May we see you at the Bellevue Picnic? Springtime in Nashville is a time of year when – like flowers and bushes – we see a blossoming of book events, music concerts, sports events and weekend festivals. I’m involved in some and have friends who appear at others. Thought I’d share a few for May: FESTIVALS: I will be hosting a booth full of local authors Continue reading
Ray Stevens is April Cool, No Joke I had a lot of fun interviewing country music and comedy legend Ray Stevens for the Ledger about his new Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom, which will be the first major entertainment complex in the Bellevue suburb located on the west side of Nashville. Ray has a great sense of humor – obviously – and was very easy to Continue reading
By Tom Wood Four, perhaps five, months of hard labor remain before the highly anticipated grand opening, but country music and comedy legend Ray Stevens is already pulling back the curtain to reveal the wizardry behind his Oz-like dream of a lifetime. It is easy to say “Everything Is Beautiful” – that’s the title of Stevens’ signature 1970 Grammy-winning song – about the multi-million dollar, Continue reading
By Tom Wood There’s no easy way to pigeonhole the new Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom and define exactly what it is and what it will mean to Music City’s tourism and entertainment industry. At its heart, the 700-plus seat facility will be an old-school dinner club with live performances planned nightly. Stevens’ concept for the Showroom was inspired by his last-century performances at the Desert Continue reading
By Tom Wood Plans for a real-life Larry’s Country Diner restaurant to be built in Bellevue are no longer on the front burner. They’re still simmering but could be off the stove entirely. The project – based on a popular cable television show of the same name that is hosted by former WSM disc jockey Larry Black – sits half-finished at the Highway 70 exit Continue reading
March musings on Books, TV, Sports and Life When I was in college last century at Middle Tennessee State University, I wrote a (mostly) sports column “Wood Peckings” for the student newspaper Sidelines. But I also made observations about campus life, sports, entertainment and other topics of interest. I’m returning to that format this month, discussing various topics. BOOKS: Below is an excerpt from Five-Star Amazon review of Continue reading
A New Year Blossoms With Big Changes I’m pretty busy this month trying to get Turn to Stone finished while starting a new screenplay, so I don’t have a lot to say about either of those projects right now. What I do want to mention are the big changes that are in store this year for a couple of television shows filmed in Music City. Nashville Continue reading
South California Purples (2017) By Baron R. Birtcher 248 pp. The Permanent Press, $28 cloth Full disclosure: I finally got to meet Baron R. Birtcher at the 2016 Killer Nashville writers convention in Franklin, Tennessee. We had both been attending for years, and Baron’s book Rain Dogs (2013) was nominated for the conference’s annual Claymore and Silver Falchion Awards. But our paths never crossed until last Continue reading
By Tom Wood NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Zach Johnson watched his Florida Gulf Coast basketball team squander a big first-half lead. And with another meltdown a real possibility, the sophomore guard wasn’t about to let it happen again. Thanks in large part to Johnson’s big plays down the stretch, the Eagles (14-5, 3-0 ASUN) hung on for an 84-80 victory over scrappy Lipscomb (10-10, 2-1) on Continue reading
By Tom Wood NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When one team’s shooting is red-hot from outside and the opponent goes ice-cold, the final result can be pretty lopsided. That was certainly the case yesterday at Allen Arena as the FGCU women (13-6, 2-0 ASUN) rolled to a 90-63 victory over host Lipscomb (3-14, 0-2). The Eagles shot 52.2 percent (12-23) from 3-point range while limiting Lipscomb to Continue reading
