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Nashville native Lorenzo Washington is on a mission to reignite the musical and cultural spirit of Jefferson Street. In its golden days, Jefferson Street was lined with clubs that hosted luminaries like Ray Charles, Etta James, Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix.

Jefferson Street was the beating heart of North Nashville’s thriving Black music community from the 1940s to the early 1960s. The neighborhood had shops, hotels, restaurants, colleges, churches and all the businesses that support the daily lives of residents.

That heart was broken when Interstate 40 cut through North Nashville in the late 1960s.

To begin to revive that broken heart, Lorenzo Washington built a state-of-the-art recording studio in a former boarding house in 2010. His goal is to give local musicians the resources to develop their talent and hopefully, break out into a larger audience.

The community donated hundreds of photos and memorabilia, along with two pianos from well-known local musicians who had passed away.

The ground floor of building became a museum and then expanded to include a small performance space.

Washington is determined to defy the devastation of Interstate 40 and its buzz of traffic that runs along the back parking lot of the building.

The Jefferson Street Sound Museum is the foundation that’s intended to rebuild a culture of music in North Nashville, one open mic at a time on the first Monday of the month.

The recording studio on the second floor is the beacon that Washington hopes will give talented people the resoures to pursue their musical dreams.

Eighty-two-year-old Lorenzo Washington is a lifelong entrepreneur who has been a partner in several recording studios in Nashville.

Music is his most beloved venture, a path that began when he was teenager driving a musician friend to the clubs in North Nashville.

Washington started a cleaning business more than 30 years ago that’s helped finance the music projects. His first business with his brother was a barbecue pit. And this entrepreneur who keeps putting energy into varied ventures once helped manage a boxer who competed around the world.

Lorenzo Washington has been recognized for building on the musical roots of North Nashville that blossomed with jazz, blues and R&B during its golden era. He’s worked with partners to produce disco and other types of music and once owned a record store.

The Blues Foundation in Memphis recently honored Lorenzo Washington with its “Keeping the Blues Alive” award for creating the Jefferson Street Sound Museum with its recording studio and events to showcase young musicians.

Washington says he’s thankful that he’s blessed with physical and mental health. In his book, Rising Above: The Lorenzo Washington Story, published in 2021, he says, “This is where God has got me now. He blessed me with the duties of preserving a legacy, the legacy of all these great musicians and artists who have been a part of Jefferson Street in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s what God has assigned me to do, and I’m determined to do the best I can on this assignment.”

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Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.

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The Nashville cottage that houses the Family Barber Shop is constantly buzzing as 63-year-old Patty Stelmaszak adds the finishing touches for a continuous stream of customers.

The barber’s cheerful energy keeps her stepping on and off a wooden wine crate she brought from her first shop in San Diego’s Ocean Beach.

Her business model is simple. Cash only. Affordable, quality haircuts delivered with lively conversation and compassion.

Word around Nashville is that she’s especially welcoming to those who may be undergoing treatment at nearby Vanderbilt University Medical Center or other area hospitals.

On one breezy day with clear blue sky, Stelmaszak plugged in an extension cord and gave Jim Devillez, who was in a wheelchair due to a leg injury, a haircut just outside the door of her shop. That's just something she does sometimes to make life a little easier for those with mobility issues who might need a little extra dose of kindness.

She has a guiding ideal on what she offers college students, young professionals and older adults when they arrive for a haircut: “I want this to be the best 15 minutes of their day.”

On the home front, Stelmaszak and her husband, Jerry, a teacher, have had a long line of dogs.

“You can never go wrong with dogs,” says Stelmaszak. “I have a yellow lab and a blue tick coon hound. I’ve had two greyhounds from the racetracks, one from Birmingham, one from Florida. I’ve had a Weimaraner. I’ve had a boxer. I’ve had a black lab. I’ve had a Chesapeake Bay retriever. I’ve had a chocolate lab. Had a kind of a mixed thing. Dogs are the best thing ever.”

Dogs are right up there with the enjoyment of working in her bustling little barber shop, which she says, “…is the best job ever.”

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Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.

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Jerry Colpitts began acting as a child, when he and his sister created skits in the kitchen, singing, dancing and doing mime.

When the family moved to a new town their mother entered them in a talent contest - and they won. The thrill of the stage created a lifelong love of acting.

As Colpitts nears his 70th birthday, he’s finding continuing work and joy as an extra, or sometimes larger roles, in independent films.

These current roles come after 22 years as Spider-Man, from 1979 to 2001, making personal appearances around the globe as the superhero for Marvel Comics.

Like anyone who has the good fortune to live through many decades, Colpitts has thrived in good times and survived dark times.

Just before 8th grade he was diagnosed with Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes. He overheard the doctor tell his parents that by 19 or 20 he’d “probably have major challenges.” He discovered he was able to keep from thinking about diabetes when he was playing someone else on stage.

In high school and college in Maine he found his place in theater, then headed for New York.

He got a job as a doorman at The Navarro, a hotel on Central Park South frequented by luminaries like Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Pavarotti and Bruce Springsteen.

Colpitts found occasional work on the soap operas, including “Ryan’s Hope” and “The Guiding Light.”

After two years in the city, he landed the amazing gig as Spider-Man and says,
“I felt totally privileged to wear the webs. It was one adventure after another.”

After “hanging up the webs” in 2001, Colpitts spent 12 years working in business, earning six figures. But it never gave him a thrill equal to being on stage with a group of creative people.

In 2006 he met his “life partner,” Rita Hamilton, a dancer beloved by students in her Brooklyn studio. Dark times came when Hamilton was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 2020.

Colpitts had to face his own personal darkness. Alcohol. He went to a rehab facility in South Florida and has been sober for nine years.

Suffering the grief of losing his life partner, Colpitts took the advice of a friend to audition for “background” work.

“Directors look over who could be in the background. I tend to get picked because I’m tall and thin, six-two and 175 pounds,” he says. “And I still have hair.”

He's been on the set of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Succession,” the series “Evil,” and the Netflix comedy “Kinda Pregnant” with Amy Schumer.

He recently had a major role in an independent film as an “ornery and funny” retired New York Yankees pitcher who’s dying of cancer.

“I’m still living my dream. I still have the energy and the ability to do that. I have more passion about it than I ever had,” says Colpitts.

Does he feel like he was “destined” to be an actor?

“Opportunities kept appearing and if they seemed interesting and worthwhile I’d say ‘yes’ and go forth,” says Colpitts. “I do have a good deal of faith and courage and trust that a Higher Power is looking out for me. Angels have been flying beside me most of my life, I guess.”
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You can read more about Jerry Colpitts in "From Spider-Man to Indie Films, Actor Persists Through Decades" on Next Avenue, an online magazine produced by Twin Cities PBS.

https://www.nextavenue.org/actor-persists-spiderman-indie-films/

Support the show

Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.