Whether this is your first visit to our website or you are familiar with everything that East Side Story, Nashville’s only all-local bookstore, has to offer, we want to take a second to welcome you to East Side Storytellin’ for a very special occasion. We were beyond honored and thrilled to be asked by the fine people over at Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum and Art to put together a Children-themed show that would be featured within their Cheekwood in Bloom series. So like previous East Side Storytellin’ shows we at East Side Story have curated thus far (82 and counting), 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. Unlike the previous East Side Storytellin’ shows, we doubled the amount of local authors for this special occasion and added one of the coolest musicians around town all for the entertainment of young minds. So, without further ado, this is the recap and recording of a very special Cheekwood edition of East Side Storytellin’. Let us begin, again.
On Saturday, April 16th, 2016, I convened with my usual sound and recording guru in Tom Eizonas to help set up what would become one of the most fun run of shows we’ve done together to date. Actually, it was the first time we had focused on a show for children and it was the first time we had ever planned on doing two shows in one day. Cheekwood reserved the perfect location for everything we wanted to make happen come together. The weather was perfect, we had blankets and seats and water and shade and sunshine. The featured guests arrived early to set up their props, and the Frist Learning Center & Contemporary Art Galleries setting and staff couldn’t have been better for all involved. It was a smashing success from the start, even before the kids of all ages arrived on the scene.
The theme of the show was Cheekwood in Bloom: Drop Everything and Read! So we did just that. I’ll go ahead and introduce the featured guests before I reveal how the shows transpired and gift you the recording below of one of the two shows.
Now, following our manners and introducing the ladies first, the first of the featured artists was actually two Nashville artists. I’m talking about Jamina Jackson and Kaaren Engel. Jamina not only writes cool stories, she also loves yoga, music, singing, dancing, and drumming. She’s worked with massage therapy, bodywork, labor and birth support, photography, cooking, and floral design, but what she loves most is connecting people. Kaaren is an artist who knows no limit with her art too. She makes paintings and sculptures with a variety of media and found objects, and she often puts words into her paintings too. Like Jamina, Kaaren is a student of yoga. Together, Jamina and Kaaren wrote and painted the story and book called Herman’s Journey.
The second featured artist of the day is not only an amazing author, he is also one of the most talented Nashville visual artists and nicest humans you’ll ever meet. He often spends a majority of his work week building sophisticated puppets and managing fantastical projects for major theme parks and ideas around the world at a company in town called Animax Designs. When he’s not working on those creations, he’s constantly creating stories and images and worlds of his own. He has self-published two beautiful books: At Home in Your Heart and Search for the Sugar Puff Hollow. I’m talking about the tremendously talented Mark Sloniker. Note to this show, Mark had been the featured author for East Side Storytellin’ 28. You can read the review and listen to that show here – http://eastsidestorytn.com/east-side-storytellin-28-where-mark-sloniker-and-the-mary-nails-made-magic-and-christmas-miracles-happen.
Last but certainly not least, the featured music of the day was provided by one of the wildest and coolest guys you’ll meet in Nashville. He plays a lot of different instruments and has been living in Nashville for over 25 years. For the past 45 years, he’s been a founding member of one of the biggest rock bands your parents and grandparents love called the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Since that first big band, he’s done other side solo projects like Supe & the Sandwiches, Supe & the Sheetrockers, and The Garbonzos. For the past 11 years, he’s been a grandpa to his five grandchildren. He came prepared to Cheekwood with music to rock the kids’ socks and sandals off with his new band name of Silly Grandpa. Another special note to the show, Supe had been a featured author for his book It Shined: the Saga of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, on East Side Storytellin’ 56. You can read the review and listen to that show here – http://eastsidestorytn.com/east-side-storytellin-56-the-night-joseph-lemay-left-his-barn-for-the-city-and-served-up-a-perfect-show-with-a-side-of-nashvilles-own-supe-du-jour.
