“Have a smokin’ day!”

That’s what the t-shirts said at Sweet P’s Barbecue and Soul House in South Knoxville on Saturday. And that’s exactly what we did! The temperatures were smokin’; the music was smokin’, and, most importantly, two big pigs were smokin’ on the grill being carefully tended by proprietor Chris Ford.

Smokin’ Day Fest is an annual benefit for the [...]

Follies show delivers laughs, jabs at newsmakers

There was so much material this year that the annual Front Page Follies show was bound to be funny! Held Saturday at the Knoxville Convention Center, it did not disappoint.
The Follies show is the annual performance by area journalists and PR folks to raise funds for communications scholarships and poke fun at area newsmakers in the [...]

The best church social ever!

When this turn-of-the-century church at 800 Luttrell Street was actually used as a church, I bet they never served iced tea like was served there Saturday night. The tea at this very special of Knox Heritage’s “Summer Suppers” series was laced with vodka to make a signature cocktail called an ice pick. Boy did they go down smoothly! (And [...]

Two Christmas plays, a Shakespeare comedy, a child’s tale, murder and madness: get your tix now!

I guess the theory is that if one Christmas play is successful, maybe we should have two!
In its recently announced upcoming season, the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee will produce both the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play.” The two Christmas season chestnuts will [...]

Seeing Knoxville through the eyes of visitors: we looked pretty fantastic this weekend!

Does this ever happen to you? You have out-of-town guests and suddenly, while taking them around your hometown, you kind of see your own city through their eyes?
That happened to me this weekend — and let me tell you: we looked great!
The occasion was the visit of my brother, Jimmy, his wife, Tess, and her [...]

Why you should give $5,000 to the KSO

Because once a year, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra hosts a very special evening for those who do! Here are some sights from last night’s Lucas Richman Society Dinner, which honors those donors. Come along!
This year’s event went like this: cocktails and appetizers in the beautiful lobby of the Tennessee Theatre. The KSO was rehearsing on stage [...]

10 tips for making beautiful flower arrangements

Cliff View, the stunning home of Jenny and Randy Boyd, offered a perfect setting Tuesday for an elegant lunch and flower arranging lesson by one of Knoxville’s best experts in the field.
Lillian Jones, an interior designer by trade, has designed over 125 homes in Charleston, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island and the Isle of Palms. But [...]

It’s Greek to me!

It was a double Greek treat Sunday night at Maestro Lucas Richman’s Whittington Creek home as beloved singer George Bitzas displayed both his vocal and culinary skills at a benefit dinner for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.
Who would have thought that the tenor, who retired in 2000 from singing the National Anthem at UT football games, [...]

Sophisticated crowd turns clock back about 30 years; belts out songs of band of our youth, Air Supply

You might think that you don’t really know any songs by Air Supply, the soft-rock duo from the late ’70s and ’80’s. But, believe me, you do!
That’s what 500 or so of us found out Saturday night when we showed up at the Knoxville Convention Center for Center Stage, the premier annual fund-raiser for East [...]

Symphony League Showhouse = design, food and shopping all in one beautiful location

Despite the best work of more than a dozen talented interior designers, the most striking feature of the two condos that make up the 2010 Knoxville Symphony League Showhouse project is the view.
From the front, the two condos located in the Rocky Hill area of west Knoxville have a spectacular view of the Cumberland Mountains. [...]