Hello everyone, and welcome to another great round of East Side Storytellin’. Similar to the 43 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. Unlike the 43 previous shows we’ve put together, all of them being amazing and straight from the heart. this particular show, with the two featured artists you are about to witness below, I’ll go ahead say that it was one of the most soulful show. I knew it, even before it started. For everyone that was there, get excited to experience the show again. For those that didn’t make it, don’t miss out on the shows to come after you read the below and listen to the wonderment that happened on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014. This was one of the greats. This was East Side Storytellin’ 44. Let us begin again.
The first featured guest of East Side Storytellin’ 44 is an artist’s artist. The life of a writer can often feel like a very individualistic and selfish act and dream to chase. The writer spends a ton of solitary time, creating stories and curating words together in a way that they believe will somehow move and change the world perspective of the future reader, not knowing if there will be a reader at the end other than the writer themselves. That said, this writer not only does a tremendous job with her own work, she also helps put together events and crowds to ensure that other local writers will have an appreciative audience and people to whom they can share their art. Originally from Greenville, South Carolina, a graduate from Columbia College in South Carolina with a BA in English, she spends a lot of her time as an excellent freelance writer and editor. She is the unforgettable host of the bi-monthly poetry experience called Writings on the Wall and the monthly poetry series called Lyrical Brew: An Evening of Local Poetry- where she invites new and well-known poets to showcase their work. Another inspirational concept she has created that continues to inspire me and others in the area and beyond is her “do the crazy thing” prints and mission that we talked about later in the show. But I restrained myself from rambling for hours about how special this lady is, and I was truly honored to be the host that introduced the ultimate literary host like none in the city or beyond … I’m talking about having the privilege of introducing the one and only Ciona Rouse!
Ciona had mentioned before the show that she was more than a little bit nervous because she hasn’t spent much time before trading in her hosting gigs to sharing her own work in public. I reassured her that she was going to be great and that a ton of loving friends and fans were coming to give her just the morale support that she needed to enjoy the night to the fullest. Lucky for me, both things came true: the crowd showed up in tidal waves of seats and love, and Ciona was breathtaking.
She started with a poem about the first time she kissed someone, a unique twist on kissing cousins. She had the crowd giggling and in the palm of her hands from the first words. Everyone felt at ease being in said palm, and Ciona knew exactly where to take us with her words and show instincts. She made a touching call of her own dream of a day when we could start painting our hearts every where we go so others can see them and be reminded of goodness in times of great despair or chaos (such as seen currently in Ferguson). Then, at one point, describing another fateful family event, Ciona dove into the depths of her memory and emotions to reveal a story about the birth and death of her favorite human being in the world, her favorite niece. I was touched beyond words, only speaking for my own feelings, but I do know that one or more people had to get up and get some tissues to wipe away the tears. I can’t say more about the poetry and Ciona’s excellence beyond just sharing the recording below, but I will say that it felt like the formula for the famous Jimmy V speech at the first ESPY’s show. If you’ve never heard the speech, do yourself a favor and click this link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E. Basically, Jim Valvano said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day.” On those lines, Ciona made me and everyone in the crowd laugh, think, and cry in our own ways. I’m not saying that every writer should follow or attempt to follow Ciona’s formula (mainly because no two writers are the same), but I do know that Ciona’s performance was remarkable and one heck of a start to the show I’m talking about from East Side Storytellin’ 44. When Ciona walked off the stage, the applause was louder than me telling people over the microphone to keep the applause going. I didn’t even need to say anything. Yeah; it was that good.