So now that I’ve introduced you to the Nashville players involved, the only thing left to talk about is how the shows went down and who all came out to enjoy them. The generous staff at Cheekwood allowed us to perform two shows with everyone involved, one at 11am and another at 1pm. Our shows typically run an hour so this was helpful for parents to plan accordingly to their kids’ nap and food schedules. The only job we had to do once everything was set up and good-to-go was to make sure everyone had fun while we brought together books and music through storytelling.
To preface the shows, each featured artist came prepared with their own bells and whistles for the day. Jamina and Kaaren had a wonderful spread of blankets for the crowd to sit closer to the action, a decorative box filled with shaker instruments that served as toys as well as instruments for the kids to join in the overall excitement of the story, and also enlarged prints of their book to display for everyone to see the wonderful artwork and follow along in time as the story was being read. Mark brought a briefcase containing a plethora of the fantastical characters that he had made and photographed for the final version of his book, Search for the Sugar Puff Hollow. Supe arrived in full Silly Grandpa attire and played a handful of instruments to bring his songs and the overall excitement of the crowd to life. To say that all of these artists were excited and prepared to put on a great series of shows would be an understatement.
We began the first show promptly because that’s what we always do and because there was a packed crowd of toddlers and babies ready for story time. I planned the set to start off with Jamina and Kaaren and then follow up with Mark before finishing with the music of Silly Grandpa. The sun was shining brightly on the stage and the crowd, but that didn’t deter them from smiling and laughing alongside the story of Herman’s Journey. Kids were asking questions in between the reading and everyone appeared captivated by the colors and artwork behind both Jamina and Kaaren and Mark’s books. It was an extra special occasion because it was one of the first times Mark had ever read his book in front of a large group of kids. After we took a short break to transition between the readings and the music, Supe took us home with a handful of songs that combined interactive questions with the crowd in the lyrics as well as fun animal chants that featured noises you may hear on a farm. Before we knew it, it was time for a lunch break and brainstorm for the afternoon matinee.
For the second show, I decided to change things up a bit. Because each artist found their own particular comfort zone and groove with their presentations, I opted for asking Supe to deliver a few songs sporadically throughout the show instead of being isolated at the end. I would have him play two songs to kick things off and grab the attention of the kids, then have Mark tell his story at full effect. Supe would play another two songs while Mark broke down his set-up and Kaaren and Jamina arranged everything they had into their beautiful display, and then Supe would take us all home with a final song and dance after Herman had gone on his journey.
All of the artists were game for the new arrangement on the fly and it worked like a charm. Something that also made the second show feel more natural for the overall setting was that it was a crowd filled with older kids who were more interactive and offered more positive energy as they ang and danced along with the music throughout. For a brief moment in time outside of Cheekwood’s Frist Learning Center & Contemporary Art Galleries the smiles and positivity surrounding the courtyard overflowed from the cobblestones into the gardens.
Here is the edited recording of our very special Cheekwood in Bloom edition of East Side Storytellin’ that took place on Saturday, April 16th, 2016 and featured Jamina Jackson, Kaaren Engel, Mark Sloniker, and Supe Granda as Silly Grandpa.
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Jamina and Kaaren and Mark and Supe Granda (Silly Grandpa) for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Mark’s art here- www.markslonikerimaginarium.com
You can read about Jamina and Kaaren’s Herman’s Journey here- www.hermansjourney.com
You can listen to more of Supe Granda and Silly Grandpa music here – www.supeline.com and www.facebook.com/sillygrandpa
You can check out everything else you need to know about Cheekwood here- www.cheekwood.org
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 Tom Eizonas and all of the kids, young and old, who came out here to support the show in person and online.
Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to give one last shout out to everyone here at Cheekwood Botannical Garden for their hospitality and everything the do for this community all year round.
That said- that’s all for the Cheekwood in Bloom edition of East Side Storytellin’ . Thanks for coming out and sharing the good word and giving some love to all of these great Nashville artists and our creative ideas. Don’t forget to drop by East Side Story, located in the heart of 5 Points in East Nashville, and also the other various events and programs that we put together all year round. Also, please remember to be nice to one another out there.
much love,
Chuck Beard
**Here are a few pictures of my number one assistant:
