Before The Store opened, Jasmine Ledsinger would drive by and wonder what this new business was going to be. When she learned it would be a place for those in need to shop for free food, she quickly became interested — and before she knew it she was the first employee hired by founders Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Today, Jasmine is The Store's program director. It's not exactly where the Nashville native saw herself after studying social work at MTSU, but it's a job she knew right away was meant for her. In just a few years, The Store's mission has grown as need has grown. Even so, they have an extensive waiting list despite serving hundreds of families across the city. Early next year they'll expand their operation with a second, much larger facility. Guest: Jasmine Ledsinger, program director, The Store Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch -more episodes at nashvillebanner.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A familiar face to many, Joe West is the "house band" at Nashville International Airport. In this role, he performs regularly for ever-changing crowds as they arrive in the city for the first time, or return home from far-flung travels. His regular gigs at the airport have also earned him high-profile spots on other stages in Nashville and beyond. Joe comes from a musical lineage. His parents, Sarge and Shirley West of Fayetteville, Ark., formed the first African American country music duo, and toured together and broke barriers with every performance. Today, Joe's daughter Rebecca often joins him onstage. And after a recent health scare involving a ruptured aorta — he's fully recovered now — Joe is more grateful than ever for the chance to make music. This episode was originally broadcast in January. Guest: Joe West, musician Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From 2003-2023, Jim Cooper represented Tennessee in Congress — most recently from the reliably Democratic District 5, which included Nashville. But when the Tennessee legislature redrew the congressional maps, splitting Nashville across three new heavily Republican districts, it didn't take him long to do the math, and he did not seek re-election. Born into a political family in Nashville and raised in nearby Shelbyville, Jim has always kept busy. And he still keeps his ear to the ground politically. The race to fill one of the seats carved out of his old district is a surprisingly close one, and it will come as no surprise whose campaign he donated to — but some of his other ideas might raise an eyebrow. Hint: They include changing Nashville's borders again. Guest: Jim Cooper, former Tennessee congressman Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For Nashville attorney John Day, there is no overstating how important the rule of law is to our everyday lives — not just when it comes to our personal freedoms, but also in making the economy work in a predictable fashion. He compares it to oxygen: You don't notice it until it starts to go way. John was recently named president of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a nationwide group that has advocated to preserve the rule of law under increasing pressure. He had always planned to study and practice law with his father in Wisconsin, but a college professor suggested John see some of the world first: North Carolina first, for law school, then Nashville for an internship. The law community at the time was much smaller than comparable Southern cities, and he felt like could fit in. He's been practicing here ever since. Guest: John Day, attorney Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Throughout his career, Mark Deutschmann has tried to balance preservation — he worked to develop the historick Werthan Mills complex into lofts — with progress. He's a big advocate for the development of the city's greenway system, and hopes for more ways to build attainable (rather than "affordable") housing. Mark had a winding path to Music City — one that included working with orcas, nearly getting lost at sea, and winding up on an island with only two inhabitants. Once here, he managed to take up juggling (peaking at seven balls at a time) and start his own real estate company, Village, in 1996. He was recently inducted into the Nashville Entrepreneur Center's hall of fame. Guest: Mark Deutschmann, developer, founder, Village Real Estate Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch -More local news at nashvillebanner.com -Sign up for our free morning newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Raised in a military family and a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Sharon K. Roberson has drawn on years in the corporate world to lead the YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee (not to be confused with a similarly named but unrelated organization that you might associate with workout equipment). Moving in to the nonprofit world was an adjustment, but in a way she's returned to her roots in service to others. The YWCA has an ambitious mission: "eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all." That might sound like a tall order, but for Sharon, it's a calling that brings all her years of professional experience to bear on making the world a better place. With domestic violence a persistent problem and hunger on the rise, it's more urgent work than ever. Guest: Sharon K. Roberson, president and CEO, YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch - More local news at nashvillebanner.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Steve Norris had never set foot inside a prison when became commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction. And he had only been on the job three months when he was suddenly thrust into one of the biggest crises in the state's history: an inmate uprising, including a "full on riot," across multiple prisons. Five correction officers were taken hostage. Inmates were allowed to give a live press conference. "I thought about turning it down,'' Steve says, " but ultimately concluded that it was in everybody's interest that the media be allowed in and everybody could see what we were dealing with." Looking back at those 36 hours in the summer of 1985, Steve says it was a turning point. And around the same time, an upstart company called Corrections Corporation of American — now known as CoreCivic — was just beginning. Today, it operates several Tennessee prisons, including the troubled Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility. Steve says he has no special knowledge of what's going on there, but he does have some ideas about how to turn the situation around. Guest: Steve Norris, former commissioner, Tennessee Department of