Well, we did it! We successfully made it to lucky number 70 and counting. I’m not sure if anyone ever believed we would do it or doubted us, but I’m happy to say that we celebrated our 3rd anniversary of East Side Storytellin’ in the best of ways (together with talented Nashville artists, surrounded by a supportive crowd filled with loving friends and family). Here is my take on the monumental night.
Thank YOU, thank YOU, thank YOU. Hello Again! Welcome to another wonderful collaboration between East Side Story and The Post. Let me be the first to officially, whole-heartedly welcome you to the recap and recording of the 70th epic edition and 3rd anniversary show of East Side Storytellin’! THREE years and counting, y’all. Like the 69 previous shows East Side Story has put together, we all decided to take a break from our busy schedules all over town in order to sit back and relax and get everyone cultured up just right in the form of a 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. Without further ado, fulfilling the entertainment portion of your day, this is the recap and recording of East Side Storytellin’ 70. Let us begin, again.
Before we got started with the featured guests, we had the privilege of getting our annual celebratory visit from the man behind the voice of every show’s intro, Dave Eastman. He recalled the backstory of how this thing got started and the players involved and gave a nice toast to everyone around.
The first featured guest of the night is a graduate fiction fellow at Vanderbilt University, the fiction editor of the Nashville Review, a Vanderbilt Commons Writer in Residence and the founder of Band of Poets, a monthly reading series at Bobby’s Idle Hour, the historic bar on Nashville’s music row. Her fiction has appeared in many places including Spork, The Atlas Review, The Fanzine,Deep South Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail and Joyland. She is a Sewanee Writer’s Conference Tennessee Williams Scholarship Award winner and a Helen Wurlitzer Foundation grantee. This fall her story “Lunch” is being published in the book Gigantic Worlds: An Anthology of Science Flash Fiction alongside work by Phillip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard and Jonathan Lethem. She was also recently a finalist for The Conium Review’s Innovative Short Fiction Prize judged by Amelia Gray. To say that she is a talented writer on the rise might be the biggest understatement I’ve ever shared on this show. We were honored to have her join the East Side Storytellin’ family and listen to her words firsthand. Point being, several of the members from her Band of Poets and various other writing colleagues gave major props and applause for the introduction of Rita Bullwinkel.
Rita, no stranger to a room of avid literature fans, grabbed her story with both hands and took us for a wild ride. With the one, genius, and epitome of cool like that of the great Margot Tenenbaum, Rita shared her story titled “In the South the Sand Winds are Our Greatest Enemy.” Recently showcased and published with Joyland Magazine, you can read the story in its entirety here- www.joylandmagazine.com/regions/south/south-sand-winds-are-our-greatest-enemy.
A tale of two brothers, Gleb and Oleg, Rita introduced us to several unforgettable characters in an unforgettable world that instantly drew everyone to the edge of their seats to follow along such a delightfully strange trip. It reminded me of several things, from the finger count of one character flashing memories of the extra-fingered villain in The Princess Bride to the visuals of what I can only imagine would make for the next great Tim Burton off-holiday stop-animation film gone awry (with an extra hint of the throwback style and characters of the original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer classic narrated by Burl Ives. Rita’s story was fantastical, enchanting, other-worldly, original, refreshing, and all that and a bag of crispy chips to say the least about how much I absolutely loved it and the reading performance. Again, like my recap for most of the shows so far, I feel as though I would diminish the energy and quality of the sublime shared inside East Side Storytellin’ if I was to ramble on an on here about my show memories if I tried to recount every personal detail that made me happy so I shall leave you with descriptions above and let you digest the full story in the link mentioned and the recording below for yourself. It is a treat and you are welcome. Thanks be to Rita.
The featured musician of the night is, like East Side Storytellin’ in general, unforgettable. I said during the previous show that this guy is someone who needs no introduction. I am a man of my word if nothing else. So, jumping right into a stage of AWEsome, get ready for the sounds and stylings of another true original in the recording below and if you’re not ready … too late. It was honestly one of the great honors of my life to this point to introduce the one and only, the man, the myth, the legend … my Nashville hero, Dutch Whisky!
But Dutch did not come alone. Flanked on boths sides by Ferd, Xatticus (the X is silent y’all), his lovely bride Brandy Alexandria, and first name Del last name Camino, Dutch grabbed his guitar and tackled the stage like only Dutch does. He wasted no time with introducing the first song as an ode to his first true love, his Monte Carlo. An innocent song about a spaceship of sorts that shook his world and changed him forever, his Monte Carlo put a smile on everyone’s faces. Then, showcasing a tender, romantic side of his ego, Dutch belted out a song about dating and stating he’d walk a 100 miles to find the love that came into his life. Not stopping there, Dutch shared a song about the life and death and love for his mother with a song about how she cooked and killed it on a skillet.
Needless to say, the first act of Dutch Whisky, tempered down to perfectly fit into the intimate, acoustic set at The Post, was something made of magic. He continued his instant classic set with a special ode to his teenage daughter and how a real woman should act with Prom Promise Me. The gem I took from that one was that MeMaw is always watching us from above so we need to mind our P’s and Q’s.
