The Cotton Museum could soon be purchased and managed by the state of Tennessee.
A bill filed in the Tennessee General Assembly by state Rep. Torrey Harris (D-Memphis) and state Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) would put the Memphis museum in state hands on July 1.
The bill’s caption reads the proposed law “requires the state to enter into good faith negotiations for the purchase of the Cotton Museum in Memphis, subject to approval by the State Building Commission.”
The full bill text says that the state would enter into negotiations to manage the museum. If approved, management would given to the Tennessee State Museum and managed by the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission in collaboration with the Tennessee Historical Commission.
The museum was founded in 2006 to “preserve the history of this worldwide marketplace and to tell the epic story of the famed cash crop and its profound influence on the city of Memphis,” according to its website.
“Our mission is to share the story of the cotton and the influences of the people that were gathered here around the industry not only with a growing international audience, but with Memphis area residents, especially our city’s youth,” the site reads.
The bill was filed earlier this month. Its first formal review is planned for Wednesday during the Senate Education Committee.
The woman who sought to steal Graceland from the Presley family pleaded guilty to fraud charges in court Tuesday.
According to court documents, Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, Missouri, orchestrated a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland — using a fake company, forged documents, and false court filings.
Findley falsely claimed that Elvis Presley’s daughter had pledged Graceland as collateral for a loan that she failed to repay before her death. Findley threatened to foreclose on Graceland and auction it to the highest bidder if Presley’s family did not pay or settle the claim against the estate.
In court, Findley pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18th and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young answers question on xAI, MATA, and more in an AMA. (Credit: City of Memphis)
Memphis Mayor Paul Young answered questions about wide-ranging topics in his AMA (Ask Me Anything) session in the Memphis subreddit Monday.
Memphis Redditors wanted to know his positions on Elon Musk and his xAI supercomputer, what’s happening at the Memphis Area Transit Authority, why the road from Memphis International Airport is so bad, what he thought of the Dr. Marie Feagins/Memphis Shelby-County Schools situation, drive-out tags, and more.
Young responded with (what appeared to be) pretty straight-forward answers.
On Elon Musk, for example: Young said he understood “why some people are wary of working with a billionaire who has a larger-than-life personality, but I separate the personality from the project.” He explained that city, county, and state taxes invested around $100 million in the Electrolux facility and it was sitting vacant. Now, with, xAI it’s drawn a $10 billion investment here that could mean “tens of millions of dollars annually in tax revenue.”
Below, we’ve pulled most of the answered questions from the AMA:
Sen. Bo Watson, a Republican from Hixson, chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee of the Tennessee General Assembly. (Larry McCormack for Chalkbeat)
A state Republican leader has introduced a resolution encouraging Tennessee teachers, especially geography teachers, to use the names Gulf of America and Mount McKinley when speaking with their students about map locations recently rebranded by President Donald Trump.
As a proposed resolution and not a law, the measure would not place any mandates or requirements on teachers if it’s approved.
State Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, filed his resolution Thursday and had amassed 19 co-sponsors, including Lt. Governor Randy McNally, by the end of the day, ensuring its passage in the 33-member Senate.
Watson’s resolution follows Trump’s executive order renaming as the Gulf of America the body of water that for 400 years has been known internationally as the Gulf of Mexico. The order — titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” — also reversed President Barack Obama’s 2015 executive order renaming Alaska’s Mount McKinley, the nation’s highest peak, as Denali, the site’s Native Alaskan name.
Republican lawmakers in Iowa already have advanced a bill that would require schools to change educational materials to map names that align with Trump’s “America First” worldview.
The Tennessee proposal reads: “We most heartily agree with President Trump that ‘the naming of our national treasures … should honor the contribution of visionary and patriotic Americans in our nation’s rich past.’”
On Friday, Senate Democrats called the resolution a “distraction” to important education matters aimed at preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.
“Everybody has a right to file resolutions if they think it’s important, but it’s not going to be one that I’ll support,” said Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, of Memphis.
Trump’s order has already sparked reflection, discussion, and debate among teachers, as well as mapmakers, journalists, and textbook publishers who seek to stay apolitical about map lines that are inherently political.
Mark Finchum, executive director of the Tennessee Council for the Social Studies, said his organization’s board has not taken a position so far or offered guidance to social studies teachers who are its members.
