Rex finds The Phantom of the Opry

Hiroshi Sato

Rex decided to get his groove on this past week and headed down to the Station Inn and caught an awesome bluegrass show headlined by local pickers Off the Wagon.

While they pulled off another great show, they managed to kick it up a notch by teaming up with the Consul General of Japan, Hiroshi Sato. Rex isn’t kidding, you read that right, the Japanese government sent us a guy that plays bluegrass in his spare time.

Sato, with his backup band that included Off the Wagon and a consulate-formed trio he called Beauty and the Beasts (he was one of the beasts), brought the sold out Station Inn crowd to their feet with a number of songs, including a version of “The Tennessee Waltz.”

Rex has made it his duty in life to see that Sato, as well as Beauty and the Beasts/Off the Wagon, play the Grand Ole Opry.

To the folks at the Opry it should be a no-brainer. You have a Japanese dignitary here that if you put on stage at the Opry will be all over the news here and in Japan. It would be great free publicity for the show on the world stage.

It also should be something that city leaders need to get behind and promote. Let’s face it people, over the course of the last year Nashville has been discussed nationally for guns in bars, Steve McNair’s murder, the blackmailing of a state senator, stupid jokes about President Obama, and trying to shut out non-English speakers.

Rex is now planning on finding a mask and becoming the “Phantom of the Opry” until this thing happens.

Baker, Donelson goes all in

The Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission is dead! Long live the Judicial Nominating Commission!

Lawyers and judicial watchers from across the state are clamoring to be appointed to the new commission that will put forward names to the governor and have significant influence over who gets appointed to judicial seats.

Rex was perusing the avalanche of applicants to fill out the 10-member board and noticed that there are nine attorneys from powerhouse firm Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz who have applied. Is this like buying raffle tickets to increase your odds?

Bass Berry & Sims and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis each put up one attorney as did other firms from all across the state. Did someone at Baker not want to make a decision and just throw a bunch of names out to see if anything sticks?

Seriously, Rex is going to have to start paying closer attention to see if Baker sends all of their interns to the next American Idol auditions to try to win slots on that too.


Is this Paula Abdul’s next judging job?

Speaking of judges, Rex is still waiting to see who will fill the vacancies on the federal bench left by Judges Robert Echols and Martha Daughtrey. The seats up for grabs are that on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee.

A while back Rex heard that Nashville attorney Gregg Ramos was the leading contender for the District Court slot, as he was the only one at the time getting traction in the vetting process.

But, whispers in the wind say that now other potential jurists are undergoing the same vetting process for both slots and the Obama team has stepped up their efforts now that their evaluation team has completed the confirmation process of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The appointments will define President Obama’s legacy in Middle Tennessee as they are lifetime appointments. While the people nominated will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, which isn’t a given as CCA attorney Gus Puryear can tell you, they will be the first presidential appointees in the area and thus the standard by which future appointees to slots like the U.S. Attorney’s office and U.S. Marshal will be judged.

Rex is a betting man so in all of this he is thinking one of two words will apply to the Obama team’s nominees — “youth” and “diversity.” Let’s see if Rex is right.