Art Crawl Tonight! (plus a listening room legacy and a favorite barber)

I'm beyond excited to feature one of my longtime friends and collaborators this week. We tip our hats to a well-loved space as it changes hands and purpose, plus much more inside this week's newsletter.

-Matt Golley

We're gearing up for Art Crawl XII, a self-guided walking tour showcasing local artists in Seven Points happening tonight.
(Story and art map below!)

Tomorrow night we'll say goodbye to a listening room favorite and celebrate a new direction for both Daniel Crisler and Fernhill Realty in the old Ernest Barber space on Wood Avenue with a live music reunion featuring some of our favorite Shoals music makers.

Art and music are vital to our community's well being, and we are so proud to be a part of it.

See you there!

The Editors, Fernhill Edition

Feature Story

Daniel Crisler's creative magnetism is infectious

Daniel Crisler—musician, songwriter, show producer, proprietor of Ernest Barber—has a daily habit of showing up to work about an hour early to spend time on his creative pursuits. It's a practice most musicians, artists, and writers struggle to maintain when also working a full time job. His dedication is impressive but not surprising, once you know him. Focus, intention, and attention to details are not casual traits on Daniel. The latter might be his soul's essence. As a result, his art, craftsmanship, and fashion aesthetic speak far louder than the man himself.

On any given day you might see Daniel around town in black and white striped pants, or hot pink pants with a black and white striped top, or a cropped tee and really short bright orange vintage athletic shorts (remember the polyester set your gym teacher wore?). His fashion influences stem from the late 1970s and early 1980s men's athletic looks and punk rock, like a Muscle Beach + The Clash mash-up.

“I’ve always gone all the way with whatever I do. I throw myself into whatever, even if it’s as simple as pulling on a pair of shorts.” —Daniel Crisler

As with sight, so is sound. His two-person band, The Conclaves, along with Jon Mosley, released their debut album, Dogs Don't Bark, last year. It's fast, raucous, and proper punk-rock. "I kind of modeled the sound after the production style of Generation X, Billy Idol’s first band," says Daniel. "But the influences for us are The Damned, Dead Boys, Ramones, Minor Threat. It’s just guitar and drums."

His other band, Exotic Dangers, which includes his wife, Maggie Crisler, Brady Gomillion, and Jon Mosley, released their album, Nine is Fine, with Single Lock Records a few years ago. It echoes a 1960's power pop sound (think Beach Boys, Beatles, the Who from that era), while his solo style swings from acoustic to rock. He's presently sitting on enough material to record another solo album. "I think it’s gonna be the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m really excited about it," Daniel says.

The barber shop is the day job, and true to his entrepreneurial heart, owning his own space is preferable to working for someone else. His original shop was located in Seven Points, but when the current storefront at 110 E. Tuscaloosa Street became available, he had a gut feeling to jump on it. He got creative and put in a skate and vintage shop, but shortly after moved the barber business in for practical reasons.

Haircuts, beard trims and other services are available by appointment only, and the space is hip, provocative, and very chill. When you're ready for a new style, you can book with Daniel or Molly through the Ernest Barber website.

In his not-a-barber time, Daniel performs and produces shows around town with his bands and alongside other musicians for various tribute collaborations. He's also writing all the time, developing new tracks, refining his craft in every way, and remaining a very, very patient man.

“I’ve been writing my own music for about 20 years, and I feel like, just now, I’m kind of hitting my stride, even though I don’t have a whole lot to show for it in the public eye," he says.

But he knows it's the work that matters, not what the public hears or doesn't hear. You can discover Daniel's music for yourself through his Instagram profile and on Tidal. And keep your senses tuned for his next album drop. He's sitting on a couple, patiently waiting for the time to do it properly.

Main Stage

One last show at 1206 North Wood Ave.

When Daniel Crisler first opened Ernest Barber in 2022 he made the move with trust and a giving heart. The space was huge, far more than a barber shop could need, which was one reason for moving it to 110 E. Tuscaloosa Street this summer.

But the Seven Points space also afforded him a late night spot where he and his bands could rock out, amps up, no one bothered. And it was large enough to host live shows, enough shows in a few short years to leave a loving mark on the community. In a long line of pop-up venues and listening rooms dedicated to upcoming and local talents, Daniel hosted those shows as a way to pay it forward.

“This is a way for me to give them the platform that someone else gave to me years ago. I never made a dime. I did it just because I wanted to do it,” says Daniel. One person who gave him a place to perform in his beginning years was John Cartwright, owner of the beloved Rivertown Coffee. Younger musicians, Daniel says, don't always realize John also plays music, and that he made a concerted effort to share the Rivertown space with other musicians by hosting many, many live music nights way back when.

For Daniel, the Ernest Barber shows were an opportunity to go deeper with the music. "[A place] where you are only there to pay attention to the art that’s being done right now. There’s no chit-chat, there’s no mingling, there’s no bar. You’re there to hear the art, and that’s it," he says.

Everything changes

Somewhere between Daniel grabbing the Tuscaloosa Street spot and fifty-percent of his barbershop staff moving on to other projects, our own Matt Golley learned the 1206 N. Wood Avenue building was up for sale. Fernhill Realty bought the property and plans to create a storefront office space for their Shoals-based realtors. He also let Daniel out of his lease early, which set in motion a new chapter with significantly smaller overhead for the barber-rocker.

But the heart remains, so Daniel is producing one last Ernest Barber show in conjunction with Fernhill Realty this Friday, October 9th at 8pm. The show is free for all to attend.

The lineup includes, Adam Morrow, Andy Baxter, Cassidy McCorkle, Caleb Elliott, Mackenzie Lockhart, Cinnamon Jones, Wanda, Doc Dailey, Jordan Dean, and Rivers Grace, plus Daniel Crisler, of course, and his crew.

It may be the last show in this space, but it's far from the last indie pop-up performance. From Rivertown Coffee to Pegasus Records and Black Owl to 116 Mobile to Ernest Barber, among others, this is how the Shoals community takes care of its music.

As far as the next listening room location...

The baton is there for the taking.

Creative License

Tonight! Seven Points Art Crawl XII

It's a little bit wild that tonight marks the 12th annual Seven Points Art Crawl, given it is an artist-coordinated, small-budget, and independently-funded event with no full time personnel. The walking art exhibit celebrating local talent is a testament to the need and desires of our community to embrace art. And it's a little bit wild just how much incredible talent resides right here in the Shoals.

"We care about our neighborhood and we do the work of connecting artists with businesses and talking to artists throughout the year," says Abraham Rowe, one of the event co-founders and current organizers.

The crawl started in true artist fashion over a decade ago when members of the Seven Points business community grew weary of meetings to nowhere with one of the city's larger community organizations and said, Let's just do our own thing. Which is how artists prefer to do it anyway.

Co-organizer and Idyllwilde shop owner Nadene Mairesse says people look forward to it every year.

"It's wonderful to see lots of people walking down and through the streets of Seven Points," she says. "And also giving artists the opportunity to show their work and talk about their work. They're all there in person to meet the people that are coming in to look at their work.

"[Art Crawl] ignites conversations about art, and people are sort of reminded how awesome it is that people take time to make art and show it to people. It's very unifying. It generates this audience of people that are really kind of hungry, actually, to have this public art event that's free to everybody."

You can follow the 7 Points Artist Group on Instagram @7pointsartistgroup for a preview of works to be shown, participating artists and the businesses hosting their work, including inside Idyllwilde and the original Fernhill Realty offices at 1215 E. Chisolm. The map below is a guide to every business and artist participating in this year's crawl.