“Personally, I believe what teachers will do is what’s in the best interest of students,” said Finchum, a retired social studies teacher from Jefferson County.
“I don’t think they’re going to ignore the topic, but I also don’t think they’ll simply call it the Gulf of America and continue with the lesson,” he said. “In Tennessee, geography is primarily taught in middle and high school, so these students are old enough to have heard the words Gulf of Mexico. If you just call it the Gulf of America, some student is going to raise their hand.”
Tennessee, which overwhelmingly voted for Trump last fall and where Republicans have a firm grip on state government, has been an early adopter of laws stoking culture war battles around education in recent years.
In 2021, it became one of the first states to enact a law intended to restrict K-12 classroom discussions about race, gender, and bias. That law is being challenged in court by a group of teachers and the state’s largest teacher organization.
Under Republican Governor Bill Lee, the legislature also has passed several laws leading to the purging of hundreds of library books from public schools, with titles involving race, sex, and the Holocaust among the most frequent targets.
And earlier this month, Watson introduced a bill that could allow school districts and charter schools to bar undocumented students from enrolling, potentially challenging a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision entitling all children to a public education regardless of their immigration status.
His latest resolution says the body of water between Florida and Mexico warrants renaming because of the gulf’s pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy.
Regarding the name of the nation’s highest peak in Alaska, the resolution cites President William McKinley’s leadership behind the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War and the nation’s rapid expansion, including the annexations of Puerto Rico, Guam, and Hawaii, during McKinley’s administration from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
Informally, Alaskans have called the snow-covered mountain Denali, its Native name, for decades. President McKinley, who was from Ohio, never set foot in the state.
You can track the resolution on the General Assembly’s website.
Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
“The state cannot tell me how to operate my church,” said Rev. Kevin Riggs, pastor of Franklin Community Church. (Photo: John Partipilo)
A pair of bills by Republicans lawmakers that would penalize charitable organizations that serve immigrants — and potentially lead to their employees’ arrests — are drawing pushback from Tennessee faith leaders as an infringement on their religious freedom.
One bill (HB322/SB392) would create a new “human smuggling” crime for those who transport, encourage or induce 10 or more adults to illegally enter or remain in the state by “concealing, harboring or shielding” them.
Organizations, including churches and other nonprofits, that commit or are “about to commit” the offense could be dissolved by the Tennessee Attorney General. And individuals who participate in inducing or encouraging activities — such as church staff, nonprofit employees or private company workers — could be subject to a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000.
A second bill (HB811/SB227) would open up charitable organizations to lawsuits if they have provided housing services to an individual without permanent legal immigration status and then that individual goes on to commit a crime.
Both measures could directly impact the routine charitable programs Tennessee churches and other nonprofits provide to individuals regardless of their immigration status, faith leaders said.
“I’m deeply concerned about how broad these bills are, and my fear is that any church that is seeking to help any immigrant could be penalized in some way,” said The Rev. Eric Mayle, pastor of Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville.
“And that prevents us from exercising our religious freedom to care for the vulnerable or stranger in our midst who we are commanded by Christ to care for,” he said.
State Senator Brent Taylor (R) Memphis district 31 Shelby County, during the 113th general Assembly
Photograph by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout
Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), who is the chief sponsor of the bill aimed at housing services and a cosponsor of the human smuggling legislation, said both bills are designed to hold non-governmental agencies, or NGOs, accountable for their roles in providing services that keep immigrants without legal status in Tennessee communities.
The bills are not intended to interfere with the charitable work of faith based groups, such as those that provide temporary shelters or English as a Second Language programs, as his own church offers, he said.
Even heaven has an immigration policy.
Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis)
“I would remind the churches that even heaven has an immigration policy,” Taylor said. “You can’t climb over the wall in heaven. You can’t slick talk St. Peter into the gates of heaven. There’s a very specific way you come into heaven to become a resident of heaven. They’ve got a very strict immigration policy, and I don’t think its unreasonable for Americans to have an immigration policy that people follow.”
The bills are among an unprecedented slate of immigration-related legislation filed in the Tennessee Legislature this year. More than three dozen bills have been filed to restrict immigrants’ access to public services, including K-12 schools, or penalize those who aid them.
