STAGE: The Man In Room 306

Now thru 2/14 at 59E59 Theaters:

The Man in Room 306 is a fictional account of the last night in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The story unfolds on the rainy, windswept evening of April 3, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

During these declining years of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King has returned to Memphis to lead a demonstration of striking, Black sanitation workers. This is the second march King will lead in the troubled "River City". The first ended in violence and the tragic shooting death of a sixteen year old black boy at the hands of white, Memphis police. For an anxious Dr. King the stakes couldn't be higher; if this next march ends in rioting, it may permanently damage the viability of nonviolence in the civil rights struggle and destroy his credibility as its symbolic leader. It is under these trying circumstances that Dr. King finds himself alone in Room 306, struggling with his past, anxious about his future, and coming to terms with his life.

Audiences are invited into the private world of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to catch a rare glimpse of the iconic figure as a man filled with life and hope, as well as the worries and burdens of his calling.

Written by and starring Craig Alan Edwards, The man in room 306 is an intimate, human portrait of Dr. King; a fictional glimpse into the private moments of history; into the passions and fears of an incredible man during an extraordinary time.

The Man in room 306 is proudly supported by the National Civil Rights Museum.

(Source)

RIP MLK

SCREEN: The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond (playing now)

Tells the story of Fisher Willow, the disliked 1920s Memphis débutante daughter of a plantation owner with a distaste for narrow-minded people and a penchant for shocking and insulting those around her. After returning from studies overseas, Fisher falls in love with Jimmy, the down-and-out son of an alcoholic father and an insane mother who works at a store on her family's plantation. She tries to pass him off as an upper-class suitor to appease the spinster aunt who controls her family's fortune, but when she loses a diamond, it places their tenuous relationship in further jeopardy.

A young and rebellious socialite Fisher Willow, tainted by a family scandal, boldly hires farm hand Jimmy Dobyne to be her escort for the elaborate party season. As her passion for Jimmy grows, Fisher defies social convention and the burden of history to risk everything for a chance at real love... until the loss of a priceless diamond sets off a series of accusations and betrayals that threaten to shatter their hopes for the future. With his indelible characters and breathtaking Southern backdrops, Williams paints a heartbreaking tale of seduction and loss.

Source: IMDB

NEW YEAR'S AUCTION @ Sterling Sold

ANNUAL NEW YEARS DAY AUCTION-OVER 200 ITEMS SOLD BY CATALOGUE PLUS OVER 300 ITEMS UNCATALOGUED SOLD TO IN HOUSE BIDDERS

Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Time:11:00 a.m.
Kimball M. Sterling presents The 20th Annual New Years Day Auction

Here is the link to the catalogue.

Outsider Art, Fine Antiques, Pedal Cars, Jewelry and Antique Watches, Toys, Large Advertising Tin and Dipper Collection, China and Glassware, Carpets, Furniture from Many Periods, Comic Books, and many Fine Estate Items. Coins Indian rugs, art, Cufflink collection, Toys and much more

This sale will also be carried live on the net at liveauctioneers.com. They will sell about 200 items by catalogue and over 300 items which are not catalogued for internet bidders

Two gallon cobalt jug attributed to Lewis Haun of Greene County Tennessee, Native American paintings by Edwin Deming, Combination Table Company display table, East Tennessee Railroad stock certificate, Collection of early pedal cars including Murray plane-Jolly Roger boat and many more, Large collection of peanut butter tins, Quarter hour 14kt gold repeater watch, Movado Calendar wrist watch, Navaho Rugs, Massive ice cream scoop collection, Outsider art including three works by Linville Barker, large Barker cat, Mary Proctor, Prison Art, Collection of Tennessee History and Appalachian books, Fine Persian carpets, Bakelite flatware, Fine paintings, Country store items, Fine jewelry, Gene Autry boys bicycle, Schwinn Phantom bicycle, Early tricycles and ride-on items, antique canes, gentleman’s cuffs link in gold and silver, fine dining china, coins, 5.00 gold piece, over 75 pieces of outsider art, Longines Military type d pocket watch, a collection of George Washington wax seals from a decendant of the former president and the Father of our country, rare jewelry store display case, group of hunting case pocket watches, nautical keel table, fine country and formal furniture, carved African-American Jacksonville pipe, early toys, Oils by Jack Savisky, early midwifery book, Bicycle inkwell, Tennessee Jackson Press, Early large framed religious crochet, braided rugs, string instruments, stamp collection, Mahogany highboy, French style bedroom suite, sterling flatware and serving pieces, large collection of comic books,William Cross Stone Collection, military items, large collection of interesting antique smalls, three pre 1900 Bowie knives, Custom high grade early French 16ga. double barrel, and more to list soon

