Vaporizing little bits of “home”
We’ve been printing BLANK for 18 years now, and we’ve never once ventured into politics.
And since we aren’t taking the side of a specific party, that will remain the case after this. But I assure you that this is the closest we’ve come over the years, and I write this with hesitancy, dear reader.
When a new contributor comes aboard at BLANK, I usually tell them that we have very few rules, and the main one is to always take the high road. Always. Every time. Always. I usually say it just like that.
We’ve had the same singular rule for the events that we’ve helped produce over the years. For BLANKFest. For Second Bell. For Holleroo. For Waynestock. I like it because, no matter what problem arises, you already have the solution.
Whatever the right thing to do is, you do that. Most of the time that’s pretty simple, but it can get a little murky sometimes. I’ll come back to that later.
When it comes to matters of the heart, things can get complicated, and in my opinion, there’s very little room in real journalism for persuasion. Good thing I’ve never called myself a journalist, I suppose.
I preface this piece with all this because I want to maintain these rules that we’ve lived by for almost two decades, and I feel like it’s important to remind myself of this as I type. So here goes.
There’s something going on in Knoxville, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. We’re growing like crazy, neighbors, and with growth comes challenges. I don’t know what the answers are to many of the issues of the moment, and that’s frustrating. But I do have two feelings that follow a chronological path.
Knoxville has been actively losing its soul over the last several years. That’s the first one. The sense of community that I once felt and which fostered the birth of this very publication is waning. Out-of-town ideas and out-of-town money seem to matter just as much – if not more so – than the once-enthusiastic voices of those who were born and raised here. And as a result, I am disheartened.
I don’t wish for this piece to be a plea for the “good ol’ days.”
I just want to throw my thoughts into the universe before I throw in the towel and just watch what happens from the sidelines – or perhaps even from somewhere else. I’m not just talking about this smoking ban, of course, but it’s certainly a part of it, and I find it surprisingly emblematic of the changes that are taking place in my hometown. I don’t know where it stops, but I know this isn’t the last of it.
I considered writing a speech to present at the second reading of the proposed bill that will ban businesses from allowing inside smoking in Knoxville, but it’s hard to get a nuanced take across within three minutes, and I wanted to respect the rules of the elected body.
So I instead chose to write this.
Brass tacks
Let me be clear: Smoking is bad for your health – full stop. No one is arguing that.
While I’m being clear, let me add that this smoking ban is not going to make smokers stop smoking. I’m sorry to the people who support the ban; it’s just true.
It could, however, have unintended consequences that I think the elected officials voting on this bill might not have considered. Ultimately, the inconveniences it produces will outmeasure the number of people who quit smoking because of it.
After the last council meeting, where the proposed bill was passed 7-2 at its first reading, I decided to do a test run. I wanted to see what the ban would look like if the bill is passed.
It was around 7:30 p.m., I’d say, and it was a beautiful evening on Market Square.
I hadn’t been to Preservation Pub in a while, but when I walked in, it was like running into an old friend. I grabbed a drink and caught up with a couple people I hadn’t seen in a while.
At the end of the bar, I saw Tommy Walker, one of the most loyal souls in Knoxville and a dear friend whom I met at the Pub many years ago. We’ve shared many conversations at this watering hole, and we’ve become quite tight while sharing a drink and a cig over the years.
What started with, “Hey bud, you care if I borrow your lighter?” many years ago ended up with him painting my mom’s house.
We had a bit of a tough time finding someone who wouldn’t try to rip off a single woman in her 60s, so I was happy to find someone I trust to treat my mom with respect. I really hate to use a story like that, but colorful stories on the opposing side were presented at council, so I’m just fighting smoke with smoke here. And it’s true.
Tommy and I gabbed for a bit, and after thanking him again for his help with my mom’s house, I left the doors of the Preservation Pub and lit up as I took a hard left outside of the front doors and the bar’s packed patio. I don’t smoke all the time, but it’s nice sometimes to blow off some steam and think. Off into the square I went.
I was immediately met by a young couple with their hands full. The gentlemen of the pair pressed firm the bottom of his right palm on a stroller. Jazz on the Square was ongoing, and the event boasted a great crowd. There were several young musicians onstage trading parts and smiling from ear to ear. This is Knoxville.
As I navigated my way past the family, he used that same right palm to try to nudge the stroller away to evade the smoke coming from my cigarette while I apologized for it. To be fair, it wasn’t really all that close, and he didn’t make a big deal out of it, but I have always tried to exercise tact when smoking in public. I don’t think it’s fair to take away his choice of being away from cigarette smoke, especially if a child is involved.
As I navigated my way towards the back of the crowd, I dodged similar situations and nonsmoking couples dining on patios and tried to make sure that I was being respectful. As a music promoter, I know how hard it is to get people to attend shows, so I would hate it if I created yet another obstacle for people trying to appreciate art. Ultimately, I found a spot under the trees and had a second to digest what had just taken place.
“If I were going to smoke, I should have just stayed in the Pub where people knew what they were signing up for,” I thought.
I assure you that I did not set out to end at this conclusion; this is just what happened.
And while I enjoyed the last bit of shade the trees provided as the sun began the process of tagging in the moon for the night, I thought about the proposal to extend the ban until Jan 1.
I applaud the thought. It was a kind gesture to buy the affected businesses extra time to adapt to the new rules, but the implementation of the ban would have people across the city pouring into parking lots and public areas as the ball dropped. This whole thing just seems rushed.
I must give credit where it is due, though.
This is the most unifying topic I’ve experienced with my own eyes and ears in this town in at least a decade. The question I get from people on each side of the political aisle is, “What are we doing?”
I’ve seen people whom I’ve never seen agree about anything come together about this.
It’s important that I go back to something I mentioned earlier, though. This issue is complicated, and the people behind this bill think they are doing the right thing. And I commend those who support the bill for caring for other people. From what I can tell, most of their hearts are in the right place. Who wouldn’t want better health?
And while we’re asking questions, who will no longer be affected by smoke if this law is passed? While most of the establishments won’t deal with this, in the case of Preservation Pub, aren’t more people going to be exposed to smoke? I suppose there are some mental gymnastics that could be put into play here, but I did a test run with no expectation and got what I got. The truth is the truth.
Music
The music side of this discussion is where I feel as though we’re really being misled and is a big reason why I am writing this. They probably should have just left this part alone.
The musician representative for this bill is Jeremy Korvelas. I do not wish to be ugly here; I simply want to present the truth. I asked my promoter friends around town if they had ever booked Korvelas, and while none said yes, everyone whom I got a response from said that they had never heard of him. And this next part is important. This included talent buyers (music bookers) from both smoking and nonsmoking venues. So wouldn’t it be better to hear from someone who is actually a participant in the Knoxville music scene to speak on behalf of it?
That’s not the end of it. I met Korvelas just after the last meeting adjourned on my aforementioned walkabout almost two weeks ago.
I asked him his name, and he answered, no problem. Then I asked if he played in any bands, to which he replied that he had played in a couple of bands over the years. When I asked him what they were called, he didn’t have an answer. I laughed it off and asked again, but he did not answer.
If they hadn’t booked him as a solo artist, I wanted to see if the promoters in town had booked one of his bands. But with no band names, I could do no such search. So then I searched his name to see if anything music-related popped up.
Nothing did.
Then I searched his name with the word “music” after it, then with the word “band” after it. Nothing and nothing.
Instead, what pops up on a Google search is “Smokefree Knoxville,” of which he is the chair.
I don’t believe it’s right to have someone with a clear agenda represent a proud vein of Knoxville culture when that person isn’t a true representative. It’s misleading at the least and a little insulting that the people behind this bill are using a narrative like this.
In summation, I asked promoters in Knoxville in nonsmoking bars if they had booked the musician representative for the smoking ban, and they said they had never heard of him.
In a story written by the Knoxville News Sentinel on May 12, a former Knoxville councilmember was quoted as saying, “Being a working musician is a hard gig, and they need all the gigs they can get. When a musician shows up to a gig and finds out it’s a smoking venue, sometimes they might have to cancel their gig. Some of them will just make the choice [to perform anyway] because they can’t afford to make the choice not to.”
I am in total agreement that being a working musician is a hard gig. Over the last 18 years, I have booked and produced hundreds of shows. If you consider the other events that I have worked on in an ancillary capacity, it may well reach over a thousand.
My disagreement begins with her second sentence. In my experience working with musicians and artists of all kinds in many different markets, I have never had a musician cancel a performance due to the venue’s smoking policy. In fact, I can recall only two times when it has been mentioned. That’s an average of once every nine years.
To members of the council: If you decide to pass this smoking bill, so be it, but I couldn’t stand by without issuing the truth. The vote should be based in reality.
Who, what, when, where
So here’s where I am.
Where were the workers, chefs and musicians the bill is claiming to protect at the first reading of the bill? Why are people speaking for them when they had the opportunity to be there and chose not to? What does that mean?
I also do not understand why the health of workers at a cigar bar carry less weight than those at other smoking establishments. In each case, the workers choose to work there, so what’s the difference? This is not a bid to ban cigar bars. I feel like I have to be careful here and not give anyone any ideas.
My next question is a bit more broad.
With everything that is going on, why is this what we choose to attack? I mean, really?
The overreach of a few leaders is being overvalued with little to no support from the people who are actually living in these environments. Surely we have better things to legislate.
Finally, I do not care what other cities are doing. This is Knoxville. It’s home. And as Knoxvillians, we should be allowed to make decisions for ourselves. I would argue that a freedom like this makes Knoxville what it is, to a small degree. For the last time, we don’t want to be Nashville.
I’m not sure that members of council understand the implications of this vote.
This ban disintegrates trust in the judgement of our elected officials. We didn’t elect officials to be put in a position where we wonder where the lines of our freedoms stop and their thoughts take over.
The people of Knoxville who have been here a long time don’t want to be somewhere else, and we’re losing that battle.
This is not just about the vagabond at the end of the bar drowning away in the bottom of a High Life, staring at the end of their lit embers. It’s about community. It’s about Marie’s. It’s about the dozen or so spots out West where, for heaven’s sake, people are just trying to catch a break. If this bill is passed, it’ll be just another piece of their identity stripped away. A little bit of “home” will go up in smoke.
The trust of the people who elected our council members is at their feet, so we come, hat in hand, asking them to respect the vast majority of reasonable people who just want to be left alone instead of a few people who won’t even darken the doors of the establishments in question if the law is passes.
This may seem infantile to some, and maybe it is in the grand scheme of things, but it’s something that a lot of people understand. It’s simple. It’s a barometer of whether or not we can trust our elected officials’ judgement.
Let’s not put an HOA on our city. I don’t care if other places do it. I live in Knoxville by choice, and people should have choices in this city.
This is about smoking, of course, but it’s about something far bigger than this.