A sweeping measure signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday offers to significantly ramp up state involvement in immigration enforcement in collaboration with the Trump Administration.
The measure creates a new state enforcement office, provides grants as incentives for local law enforcement to take on immigrant enforcement duties, creates distinct drivers licenses for noncitizens and makes it a felony for public officials to back sanctuary policies. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee pledged to bring a legal challenge to the law.
New ‘human smuggling’ offense
The proposal to create a new “human smuggling” offense would create a felony for knowingly transporting at least 10 adults or 5 children who lack permanent legal immigration status “for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.” The felony also applies to individuals who encourage or induce 10 or more adults or five or more children to “enter or remain” in Tennessee by “concealing, harboring, or shielding those persons from detection.”
The bill, Taylor and Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) also creates a second misdemeanor offense for those who “harbor or hide, or assist another in harboring or hiding” individuals they know or should have known have illegally entered the United States. The misdemeanor comes with a $1,000 penalty attached to each individual who was concealed, harbored or shielded.
Taylor referred questions about the granular details of the bill to Barrett, its chief sponsor, who did not respond to messages seeking comment about the bill on Friday.
Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, noted the felony offense could broadly apply to construction site employees driven by van to worksites or nonprofits providing adults and children bus passes as part of their services.
The use of the word “encourage” to define the proposed new crime creates an added layer of vagueness to the bill, Luna said.
“By providing people food maybe you’re encouraging people to stay?” Luna said. “The point is they don’t define ‘encourages.’
The broad nature of the language could apply to nonprofit legal services providers that provide legal advice, food banks that distribute goods, churches that offer community services, immigrant-serving nonprofits that educate individuals about their rights, Luna noted.
‘The state cannot tell me how to operate my church’
Pastor Kevin Riggs of Franklin Community Church said he is concerned the bill to penalize organizations that provide housing assistance would have a direct impact on his church.
Riggs’ church helps low-income individuals access housing programs, funded through a federal Housing and Urban Development program whose rules are at odds with the bill being proposed.
If there’s a person in front of us who has got need, we’re going to meet the need.
– Rev. Kevin Riggs, Franklin Community Church
“It would affect the work, Riggs said. “It’s put us in a bind, because you got the state telling you, you have to do one thing, and you have the federal government telling you, you can’t do that.” Regardless of whether the bill ultimately becomes law, Riggs said his church would not veer from its Christian mission to help those in need. “The state cannot tell me how to operate my church,” Riggs said.
“If there’s a person in front of us who has got need, we’re going to meet the need,” he said. “That’s part of our church’s mission, and for the state to tell us we cannot is a violation of our First Amendment rights to practice our religions in the way I believe we have been called.”
Taylor, in an interview with the Lookout, said his intent was for the bill to apply only to long-term housing services provided by charitable organizations in Tennessee communities. While the language of the bill filed does not specify long term housing, Taylor said he would review the bill to possibly amend it.
“I’m not envisioning a homeless shelter,” he said. “What I envision is an NGO assisting them finding a longterm rental in a house or apartment, not an overnight stay in a homeless shelter. No one is trying to prevent illegal immigrants from seeking shelter on a cold winter night or from rain storm.”
Nonprofits a new front in immigration enforcement
Churches, faith-based and other nonprofit organizations that work with individuals regardless of their immigration status are increasingly becoming targets of Republican-led efforts to clamp down on illegal immigration, according to Kristen Etter, director of policy and services at the Texas Immigration Law Council.
On Wednesday, Congressional republicans sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding an investigation into non-governmental agencies receiving public funding to work with immigrant populations. The letter, without evidence, accused nonprofit agencies of “knowingly assisting criminal aliens violating our immigration laws” and “operating a human smuggling campaign on the backs of U.S. taxpayers.”
Last month, influential conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation listed as its No. 1 immigration-related policy goal to repurpose public funding from immigrant-serving nonprofits – whom they accused of “facilitating the border crisis” – to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As one of his first executive orders after taking office, President Donald Trump called on the U.S. Attorney General and the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the funding of immigrant-serving nonprofits.
And in Texas, ongoing lawsuits are challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to issue investigative demands to immigrant-serving organizations he has accused of facilitating illegal immigration, among them: Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley and Annunciation House, a Catholic organization. The organizations have argued in court that Paxton’s efforts violate their First Amendment right to free speech, association and religion.