Cash or check 10% BP

Preview 9:30 a.m.

SCREEN: That Evening Sun

An aging farmer fights to keep the home that is rightfully his after fleeing from a nursing home and discovering that his son has leased the family farm to his old nemesis. Placed in a nursing home by his son and promptly forgotten, Abner Meecham (Hal Holbrook) realized that waiting to die was no way to live. Determined to enjoy his last days, Abner packed his bags and set his sights on the family farm. At least there he could die on his own land, in familiar surroundings. But Abner is in for a rude awakening, because upon returning home he discovers that his son has leased the farm to Lonzo Choat. Abner never cared much for Lonzo, and when Lonzo refuses to leave, Abner takes up residence in an old tenant shack on the property. Before long, their dispute becomes volatile, each man believing himself to be in the right, and refusing to back down from his position. Betrayed by his son and haunted by dreams of his beloved deceased wife, Abner draws a line in the sand in an attempt to reclaim his life. As threats are made and tension begins to brew, it's only a matter of time before the situation turns savage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Playing now at City Cinemas 1, 2, 3

WISH LIST!!! Garden & Gun Auctions!

Well leave it to my fave magazine to offer the coolest experiential travel experiences ever! Here's the deal (sorry the spacing's a bit janky):

G&G AUCTIONS

Let the Bidding Begin Since our first issue in spring 2007, Garden & Gun has brought the South to life with highly evocative writing, design, and photography. The idea was to make the magazine so rich that readers could taste the mint juleps, smell the jasmine, and feel the shade of the live oaks. Metaphorically, of course. Starting now, Garden & Gun will make some of those experiences literally come to life with the introduction of G&G Auctions. Working with select Southern partners, and with the auction Web site igavel.com, our staff has designed a series of unique adventures that capture the essence of G&G as well as the magic of the South. Throughout the year, we’ll introduce new auction items that cover a broad range of experiences. Some of the upcoming lots include a private dinner party at a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Southern plantation, a coastal tour (by yacht) of the South’s best golf courses, and an exclusive weekend with chefs, authors, and musicians at Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm. Whether or not you decide to bid, we hope you’ll enjoy reading about these experiences as much as we've enjoyed crafting them. Follow the links below to see the first G&G Auction lots on igavel.com. Going once, going twice… Browse Lot 1: All Access Music & Literary Weekend at Blackberry Farm, including cocktails with Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers band, and dinner with proprietor Sam Beall, G&G editor Sid Evans, and author Julia Reed / June 23–26, 2010 Browse Lot 2: Custom G&G Cypress Kayak and Half-day Paddle with master boatwright Aaron Wells

A Wickham Anniversary

Today (7/13) marks the 40th Anniversary of the dedication of the Daniel Boone, Lester Solomon, Sitting Bull and Piomingo statue at The Wickham Stone Park in Palmyra, TN. This was the last statue to be formally dedicated.


