Hello everyone, and welcome to another great round of East Side Storytellin’. Similar to the 38 previous shows we’ve put together from East Side Story, we’ve come together here to get you cultured up just right in the form of a local Nashville writer reading from original prose, followed by an amazing local musician performing and talking about their original music, and then a round-up creative conversation with all featured guests of this event to talk about their individual journeys and personal ties to Nashville. This is East Side Storytellin’ 39. Let us begin.
The first featured guest of this show is one of the hardest working writers I’ve had the privilege of meeting since opening East Side Story almost 2 years ago. Nashville has a ton of hardworking, very talented authors so that is saying quite a lot, if you didn’t grasp that last statement. Where some authors put words, characters, and stories together, this author brings it all to life … literally. On top of writing new, solid book about every 3 months, this lady also takes the time to create videos, playlists, and short films with talented actors in real life while booking her own book tours, constantly visiting and participating in as many book festivals as she can, meeting with as many of her growing and adoring fans in person and online around the world, and still have another time to hold down a regular job and continue working on her next great book to hit East Side Story shelves. Born and raised in Nashville, she already has 3 books on the shelves at my bookstore and is pencil-deep in her next as I speak. Author of “Ninety Degrees” and “Three Sixty”, she is HERE to share from her first coming of age novel titled “Small Circles.” I’m talking about the one and only Megan Duke, y’all!
Megan totally rocked the stage. She has manifested her place in the East Side Storytellin’ family for about a year, and she jumped on the microphone like it was her job. The crowd sat with smiles, taking in Megan’s words about her journey through the Nashville education system and the stories that helped shape the ones that she took to her pages. She was so gracious for the opportunity to share her books, as always, and she reminded me of the occasional immensely talented musicians that grace the stage of the Ryman and are completely humbled. I’m not saying that Mad Donna’s is on par with the Ryman as of yet, but I guess I am saying that East Side Storytellin’ is … and that Megan Duke is immensely talented. She connected with the audience with a real, gritty, modern story reading from two of her works. Everyone was captivated, and she killed it. Before we knew it, it was time for the music.
The featured musician of this show is actually not just a musician. She’s an actress, dog lover, dreamer, interpretive dance enthusiast, tv lover, romantic book reader, people lover, and a reckless one, on top of other things. She spends quite a bit of time with several other talented musicians in the band Light the Town, but HERE she plans to light the town, city, and Mad Donna’s, on her own. Alongside her talented friend Grant Yentzer, it was my privilege to introduce the first pop artist to be signed by Nashville Record Label, BIGFoot Music and Outdoors, the very talented Ms. Lauren Lyle.
Lauren brought her friend Grant Yentzer on stage and clicked with the mood set forth by Megan instantly. We could have used an extra fan on the patio because it was definitely hot (seriously, everyone was sweating, but the music was pretty hot too). Lauren dove right into some old songs and some new ones. It was quite refreshing to experience such a big voice that was singing material that fit so well with what was read beforehand. On many occasions with these events, there are a number of awesome coincidences that help make two great artists sharing their work even better. I believe this particular show was one of those nights where the coincidences and good vibes continued to flow from start to finish.
After the music ended, I had more than enough time to ask some really good questions so everyone could get to know Lauren and Megan even more than before. They brought their friendship and creative passions to the forefront of the discussions, and everyone had an absolute blast. Instead of me writing over and over about it, why don’t you just take a click on the link below and listen to the entire edited show for yourself? It’s right below this sentence.
HERE, without further ado, take a listen to and share this link for East Side Storytellin’ 39:
https://soundcloud.com/eastsidestorytn/sets/east-side-storytellin-39-megan
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Megan Duke and Lauren Lyle (and Grant Yentzer) for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can listen to more from Lauren Lyle here- www.laurenlyle.com
You can read more from Megan Duke here- www.megandukebooks.com
I’ll keep the gratitude going for Tom Eizonas, for the recording and sound of the night, Clay Brunton for the art print, for Kevin at 5 Points Digital Imaging (http://5pdi.com) for printing those art prints,and to my lovely wife and everyone that came out live to support the show … and to everyone who has helped continue to spread the word and support the show online afterwards.
You can listen to this show, edited, soon, alongside the previous shows too, on our website, www.eastsidestorytn.com, at our In Our Own Words Tab – see here – http://eastsidestorytn.com/in-our-own-words/
But we are not finished!
The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event will be …
Date- Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
Time- 7 pm sharp (Central)
Location- Mad Donna’s (1313 Woodland Street)- http://maddonnas.com
With author Katie McDougall (http://katie-mcdougall.squarespace.com) and musician Lauren Hagan.
That’s all for the East Side Storytellin’ 39 show. Thanks for coming out and sharing the good word. Remember to be nice to one another out there. Thanks and good day your way.
Much love.
chUck