“They want to criminalize all organizations that work with immigrants,” Etter said.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Germantown ticketed Alexis Luttrell, saying her decorations were against city law. (Credit: FIRE)
A Germantown resident sued the suburb in federal court Wednesday after she was cited by the city for her Christmas decorations.
Alexis Luttrell was popped by the city late last year because her Christmas decorations included skeletons. A photo of the scene shows a simulated human skeleton wearing a red-and-green tutu holding a leash of garlands attached to a skeleton dog wearing a Christmas tree hat.
Germantown ticketed Alexis Luttrell, saying her decorations were against city law. (Credit: FIRE)
But the city of Germantown says the display is against city code. It even has a law against it on the books.
According to the Luttrell lawsuit, Germantown law says that decorations “shall not be installed or placed more than 45 days before the date of the holiday for which said decorations are intended and shall be removed within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days, following the date of the holiday for which said decorations were intended. Holiday lights, even if not illuminated, are not permitted to remain on any house or structure year-round.”
But Luttrell thinks the law is a violation of her First-Amendment right to free speech. She sued the city in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Aiding Luttrell in the suit are lawyers from the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
“There is simply no good reason for the government to care how and when a resident celebrates a holiday in their own front yard,” said FIRE attorney Colin McDonell. “When government officials try to stop that resident from expressing their holiday spirit to others, that violates the First Amendment.”
Luttrell’s skeletons went up in October for Halloween. Later, they held political signs for Election Day. In December, though, a Germantown code enforcement agent left a notice that the skeletons violated city law. She dressed them up for Christmas anyway.
In early January, Luttrell got a citation from the city, reminding her the skeletons still violated city law. If she didn’t pay the ticket, she’d have to appear before a judge this month. If she was found guilty, she’d be fined, and given a court order that she could never use skeletons in her holiday displays. City officials, she was told, could even enter her property and forcibly remove the skeletons.
“You don’t have to like my decorations, but that doesn’t mean Germantown has the right to force me to take them down,” Luttrell said in a statement. “This is America. Even our local government has to respect our rights.”
FIRE says the ordinance is unconstitutional, and that city governments can impose restrictions on displays that address safety, noise, or light pollution, but Germantown’ telling residents how and when they must celebrate a holiday’s law “is simply targeting protected expression.”
Luttrell’s skeletons are still up as of Wednesday, dressed in a “Love Is Love” theme for Valentine’s Day. She plans to costume them for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Pride Month.
“Perhaps for President’s Day, I’ll dress the skeleton like a Founding Father and give him a copy of the Constitution,” said Luttrell. “Maybe a visual display will make it finally sink in when they ask me to tear it down.”
Chewy has partnered with shelters across the country for Valentine’s Day foster field trips. Here is Yamaha from Broward County Animal Care enjoying a date in Florida. (Photo: Courtesy Chewy)
A few unlucky singles are in need of a date this Valentine’s day. They’re not too picky about who takes them out, as long as their date doesn’t mind a bit of drool (who wouldn’t drool over you?), the occasional woof (at least it’s not a cat call), and a bit of puppy love. And, listen, we at the Flyer aren’t going to recommend just any old single; we’re only gonna recommend the cream of the crop — and that would be the pups at the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County.
For this Valentine’s Day, singles, couples, and dog-lovers can take an adoptable pup out for a date away from the shelter as part of Chewy’s Dogs Date Out. Chewy, an online pet food and supplies retailer, has partnered with shelters like the Humane Society across the country for these Valentine’s Day foster field trips. To make the dates go smoothly, each registrant will receive a Chewy Date Kit, including Valentine’s-themed toys, treats, a leash, blanket, portable water bottle, an “Adopt Me” bandana, and a poop bag dispenser (for those first date jitters).
The 10 Memphis dogs who will be going on dates have “great behavior skills,” says Destini Johnson, the Humane Society’s events & marketing manager, and a break from the shelter will provide much-needed socialization, enrichment, and a bit of peace. Plus, it’ll boost their chances of finding a forever home, whether with their dates or just by the nature of being out and about.
(Photo: Courtesy Chewy)
For that reason, those who sign up will also receive a list of dog-friendly places they can visit to make the most of their day. Some examples Johnson gives include Shelby Farms Park, Wise Acre Brewery, City & State, and Crosstown Concourse.