Correction Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For a long time, Barry Mazor (along with fellow music writers) puzzled over what struck them as a glaring omission: There was no dependable, carefully sourced book on one of music's most important groups, The Everly Brothers. Eventually, Barry's agent asked a question that seems somewhat obvious in hindsight: "Why don't you write it?" That is the origin story of Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story. Barry's painstakingly researched new book captures not only the story of the duo's music and lasting influence, but also dives into Don and Phil Everly's close and sometimes fraught relationship. As for himself, Barry knows a bit about having performers in the family — some of his relatives were vaudevillians — and as both one of the country's top music writers and a lifelong Everlys fan, he knows his way around the legend and the lore. Guest: music writer, author of Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, Bob Bernstein announced that beloved Hillsboro Village coffee shop Fido will be closing — three years from now, on June 1, 2028. In the announcement, which was posted below a digital countdown clock, he wrote: "As leases expired, many of those who put their savings and dreams into their small businesses and created the look, feel and taste of Nashville became victims of their own success." The news sparked conversations around the changing character of the city. Bob didn't intend to open one of Nashville's most beloved coffee shops. In fact, he first moved here to be a journalist. But hearing about plans for growing the city, he bought into the idea that something special was happening in Music City. He opened a coffee house — even though he didn't drink coffee at the time — because he loved the culture. Bongo Java, intended to be a gathering place for Nashvillians of all stripes, opened on Belmont Boulevard with a line out the door on its very first day. Guest: Bob Bernstein, owner, Bongo Java and Fido Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Growing up, Stephen Bargatze got into plenty of trouble. He wasn't a very good student. His home life was rocky at best, and he had a terrible relationship with his mother. But with some help from family, he got a chance to turn his life around. And when he found he had some skill at magic tricks, his world brightened a bit. Then he discovered that with clown make-up on, "talking funny" was actually an asset. These days, Stephen is still dazzling audiences with his sleight-of-hand and enjoying the outsize fame of his son, comedian Nate Bargatze. (His parents still think of him as Nathaniel.) He'll soon be recording his first special with his family's production company — one of the many doors that Nate's success has opened for the family. Guest: Stephen Bargatze, magician and comedian Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Liz McLaurin looks at the landscape a little different than the rest of us. As the head of the nonprofit Land Trust for Tennessee, she works with landowners who want to set aside some (or all) of their property for conservation. So when she sees forests and farmlands, she's not just thinking about what's there now; she's also thinking about what that land might look like decades or even centuries from now. Will it be protected and left unspoiled? In her line of work, the answer is often yes. The Land Trust helps owners make arrangements for their land, to make sure it doesn't get paved over or covered in condos. Hers was an indirect path to this work, starting with years as a working actor. In the years since, she's come to know that people who've lived on land know that land and the stories it holds — and her job is to listen for how to sustain those stories for the future. Guest: Liz McLaurin, president and CEO, The Land Trust for Tennessee Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Shane Caldwell got his start on public access television as "kind of a goof," after watching a comedy show and thinking he and his fellow bartender friends could do much better. What they came up with, The Sylvan Brothers, became an underground sensation. That led to a local sketch comedy show called Cuts that aired right after Saturday Night Live. The first musical guest? Vince Gill. The child of performers, Shane hails from Savannah, Tenn. — fishing worm capital of the world — where some of the off-kilter residents he observed growing up informed the characters he eventually created for his shows. Clips of one of those characters, the indelible "Rehab Guy," still get shared on social media. Since those days, Shane has worked with a long roster of collaborators, including Jeff Foxworthy and professional wrestler Dusty "The American Dream" Rhodes. Guest: Shane Caldwell, comedian Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
You should never meet your heroes, the old saying goes. But for Jim McGuire, it has turned out pretty well. Jim grew up listening to country radio, and then — after a roundabout path took him to an Army base in Oklahoma, then to Vietnam and eventually to Nashville — he made a career capturing photos of some of the stars he had once only known through their music. He started out in an old grocery store that he converted into a photo studio — he slept in the back — but it wasn't long before his skill behind the camera drew a steady stream of notable subjects: The Nashville Portraits include legends like Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, Earl Monroe and Dolly Parton, to name but a few. He doesn't often give interviews, so this is a rare chance to hear his story firsthand. Guest: Jim "Senor" McGuire, photographer Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tamara Saviano has worked in radio, been a publicist — Kris Kristofferson was a client — served as president of the Americana Music Association (the first woman to do so), and produced albums and award shows at the Ryman Auditorium. All of this has given her an inside view of the Americana scene from the very start. If that sounds like a singularly winding career path, you can now read about it in her new memoir. This week, Tamara sits down with Demetria to talk about that book, as well as her path from Wisconsin to Music City, what she loves about working with musicians, and what it's been like wearing so many hats over the years while staying true to herself along the way. Guest: Tamara Saviano, writer, author, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Shauna Reynolds and Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, formerly enslaved African Americans established and settled Promise Land in Dickson County. They came from farms around Charlotte, Tennessee, and from