To follow the spoken words of Ciona, I had another Ace of Hearts up my scheduling sleeve. The second featured guest of the evening kicked off this month of September’s homage to talented friends of talented friends of my favorite music duo of Carolina Story. I first met this young man at a house concert that headlined East Side Storytellin’ alumnus Carolina Story. Ben Roberts introduced this guy as one of his best friends and muses in his musical journey to date. Any friend of Ben and Emily is someone with whom we should all should hope to to be friends. With just a guitar and voice, this guy filled up the entire house with good vibes and meaningful messages that stuck with me and everyone else for days after. Originally from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, then traveling to the University of North Texas to study philosophy, this guy formed a band with friends in Denver, Colorado called Whiskey King Coalition that blended flashes of funk, jazz, R & B, and Americana … a few of my favorite things. After touring the west coast, the south, and Nashville for several runs, he decided to make Nashville his next destination with only his family in tow. Another fun name and artist to the core, I was more than amped up to welcome the guitar, voice, heart, and example of awesome in the flesh, sir Amita Fukui.
Amita wasted no time in giving the crowd his heart-felt love and deep appreciation for taking time to listen to him perform in public for the first time in over two years. The stars had aligned perfectly, and Ciona had opened our ears, minds, and hearts perfectly to let Amita take us further than anyone expected when they woke up Tuesday, September 2nd, and after the storms rolled through in the afternoon. Amita jumped right into his first song and people were tapping their feet and moving in their seats. I love Amita’s music because it reminds me of the modern musical talents of Ben Harper with the gritty, gut-wrenching lyrics of personal and cultural awareness of Richie Havens (If you haven’t listened to a lot of either one, you should as soon as you listen to the recording of the show below).
Amita played two songs and then told the story about his family and the third song with one of the most catchy and inspirational lines I’ve heard in some time that had me singing by the end called Road Gospel, part 1. You’ll hear it below, and the songs before and after, but try not to be inspired more energetic about life all around than you were before reading this … just try!
As always, before you knew it, it was time for the music to end for the evening. I speak for everyone there when I say that we could and would have listened all night long to Amita and Ciona had they decided to continue. I am always amazed at how the combinations of these East Side Storytellin’ artists come together perfectly during their performances and reveal more coincidences than I ever expect when booking them. Honestly, there is a magic way beyond me or the store to get these amazing artists together. For this show, I made a few of these obvious points known before starting the creative conversation. Specifically, I made these two points:
1- When asked about a bio from both of these artists that don’t really have too much of a website presence, I found it very interesting that instead of sounding like most would by saying WHAT they do or have done, these two wrote beautiful, thought-provoking prose about who they are. One comment that Amita wrote perfectly described how I thought about both Amita and Ciona for the evening. He wrote, “I take my sound from the soulful, the blues men, the oppressed, the rock gods, the literary giants, the advantageous seekers of truth, and those that burn with the illuminating stance of defiance.”
2- Pulling from lines that I heard both say and sing during their performances that really struck me to my core, I told the crowd how wonderful it would be if we all listened to Amita and Ciona’s words, by painting our hearts everywhere we go and signing those paintings, not by our names, but with the signature quote of “move together is the only way to move!”
I really have no more words of just how beautiful and soulful this show was on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014 with Ciona Rouse and Amita Fukui. If you weren’t there, I feel sorry for you. Again, don’t miss on the next shows to come. But, if I can offer any consolation to those who missed or an extra reminder of a gift for those who did come that night, here is the edited recording of East Side Storytellin’ 44 to share with every single friend you have, on and off Facebook. Enjoy, over and over again.
https://soundcloud.com/eastsidestorytn/sets/east-side-storytellin-44-ciona
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Ciona Rouse and Amita Fukui for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more of Ciona Rouse’s work – http://www.thecrazything.com/pages/about-us
I’ll keep the gratitude going for Tom Eizonas, for the recording and sound of the night, Clay Brunton for the amazing art print, for Kevin Anthuis 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. Side note, much love for the nice lid I get to sport and look professional from my friend Otis James!
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, September 16th, 2014
Time- 7 pm sharp (Central)
Location- Mad Donna’s (1313 Woodland Street)- http://maddonnas.com
With poet Leslie LaChance and music by Taylor Corum. It will be another transcendent, soulful night not to miss.
That’s all for the East Side Storytellin’ 44 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