So far, five of the 10 spots have been claimed, so sign up here. Each registrant will pick up their date after a brief tutorial at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 14th, and each pup will need to be returned by 4 p.m. And if you can’t take a dog out on date but still need a reason to visit the shelter, the Humane Society has set up a kissing booth in the lobby. “It’s very Valentine’s-themed,” Johnson says.
“Outside of it being Valentine’s Day, this opportunity to foster a dog for a day is a thing that we already do,” Johnson adds. “People are able to come on a random Tuesday or random Thursday and do a foster field trip. … We’re really trying to incorporate opportunities for socialization.” (You can find out more about volunteering and fostering here.)
The Humane Society will also host its annual The Fast & The Furriest 5K on March 15th. The race is dog-friendly and St. Patrick’s Day-themed. Register here.
(left) Marsha Blackburn;
(right) Bill Hagerty (Photos: United States Senate, Public domain | Wikimedia Commons)
To remind the faithful readers of this space: In our year-end issue, we offered forecasts about the shape of things to come in the political arena.
One circumstance noted for the record was the fact that both of Tennessee’s incumbent U.S. senators — Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty — would strongly consider running for governor in 2026.
That is what our pipeline said, and that is what we reported, even though it seemed passing strange, even to us. Why? Because the customary rites of passage flow in the opposite direction — with the gubernatorial office more often serving as a springboard for Senate, than vice versa.
That is definitely the pattern in our neighboring state of Arkansas, where such eminent recent members of the Senate as Dale Bumpers and David Pryor (both now deceased) served what amounted to apprenticeships as governor before going on to become senators.
To be sure, ambitions may figure differently in the Land of Opportunity than in the Volunteer State, but Lamar Alexander ran first for governor and then for senator. And one recalls the unhappy, arguably tragic fate of Democrat Frank Clement, who served several terms as the state’s governor before meeting his Waterloo in two successive failed runs for the Senate.
(Interestingly, Clement’s second and final failed try, in 1966, resulted in the election to the Senate of Republican Howard Baker — the forerunner of what, in the course of time, would become the wall-to-wall ubiquity of GOP state officials.)
In any case, both of Tennessee’s current Republican senators have floated unmistakable trial balloons regarding gubernatorial races in 2026, and both seem dead serious. It may be far-fetched to imagine a competitive race between the two, but, my, wouldn’t that be an attention-grabber!
More likely, forces in the Republican Establishment — most notably Donald Trump — would probably dictate the choice of one over the other. (Either could make a plausible claim of loyalty to the president and to the MAGA agenda.)
And, given the high probability of success for the ultimate GOP nominee, one can imagine a domino-like chain reaction of opportunities opening up for other upwardly mobile Tennessee Republicans.
If Hagerty makes a governor’s race, he could either run for both governor and re-election as senator simultaneously, or go ahead and shed his Senate seat (his term would expire in 2026, anyhow) while campaigning for governor. In that latter eventuality, a race for his departed seat would occur in 2026, with a high probability that 8th District Congressman David Kustoff would be a candidate.
Kustoff’s seat, in turn, might then well be targeted by, say, the preternaturally ambitious state Senator Brent Taylor, in which case his seat would open as well, with possible aspirants for it including former city councilmen Kemp Conrad and Frank Colvett, and maybe even state Rep. Mark White. (A White race would create yet another vacancy and another domino.)
If Blackburn runs and wins, she would keep her Senate seat until being sworn in, in which case either she or a lame-duck Bill Lee would appoint a temporary Senate successor, with a special election for a permanent senator to be held in 2028.
The same sort of sequence as mentioned above for a Hagerty win might then occur, involving the same or a similar cast of characters, though everything would happen at a later remove in time.
Got all that straight, gentle reader? Probably not, though it could be worse. There are other permutations and possible complications we’re sparing you from.
The bottom line is that some shock and awe seems certain for the state’s political calendar in 2026, along with a potentially dizzy round of dominoes.
And who knows? Maybe some as yet unknown Democrat comes out of nowhere to spoil the party at some point along the succession line.