Cumberland Furnace, the nearby ironworks town. Some of the first settlers, like Ed Vanleer and John Nesbitt served with the United States Colored Troops during the war. The town remained independent, and actually flourished through the Jim Crow Era. Serina Gilbert is a descendant of those original inhabitants, and with the Promise Land Heritage Association, helps keep the stories of this historic community alive. And she is co-author of the book From the Fiery Furnace to the Promise Land: Stories of a Tennessee Reconstruction Community, which collects many of these tales, handed down through the generations. Her collaborator is esteemed historian and TSU professor Dr. Learotha Williams Jr., who joins her in conversation with Demetria. Plus, after the interview, an audio story featuring sounds and voices from the annual Promise Land festival — essentially a big family reunion — produced by Banner managing editor Andrea Tudhope, which originally aired on WPLN. Guests: Serina K. Gilbert, longtime Promise Land resident and co-author of From the Fiery Furnace to the Promise Land Dr. Learotha Williams Jr., Professor of African American and Public History at Tennessee State University, co-author of From the Fiery Furnace to the Promise Land Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aaron Gray found peace after enduring the unthinkable. His 5-month-old son Joel died in August 2012 after Gray’s then wife accidentally left the baby in the back seat of the family car. But Gray didn’t allow Joel’s death to shatter his life forever — he found peace in nature as he learned to untangle and release his trauma. Gray used the worst moment in his life as a catalyst to help him help others. Through his podcast, Guys Dealings With Feelings, he seeks to connect with men and help them find their own paths to healing. These paths include holistic wellness and realizing the connections between the mind and body. Along with his therapist co-host, Gray tries to normalize men identifying and discussing their emotions: "I’m living life today to make sure there’s no more regrets." Guest: Aaron Gray, host, Guys Dealings With Feelings Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Shauna Reynolds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the time she job-shadowed at the Jackson Sun in 8th grade, Becca Andrews knew she wanted to be a journalist. This aspiration took her from Tennessee to California and back again as she began an award-winning career as an investigative reporter. Andrews’ extensive coverage of reproductive healthcare and right-wing extremism prepared her for her latest project, American Shrapnel. As co-writer and cohost, Andrews retraces the violent crimes of serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, explores the past that filled him with hate and aggression and describes the manhunt that put the elusive perpetrator in prison. It’s a story that took Andrews, her cohost and their producer three years to research and report, now unfolding one disturbing podcast episode at a time. Guest: Becca Andrews, journalist, co-host, American Shrapnel Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Shauna Reynolds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On Tuesday, the state of Tennessee executed Byron Black, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1989 for the murders of his then-girlfriend Angela Clay and her two daughters, nine-year-old Latoya and six-year-old Lakeisha. Black, who was intellectually disabled, had an implanted defibrillator that his attorney argued could cause undue suffering if it attempted to shock his heart as execution drugs took effect. Ultimately, after a series of legal challenges, the execution was allowed to proceed without intervention from either the Tennessee State Supreme Court or Gov. Bill Lee. As he was injected with a lethal dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital on Tuesday morning, Black was observed by media witnesses, including Banner editor Steve Cavendish, to groan, "Oh, it's hurting so bad." Black was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. Afterward, attorney Kelley Henry said her client had been "tortured." A statement from the victims' family read, in part, "I thank God for this day, a day that was a long time coming." While initial data indicated that the defibrillator did not activate during the execution, an autopsy will take 8-12 weeks; in the meantime, Henry said in an emailed statement, "Make no mistake, we all saw with our own eyes that the pentobarbital did not work like the State's expert testified that it would. Mr. Black suffered." Guests: Steve Cavendish, editor-in-chief, official media witness; Steven Hale, criminal justice reporter and author of Death Row Welcomes You Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Lilly Sabella and Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What started as an ordinary ride home from a track meet changed Cathy Carillo's life. When Metro Police stopped her father for a broken taillight in 2009, they arrested him, and he was later deported. Cathy, who was 14 years old at the time, was left stranded on the side of the road and wondering: “Is this really home?” That night set Cathy on a 15-year path that recently led to helping found The ReMIX Tennessee, a grassroots Latino community organization. As more families are torn apart by separation due to ICE arrests like those that took place during May's joint-federal state immigration sweep through Nashville’s Latino neighborhoods, Cathy spoke to Banner & Company about starting the anonymous hotline Music City Migra Watch for people to report ICE sightings and The ReMIX Tennessee’s urgent and evolving work. Guest: Cathy Carillo, co-founder, The ReMIX TN Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Steve Haruch and Lilly Sabella Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When he first arrived in Nashville sight unseen, Ron Brice was just here for a job — running a video arcade. So how did a Michigander with no background in music aside from being a fan end up owning one of the city's most important independent venues? That story involves a gym, a professional wrestler, a Mexican restaurant and a whole lot of sweat equity. The club Ron eventually opened up, Third & Lindsley, has hosted some of the city's best musicians for three decades, with some updates to the sound system and floor plan along the way. In a changing Music City, it's one of the last indie venues standing. And with a brand new lease, they will keep that tradition going for at least a few more years. Guest: Ron Brice Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Steve Haruch and Shauna Reynolds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices