as 

well because it’s not what I do for a living, 

so I didn’t have designated times to 

sit down and write and when school 

things would come up or anything else 

important like that it would be the first 

thing that would get bounced from my 

schedule. I just don’t work well with 

deadlines I guess. 

O&AN: As someone who is such a 

dedicated mom, do you look forward to 

the day when they are all out if the 

house? 

Poundstone: I don’t look forward to 

doing the empty nest thing any time 

soon. Not even a little bit. My children 

may even be a little bit behind in 

terms of life skills because I don’t want 

them to go anywhere. It’s not like 

Flowers in the Attic or anything, but I 

do have trouble letting my 16-year-old 

cross the street. I may be a little behind 

on some of the important things but 

there will be plenty of time for street 

crossing later on. 

O&AN: Now that you have a book 

out as well as a new Bravo special what 

do you have planned next? 

Poundstone: Currently my bearded 

dragon lizard “Daisy” has become my 

life coach. Each day I look into the 

tank and see where she has posted an 

inspirational message for me and then 

we go from there. What I think I 

should really do is start right now creating 

my sitcom based on my empty nest 

so that I have it sharp as a tack by the 

time the last kid is out the door. 

O&AN: I understand you have 

recently announced a brand new venture 

in the world of literacy. Would you 

care to elaborate? 

Poundstone: I have just embarked 

on being the National Spokesperson for 

the Friends of the Library, USA. I’ll be 

doing PSA’s for them as well as events 

around the country when I do my 

shows. It was my manager’s idea but it 

kind of got started because we are both 

very much library people. 

I was so excited to see the Nashville 

Public Library because you guys are 

touted as being one of the best in the 

nation and I think our new library back 

home in Santa Monica may have even 

borrowed some ideas from you guys. 

Libraries are very important to communities 

around the country and can 

use all the assistance from the community 

they can get. 

As a parent and a new author I want 

our libraries to stay strong because it’s 

true that a city with a great library is a 

great city. � 





AUGUST, 2007

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