Many know Jeremy Scott through his work with the now-defunct Reigning Sound, but there’s a lot more to this rock-and-roll lifer’s music career than that. After leaving that band for the first time (before the original group re-formed and then split again in this decade), he went on to found The Wallendas (featuring guitar pyrotechnics from Jim Duckworth), followed by Toy Trucks, The Subtractions, and a million ad hoc projects like the all-star tribute to Doug Sahm that he organized last month. (Full disclosure, I played with him in some of these groups.) One common thread through all of these has been the presence of the gritty, indie rock energy he often showcases on his weekly radio show on WEVL, Out On the Side, marked by a close attention to vocal harmonies.
That was also true for the first album under his own name, 2022’s Bear Grease, which he pieced together with multi-instrumentalist/engineer Graham Burks Jr. through the magic of overdubs. As the Flyer observed at the time, “though he started with acoustic intentions, he couldn’t help but let his rock instincts take over.” And, as that unfolded, the album took on a hard-rocking edge that required a full band.
And thus were the Drip Edges born, as Scott added Noel Clark on guitar and Mitchell Manley on bass to create a team that could present the album in a live setting. Now, with the release of their new EP, Kicking the Tires on the Clown Car, the quartet has come into its own. I spoke to Scott last week to see how this release compares to his solo debut.
The new EP
Memphis Flyer: The song “Dirty Sound” on the new EP seems the most like Bear Grease, and it’s the only acoustic-driven song on the record. You’ve said this new release was recorded by the Drip Edges as a band, but is that true for “Dirty Sound”?
Jeremy Scott: That’s 97 percent me, and Graham helped with the percussion tracks.
So that’s the only track done in the manner of Bear Grease?
Yes, it is. I put all the harmonies on. And Graham’s got a Mellotron, and I was playing around with it. And I’m like, “Well, maybe you can put some of this on?” Because he put Mellotron on “Fred Neil Armstrong” on the first record. And then he was like, “Well, why don’t you just do it?” I’m like, “Are you sure? People could get hurt!” But it wound up sounding not awful. Then there are weird things in there that sound almost like a trombone in spots. That’s just me on the guitar, running it through this pedal called a Slow Engine. Sometimes it can make it sound a little bit like a backwards guitar. It’s a pretty cool device.
You’ve certainly leaned into the hard rock elements of Bear Grease on this new release, but they’re revved up more, played by a seasoned band. I hear a lot of Hüsker Dü’s influence on some of the tracks.
Yeah. Hüsker Dü was so formative for me. Okay, I heard the Replacements first, and I dug them, but I got really burned out on the Replacements, and now I don’t really feel like I ever need to listen to them. Ever. That’s not their problem, that’s mine. Hüsker Dü, I can listen to whenever. It all holds up. And the one that really bit me in the ass was [1985 album] New Day Rising. That was a great combination of power and melody. That whole run from Metal Circus through Zen Arcade is so amazing. But New Day Rising is probably my personal favorite.
What exactly has stayed with you from those records, as you’ve written your own songs?
Just the songwriting combined with that guitar sound. And I picked up some things here and there from Bob Mould’s guitar style. Like, I was listening to the intro to the first song of ours — “Everything’s Gonna Have to Be Alright” — and thinking it probably sounds a little bit more like Sugar [Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü band]. Even though I didn’t have that Rat [distortion] pedal and the other stuff he used.
The intro to another song, “Nobody Wants to Drive,” almost sounds like Ratt, the band. The crunch and darker chord changes are a little more metal.
That one actually is probably more influenced by Sugar. And that one is funny because that started off when I was still doing the Toy Trucks band. We tried playing that song, but it was more like a really energetic, forceful waltz. It was in 6/8, and the chorus was the same, but the verse was entirely different — different melody, different lyrics. And I came back to it with these guys, thought about a little bit, and I’m like, “What the hell am I doing here?” So I just decided to make it 4/4, to make it more of a straightforward thing.
The band seems to really relish playing an outright rocker.
It’s a testament to how these guys can put a song over, and it’s good playing with these younger guys that have that energy. I mean, nobody’s going to confuse me with a spring chicken at this point. I guess I’m a little bit more of a winter chicken.
The Drip Edges will play a record release show at the Lamplighter Lounge on Saturday, February 15th, at 3 p.m. Joecephus & The George Jonestown Massacre will open.