"In the last grouping of statues that Wickham created, the selection of personalities at first seems odd. Daniel Boone and Sitting Bull are familiar characters from American frontier days, but Piomingo and Lester Solomon are more obscure to today’s audience. The lack of an elevated platform for these figures may be a reflection of Wickham’s age and reduced agility. Why did Wickham include these figures together in a grouping? Pioneering spirit, love of land, and involvement with the development and settlement of Tennessee might have been part of Wickham’s reasoning." (source)

SCREEN: Tennessee opens 6/5 in NYC

A moving and gripping drama of sacrifice and self-discovery, Tennessee is the story of three people who strive to realize their dreams. Brothers Carter (Adam Rothenberg) and Ellis (Ethan Peck) set out on a road trip to their childhood home in a desperate search for their estranged father, who may hold the key to their future. Along the way, they are joined by Krystal (Mariah Carey), who is trying to escape a troubled life. These unlikely traveling companions are guided in their mutual journey by the conviction that the only way to a new life is by overcoming their past. Official Web Site

Tennesee opens tomorrow (6/5) at Landmark Theatres Sunshine Cinema.

AUCTION: JOE ADAMS OUTSIDER & FOLK-ART COLLECTION

Outsider art auctioneer Kimball Sterling is hosting the auction of The Joe Adams Collection of Outsider and Folk-Art tomorrow (5/30) at 11AM est:

My friend Joe 'The Spam' Adams has collected folk-art for about as long as I have been selling art. I met Joe about 19 years ago and when he attended the Howard Smith Collection auction. That was the first major collection offered to the public. Many pieces in this auction are from Joe's private collection. It was exciting getting into his storage and seeing items that have been off the market for many years from various collections that we have sold. He bought the best Willey Masseys from the Smith Collection, art from the Gitter-Yellen Collection, the Oh Appalachia Collection, Warren and Sylvia Lowe Collection, the James Smith Pearce Collection and many more. This will be an in-house and live internet auction. Both phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Click here for a sneak peak preview of items.

Make your plans now to attend this auction of a lifetime collection of one of the pioneers of the folk-art field. This will be a great event for the art community.

The entire sale catalogue will be on our website about two weeks before the auction. The collection has been moved from Hilton Head S.C. to our gallery here in Johnson City. There will be over 600 pieces of art in the catalogue auction by both major and emerging artists. After the catalogue sale we will auction other art from the collection to in-house bidders. There will be many surprises in the after catalogue auction.

Visit Sterling's site For info on terms, shipping, previews, etc., or email:
elizabethsterling@earthlink.net or kimballsterling@earthlink.net

• Folk art aficionado and storyteller Joe Adams talks about his famous "Chicken Room" and his love for yard bird.

RIP: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. (source)

SCENE/ART: Outsider Art Auction (online 11/22)

My friend Jim once told me about a bear of a man living in the mountains of Tennessee who holds public auctions of outsider art. When pressed to regale me with one of his tall tales though, Jim merely points out that “Kimball Sterling is a big, big man with big, big thoughts and even bigger shoes. I saw him clog dance once...you do NOT want to be in the way.”

Sterling has gathered together all of the Southern Outsider “bigwigs” plus some of the "Wildest" art in one location that you will ever find for the auction he is holding in person and online tomorrow (11/22) @ 11AM (EST). The lot includes works by Mose Tolliver, Howard Finster, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, R.A. Miller, Purvis Young, Charlie Lucas, and many others, as well as a very large collection of Southern unknown vintage folk art boxes, lamps, rugs, quilts and more.

Kimball Sterling is considered one of the top three cane auctioneers in the world. Sterling, Inc. came up in the fields of antique cars, jukeboxes and memorabilia, and is now considered the premier auction house in America for Outsider, Folk and Appalachian art.

Unrelated but incidentally, the keepers of Finster’s flame held a grand opening of the Paradise Gardens Gallery on November 8 and are currently looking for volunteers and donations to help save World's Folk Art Chapel.

SCREEN/SOUNDS/SPORT: Southern-ish Events in NYC 11/14 – 11/18

Lots out southern-ish things to do, hear and see this weekend and spilling into next week:

NOVEMBER 14 – 20 @ Film Forum: My good friend Harrod has a dad who has been touted by the NY Times as “one of our most original filmmakers…A master of movies about the American idiom.” Many of his documentaries were shot in, around or about Southern stuff: the blues, a Texas sharecropper, Louisiana Cajuns, cultural roots, old time tales, an Appalachian fiddler, backwoods characters, good whisky, native folkways. Film Forum is running a retrospective of Les Blank films 11/14 – 20.

