Lisa Denton and Barry CourterYou know, Barry, Chattanooga hasn’t really been known for winter sports — other than the Milk & Bread Olympics when flurries are forecast — but I believe that’s changing.
Ice on the Landing, the temporary ice-skating rink at Ross’s Landing, closed Sunday, but the folks at Chattanooga Presents are promising an even bigger rink next year.
And for the third year, the Chattanooga Rail Jam is returning. On Saturday, Dodge City Ski and Mellow Mushroom are dumping eight tons of snow downtown to create a winter wonderland stretching down Broad Street from Aquarium Way to Third Street.
Hoping to be proficient by Saturday, I googled “snowboarding,” but the best tip I’ve picked up so far is that all the cool people say they’re “shreddin’ the gnar” when they mean “going snowboarding.”
Somehow, I don’t expect that you and I will ever utter that phrase.
BARRY COURTER: I can honestly say that I have neither said “shreddin’ the gnar” nor done same in all my years. Some might say it looked like I was shreddin’ something when I was sledding down the hill near my house the last time it snowed here, but it was not on purpose.
In any case, that is a cool event and just one more fun thing we have going for us.
Two other cool events in town this week are at Track 29. Shovels & Rope, the husband-and-wife duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst are there Tuesday, and Umphrey’s McGee is there on Wednesday and Thursday. I just recently learned that Hearst’s parents live around the corner from me and when she and I spoke last week, she said Chattanooga has become like a second home for her and Trent.
LISA: You should invite them to dinner at Courters’ Kitchen. Don’t you and your wife have another food feature coming up in Life this week? You could show off Kelley’s cooking and your recent renovations. Your kitchen renovations, I mean. I don’t mean to imply that you, personally, have had any work done lately.
BARRY: Like Joan Rivers once said, “Looking 50 is great … if you’re 60.”
Anyway, they are welcome in my — I can claim it since I painted it — kitchen anytime. I like Shovels & Rope’s music a lot.
LISA: Me, too. It’s got some grit to it.
BARRY: And I can’t remember us getting two shows from an act like we are from Umphrey’s McGee. I understand fans can rent headphones at the show, an opportunity for the hardcore folks who don’t want anyone stepping on their mellow, much less harshing it.
LISA: Apparently, fans at other shows have liked it because they can go to the restroom without disrupting the music.
BARRY: That’s what they are saying, huh? OK.
LISA: Don’t forget country singing and comedy star Ray Stevens will be signing copies of his new book, “Ray Stevens’ Nashville,” on Saturday at Barnes & Noble at Hamilton Place. Too bad he won’t be singing. “It’s Me Again, Margaret” and “Shriners Convention” are just a couple of his greatest hits. They are also among the reasons that I: a) no longer have a landline; and b) know not to drive a Harley onto a high dive.
BARRY: I had the great pleasure of speaking with Ray — did I ever tell you that Charlton Heston once told me, “Never name drop” — last week. He’s had an incredible life, and the book details most of it. A lot of people may not know that he was a prolific “Nashville Cat,” which is what they call session musicians who’ve earned their stripes.
Stevens did studio work for guys like Elvis and alongside guys like Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Mac Davis … well, everybody. And he gave us “The Streak. “Don’t look, Ethel. But it was too late. She’d already got a free shot.” Classic.
Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.