Featuring Appearances by
Anika Rogers
After experiencing abuse in six foster homes, Anika Rogers eventually turned to drugs and prostitution to deal with the pain. She found healing and hope through Thistle Farms and its founder, Rev. Becca Stevens. At Thistle Farms, Anika found fellow survivors of trafficking and addiction, and they received treatment, training and jobs.
Maneet Chauhan
A featured judge on the Food Network Show “Chopped†and owner of Nashville’s Chauhan Ale & Masala House, Maneet first moved to Nashville to do consulting work. But, after the premature birth of her baby, she found a home here in Nashville. Maneet began her culinary journey in her homeland of India. After eight years of leading the kitchens of Vermilion in both New York City and Chicago - having been the only woman to go up against 40 men for the executive chef position - she ventured out on her own and founded Indie Culinaire, a culinary and hospitality company. Now, Music City is the focus of her next project.
Tommy Womack
A recording artist and author, Tommy Womack is omnipresent in Music City, both live and on record. He led the post-punk band Government Cheese and immortalized its story in the cult classic rock bio "Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band You’ve Never Heard Of." On his career-defining fourth solo album, There, I Said It!, he sang like he believed his better days were behind him; 2012’s Now What! served as a sequel with songs about home and family. In June 2015, Tommy nearly died in a car crash doing what Nashville musicians do: Driving hundreds of miles from home to play for a few dozen people. The community swelled around him with a Music City Roots benefit concert where his heroes played.
Jason Michaels
Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at age 6, Jason has battled the neurological disorder and its uncontrollable “tics and twitches†his entire life. However, at age 16, he experienced the impossible when he first stepped onto the stage in a Gallatin High School play. While Jason performed, the tics and twitches associated with his Tourette’s vanished. He discovered a passion for live theater and, after wandering into a magic shop later that year, Jason’s path in life was set. In 2005, Jason became an internationally award-winning entertainer after competing in several international magic competitions.
Jim Myers
An award-winning food journalist, Jim Myers has written for "Bon Appétit" and "Garden and Gun," and his work has been included in "Cornbread Nation: The Best of Southern Food Writing." A former features writer and restaurant critic for The Tennessean, Jim returned to media company as a food columnist in 2015 after helping launch the Fatback Pig Project in north Alabama where he worked to develop humane protocols for hog farmers. He believes in the power of cornbread, the glory of pawpaw liqueur, and the salvation of sharing a meal with strangers.
Agenda
February 8, 2016
For the Love of Nashville: Why We Adore Our City - Anika Rogers and Rev. Becca Stevens - 'From addiction to healing and hope'
Anika Rogers was born with drugs in her system. She was in foster care starting at 8 years old. Burdened by drug use and prostitution, she spent most of her life searching for acceptance and solace. She found healing and hope through Nashville's Thistle Farms program and its founder, the Rev. Rebecca Stevens. Finally, Nashville felt like home.
July 14, 2016
For the Love of Nashville: Celebrity Chef Maneet Chauhan - 'Emergency Birth Makes Nashville Home'
Maneet Chauhan knows the exact moment she became a Nashvillian. Nov. 18, 2015, at 4:53 a.m. The moment her son Karma came into the world. He arrived more than three months early, weighing only 2 pounds, 12 ounces; not even as much as a half-gallon of milk. And Chauhan, a celebrity chef on the Food Network who was then on the brink of launching her new Nashville restaurant, awoke from emergency surgery confused and scared. But on that day, and on the many days that followed as she visited her newborn covered in wires and tubes inside an incubator, the tenderness from her caregivers made her feel loved. That's when Nashville truly became home.
July 14, 2016
For the Love of Nashville: Why We Adore Our City: Tommy Womack - 'The Whale'
Musician Tommy Womack spent his whole life searching for fame. After he nearly died in a car wreck, he discovered the whale he was chasing was right in front of him. Womack weaves the tale of a devastating car wreck and the ways the Nashville community swelled around him in support during his recovery as his musical heroes played for him.
July 14, 2016
For the Love of Nashville: Why We Adore Our City: Jason Michaels - 'The Magic of the Stage'
The tics, twitches and vocalizations that characterize Tourette's Syndrome have long been a part of Jason Michaels' life. The movements are arresting, and uncontrollable. But when the magician steps up to his deck of cards, something happens. The tics vanish. "Like magic," he says. For this Murfreesboro native and Gallatin resident the stage has become a place of peace.
July 15, 2016
For the Love of Nashville: Why We Adore Our City: Jim Myers 'Nashvillian by Blood, Not by Birth'
For Tennessean food columnist Jim Myers, Nashville has always been in his blood. A place settled by his ancestors. But it wasn't until he ran away from home and his family that he came to realize the true significance of the city in his life.