SATURDAY 11/15 @ 3:30PM: The South Carolina Alumni Club of NYC invites you to watch the Gamecocks peck the snout outta the Gators…or something like that. Anyway, they’ll all be watching the game at Cooper Door Tavern.

SATURDAY 11/15: Oxford, MS Americana band Blue Mountain has reunited and hits NYC for 2 shows today: 7PM @ Lakeside Lounge in the East Village and 11:45PM @ Hank’s Saloon in Bklyn.

SUNDAY 11/16 @ 12noon: Allen Toussaint: New Orleans Benefit Brunch @ Joe’s Pub. I don’t see this listed on the Joe’s Pub site but Time Out NY says it’s on & poppin’.

SUNDAY 11/16 @ 4:15PM: Join the Tennessee Titans Meetup group at Sidebar to watch the undefeated ballers try to hold onto the top spot. Rory & Dan say: “In case you forgot to check today's power ranking, Yes, We are still #1!”

MONDAY 11/17 @ 7:30PM: We don’t really count TX as part of the South but these bands are too cool to leave out. Centro-Matic + One Baptist General + South San Gabriel @ Mercury Lounge. Also, playing the following night (11/18) @ The Bell House in Bklyn.

MONDAY 11/17 @ 7:30PM: New Yorker Josh Joplin + Nashvillian Garrison Starr = Among The Oak & Ash. They play “Appalachian murder ballads” tonight @ Joe’s Pub.

TUESDAY 11/18: C-A-T-S!!!! CATS!!! CATS!!! CATS!!!
Darin Sergent, GM of Mercury Bar and UK Alum, is rallying the b-ball troops: “We have a HUGE basketball game against UNC (11/18) and a big season ahead of us Cat Fans so come on by Mercury Bar (493 3rd Ave, bet. 33rd & 34th St) for all the NCAA action going on with Billy ‘Clyde’ Gillespie and his team led by big man Patrick Patterson. We will be showing all games through the ESPN FullCourt Package throughout the season so you don’t have to miss a game here in the big city…being so far away from home!!!”

SCENE: GO VOTE!!!!

Image from Yee-Haw Industries: Yee-Haw Industries has been covering America with unique, art-like products since 1996. Partners Kevin Bradley & Julie Belcher opened up shop from a back-40 barn in Corbin, Kentucky, with salvaged, antique equipment previously put to rust. Their vibrant, folk art, wood cut prints of country music's classic stars, such as Hank Williams, Sr. and Loretta Lynn, caught eyes and told stories. Handmade posters featured stranger-than-fiction characters, like ass-whooping grocer Cas Walker and daredevil icon Evel Kenevil. Soon, modern music acts, including Steve Earle, Buddy Guy, Trey Anastasio, Lucinda Williams and Southern Culture on the Skids began commissioning promotional posters and album art.

In 1998, having outgrown the bluegrass barn, Yee-Haw moved to a 100+-year-old building on Gay Street in historic downtown Knoxville (just a few doors down from where Hank Sr. was last seen alive). They began offering tours of the Yee-Haw studio in action and mainstreet store to sell their wares.

Shout out to Scott Peek from Standard Deluxe for the tip!!

ART: WILLIAM EGGLESTON: Democratic....Camera

William Eggleston: Democratic Camera

Photographs and Video, 1958-2008

The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

November 7, 2008-January 25, 2009

Curated by Elisabeth Sussman and Thomas Weski

One of the most influential photographers of the last half-century, William Eggleston has defined the history of color photography. This exhibition will be the artist's first retrospective in the United States and will include both his color and black-and-white photographs as well as Stranded in Canton, the artist's video work from the early 1970s. The exhibition will travel throughout the United States as well as to the Haus der Kunst in Munich following its New York presentation. Eggleston was born in Memphis, TN in 1939. (Source: Eggleston Trust)

ART: WILLIAM EGGLESTON: Stranded In Canton

Shot in 1974 with a Sony Porta-pak, the crazily careering ''Stranded in Canton'' documents a cast of hard-drinking Southerners with the intimacy, ease and instability of a seasoned participant.
In one sequence, a man with peroxide hair, makeup and a sequined T-shirt sings old love songs, swanning around with a toilet-paper boa. In others shots are fired; good old boys decapitate chickens; and a young bearded man with an angelic face raves about being stranded in Canton, a colloquialism for being out of one's mind on drugs or alcohol. Whiffs of Southern Gothic are not new to Mr. Eggleston's work, but here they rise to the surface -- fierce, tragic and proud.