At this point in the anniversary show, my face was starting to hurt. I was not meant to live like The Joker and the permagrin I was holding in the front row was about to burst. It didn’t help that the next song, I think called One Hot Mess, gave more beautiful and zany and touching desciptives than a classic novel while relating Dutch’s dream girl to a bunch of exotic foods. I still can’t get the circus peanut toes out of my head. In one word … BRILLIANT!
How do you follow up brilliance? Dutch tops himself with a run of three songs for his finale that I dare you to find can be outdone in this city and life in general. He made us all believer in miracles with his hit Miracle Baby, singing and asking how someone can’t believe in miracles if two ugly people can make a beautiful baby tonight. This was followed by a cover that’s not really a cover (like yoga pants … I can’t make this stuff up), titled All my exes send me texts. Again, instant classics. But, Dutch saved one of his best and trademark love songs for last and dropped the mic with the ultimate love and car and car and love song called Truck You.
You really do need to just listen for yourself. Here’s a game to try on for size. See how long you can listen to the show and musical performance before you simaltaneously bust a gut laughing and blow your mind from the musical talent from this man and his loyal and ever-changing band. I thought Emily was going to go into labor 2 months before her due date at one point.
In the end, Rita and Dutch joined me on stage together to take pictures and talk about storytelling and stories past, present, and future. The crowd was in stitches and, without a doubt in my mind, changed forever … happier than when they were before the show and these were all pretty darn happy people before the show, let me tell you what.
Before I give you the link to enjoy the edited show recording of East Side Storytellin’ 70 that featured the genius of Rita Bullwinkel and the brilliance of Dutch Whisky, I must add my final gem of the night. See if you can hear the wordplay and puns that Dutch dropped about playing in the spin-off sitcom of the hit show Nashville by playing East Side Storytellin’ at The Post. Major points for anyone who emails me the link between ABC’s Nashville and East Nashville’s new version of A Different World. Seriously, mind blown, y’all!
photo credit – Connie Chornuk
So here it is, the recording of East Side Storytellin’ 70, the 3 year anniversary show that featured Rita Bullwinkel and Dutch Whisky at The Post on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015. We started on an election night in 2012 and we managed to top the ratings again and win more life-long fans and supporters than most who won at the polls this particular night at your nearest voting precinct. Here’s to many more years and success for East Side Storytellin’ and our friends Rita Bullwinkel and Dutch Whisky!
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Rita Bullwinkel and Dutch Whisky for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Rita Bullwinkel’s writing here- www.ritabullwinkel.com
You can listen to more of Dutch Whisky’s music here- facebook.com/DutchWhiskyMusic
You can listen to this show, edited, soon, alongside the previous shows too, on our website,www.eastsidestorytn.com, at our In Our Own WordsTab – see here – www.eastsidestorytn.com/in-our-own-words
I’ll keep the gratitude going for recording and sound maestros of Tom Eizonas and Dave Eastman. Without their help and teamwork, this show would never have made it beyond the first one at Rumours East years ago.
I’d also like to show much love to Clay Brunton for the beautiful artwork online to promote the show and the great art he makes for every show. Clay makes our world look better and we are grateful to call him friend.
To 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, I say thank you from the top, bottom, and sides of my heart. Your support and love means more than you’ll ever know.
I’d also like to give one special shout out to Tonya and Chris for making The Post so welcoming and positively life-changing for the East Nashville community at large. It is by far the most fun and welcoming place I’ve ever experienced good art and the future is brighter than ever.
Last, but certainly not least, big love goes to my lovely wife and the most talented artist in Emily Harper Beard (efharper). She is everything to me, and everything I do good in this world is because of her inspiration.
That said- that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 70 and another fabulous event at The Post with East Side Story at the helm. Thanks for coming out and sharing the good word and giving some love to all of these great Nashville artists and our creative ideas. Please remember to be nice to one another out there.
much love,
mE
The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event will be …
East Side Storytellin’ 71
Tuesday, November 17th
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Joseph Powell (jobychronicle.blogspot.com)
singing- Nick Flora (nickflora.com)
PS –
Tom Eizonas & Dave Eastman, as another surprise gift to mE (Chuck Beard), put together this very special compilation of one song from each show from the 3rd year of East Side Storytellin’. Now I give it to you to enjoy and share and spread the word about every show in the past and future.
East Side Storytellin’ is a bi-monthly live event that we record and edit into an hour long podcast/radio show. Recorded live every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month since November 2012, Chuck Beard brings together and hosts local writers and musicians in a spectacular show that lets the talent do all of the shining. The writers read their original works, beginning promptly at 7pm, and then are followed by original storyteller sets of music by the featured musicians. After the last note is played, Chuck gathers up all of the featured artists of the night and moderates a casual conversation about the guests’ creative processes, artistic journeys, and special ties to the Nashville area. It is generally over by 8:30pm, FREE to attend, and a great time had by all present (there is also artist merch, food, and spirits to purchase each round while you enjoy the show). Beginning in November of 2012, East Side Storytellin’ has consistently showcased the best of what Nashville is about to everyone taking a break from their busy lives to join in the fun.
This special compilation tracks shows we hosted during the 2014-2015 season at Mad Donna’s, Riverwood Mansion, and The Post.
See www.eastsidestorytn.com for more information or email chuck@eastsidestorytn.com