In the mid-90s, Jon Sewell was a fish-out-of-water mischief-maker at a private conservative all-boys school. He was called “Johnny G” by the older kids and “Troublemaker” by the headmaster. Then he discovered Crass and an anarcho-punk was born. He protested against the military industrial complex, ran the local Food Not Bombs chapter, and played drums in the band Murdered Minority. When it came time to try and get a show at Lucy’s he did what any punk prankster without recording equipment would do, he faked the demo.

Jon still thrives in the current that runs underneath Nashville’s mainstream. In 2006 he turned an old, dilapidated house into a punk club. A few years later he turned an old, dilapidated meat packing plant into a community space for musicians, artists, and other creators. Called The Packing Plant, the space is also the headquarters of Salt Weekly, Jon’s beautifully designed ‘zine with an open submission policy and a mission to radically upend traditional print publishing.

Now known as “Southside Jonny, the Mayor of Wedgewood-Houston,” Jon confused Nashville’s politicos by twice running for actual mayor on a platform he called CHIT: Corruption, Hypocrisy, Influence, and Taxes. He also spent two seasons acting opposite Billy Ray Cyrus on the CMT sitcom, Still the King. For real.

The Packing Plant:
– WXNA
– Poetry Library
– Risology Club
– Salt Weekly

Ben Todd
Nashville’s Dead
The Glenn Danzig House
Kathryn Edwards
Drkmttr Collective
Daniel Pujol

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Host Mary Mancini sits down with poet and artist Christine Hall.

Christine was raised in a trailer at the edge of the Adirondacks by troubadours and cultist pornographers. Inculcated with American mythology—tool girl calendars, bible stories, science fiction—she built on this education while hitching across the continent.

Before she set off on her travels she was a teenager at Lucy’s trying to find her way out of a difficult and painful childhood. Christine found Lucy’s to be a safe space and her story has a happy ending, but the safety she found inside didn’t always prevent her from acting out her trauma in dangerous and self-destructive ways on the outside.

Now at home in the Nashville arts community, Christine hosts the Poetry in the Brew open mic. Her work has appeared in Out & About Nashville, several anthologies including Sinew (April Gloaming Publishing, 2021), Be About It zine, on MTA buses, and on stages with the Yoni Pearl Monologues, Cabaret Noir Collective, TSU, Third Man Records, and OZ Arts.

This episode comes with a content warning. We talk about self-harm, and suicide, as well as the trauma brought on by religious indocrination. If you’re in need of resources or support, please go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The Lifeline provides free and confidential support for anyone in distress and prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones 24/7. If you live outside the U.S., look for the local resources in your community.

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When they first met at a suburban Junior High just outside of Nashville some thirty years ago, Mike Shepherd was the rule-following new kid with a stash of X-Men comics under his chair and Jereme Frey was the black and white checkered Skidz-overalls wearing local with a stash of X-Men comics under his chair. They sat next to each other in band, and for the most part, followed the rules. Then they heard that damn Nirvana record, scooched their trombone and tenor sax over just a little to make room for a bass guitar and drum kit, and Schtucket was born.

A few short months later, Mike (Bass, Vocals), Jereme (Drums, Vocals), and their other bestie, Ryan Shogren (Guitar, Vocals), recorded a demo on a boombox / karaoke dual cassette tape machine to take down to Lucy’s to see if maybe, just maybe, they could get a show. Spoiler alert: they did. On the regular.

Thirty years later, “Nashville’s happy-go-lucky musical tricksters” are members of Tower Defense, and they’re still cranking out their unique version of loud, high-powered punk, making records, and playing live shows to packed houses.

Jereme Frey and Mike Shepherd have played rock music together for nearly 30 years, beginning with “Nashville’s happy-go-lucky trio of musical tricksters,” Schtucket. Schtucket was together from 1993-1998, and their run included ten appearances at Lucy’s Record Shop between 1994 and 1997. Following Schtucket’s dissolution, they went on to play together in The Shakedown Cruise, Shiboleth, Gentleman Divers, Partytown Hospital, and early-aughts loud-rock legends Apollo Up! For the last ten years, they’ve collaborated in Tower Defense, alongside Mike’s wife Sarah Shepherd on bass and Currey May on guitar. In The City, the latest LP from Tower Defense, was released in 2020 on Nashville’s YK Records.

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Episode Music
“Skirts” – Schtucket (1994)
“In the City” – Tower Defense (2020)
“So I Hear You’re Moving” – Lambchop (1994)

Additional Links
Schtucket – Discography 1994?-?1998
Apollo Up!
Tower Defense
Gentleman Divers
Partytown Hospital
The Drmls with Mike Seymour
Stone Deep
Fun Girls From Mt. Pilot – Hi Doll 7”
— Troy Pigue – bass; Chris Fox – Drums; Donnie Kendall – Guitar, Vocals; Cat – vocals
Fun Girls From Mt. Pilot – “Hold A Grudge”
Dion and The Belmonts – “Teenager in Love”
Nirvana – “Tourettes”
Pixies – “UMass”
Daphne’s Operation (Murfreesboro, TN)
Logic Bomb
Uncle Daddy
Hammerhead
Hoover
Brainiac – “Bonzai Superstar”
Dallas Thomas (Fingerhutt)
Murdered Minority
Jon Sewell
They Might Be Giants
Forget Cassettes
YK Records
Drkmttr
Southern Rock & Roll Girls Camp