(New York Times)

William Eggleston's "Stranded in Canton"

Directed by William Eggleston - Twin Palms, 2008

Book and DVD to be released Fall 2008 to coincide with Whitney exhibit

SCENE: RE-INSTATE HANK WILLIAMS

This petition calls for the reinstatement of Opry legend, and country music star, Hank Williams. Fifty years have passed since the tragic and untimely death of country music's greatest performer, who made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry on June 11th, 1949. A few years later, in 1952, Hiram Hank Williams was asked to leave the Opry -- with the intention that he would sober up and make a return to the stage that he loved so much. Before he could make that return, he passed on, in the back seat of a car on the way to an Ohio show. It's now 2008, and Hank Williams has yet to be reinstated to the Opry.

Hank Williams has been one of the most influential artists to ever record; changing the face of music, and the way that we view country music. Since his passing in 1953, he has posthumously achieved numerous rewards and achievements. In 1961, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and a few years later, he was added to the Country Music Hall of Fame Walkway of Stars. In 1973, he was the recipient of the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music. He received a Grammy for 'Your Cheatin' Heart' in 1983, and was then inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. That same year he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Life Magazine even ranked Hank Williams #1 on the 'Most Important People in Country Music' list. Within his short years with us on earth, he had 11 #1 singles, including 'Lovesick Blues,' 'Kaw-Liga,' as well as 25 other Top 10 Singles.

We, the undersigned, feel that it is past due for Hank Williams' reinstatement to the Grand Ole Opry. Hank Williams was one of the most influential people to ever record or write music, and his untimely death made it impossible for his to 'redeem' himself in the Opry's eyes, but after 50 years we feel that his legacy has more than made up for any objections that the Opry may have had about his personal life. His lyrics and music helped create everything traditional country music became.

Sincerely, The fans of Hank Williams, Sr.

For more info, visit

SPORT: SEC IN THE CITY: Football Game Watching Parties

Because No Dawg/Gator/Tiger Should Bark/Chomp/Roar Alone!

ALABAMA Crimson Tide @ the new Brother Jimmy's location in Murray Hill at the corner of Lexington Avenue & 31st Street.

ARKANSAS Razorbacks @ The Mad Hatter Saloon 360 Third Avenue at 26th Street.

AUBURN Tigers @ Meet at Bar 515 515 3rd Ave, between 34th & 35th

FLORIDA Gators @ The Gin Mill 442 Amsterdam Avenue at 81st St. AND Sidebar 120 East 15th Street at the corner of Irving Place AND Town Tavern 134 West Third Street.

GEORGIA Bulldogs @ Firefly Bar 54 Spring Street (Between Lafayette and Mulberry Streets)

KENTUCKY Wildcats @ Mercury Bar at 33rd and 3rd

LSU Tigers @ Legends 6 West 33rd Street, bet. 5th & 6th Ave (212)967-7792

OLE MISS Rebels @ XII Bar 206 East 34th Street (@ 3rd Ave)

MISSISSIPPI STATE Bulldogs @ Mercury Bar 493 3rd Avenue

SOUTH CAROLINA Gamecocks @ Copper Door Tavern 272 3rd Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets)

TENNESSEE Volunteers @ The Wharf Bar 587 Third Avenue

VANDERBILT Commodores @ Village Pourhouse 64 3rd Ave (at 11th St) AND Southern Hospitality 1460 2nd Ave (at 76th St) - please check the Vanderbilt Alumni website to see which bar each game will be playing at!