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 135th epic edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 134, I repeat … 134, 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’ 135. Let us begin, again.
The first featured artist of the night is a wonderful writer who originally hails from Mount Vernon, New York, but now calls Nashville home. I first met her via an email and her coming to this show once she moved to town because she is the type of assertive, proactive artist that does her work and makes things happen. I totally dig that in her and everyone in the same mindset. This woman is an educator, writer, and editor who helps people reach their “aha” moment with whatever they are doing. She works with college students, professionals, and aspiring writers to polish their ideas until they shine. Tonight, it’s her time to shine. Fresh off of publishing her first book, Lachesis’ Allotment (pronounced Lack-eh-sis) this past March, and also fresh off of inviting our mutual friend and East Side Storytellin’ alumnus in Sam Davidson to the show, it was an honor for me to introduce a big round of applause for the talented Diana Morris!
Diana prefaced her reading by stating that Lachesis Allotment is a compilation of personal short essays and a screenplay. The essays follow her life, family, and friends. The screenplay is a trip of a tale about two people reconnecting for coffee after years apart. Diana jumped into the essays and spoke it plain for all those present right from the start.
Diana really was like a preacher on a Tuesday night. She didn’t preach at us though. She was just telling it how it was for her. She told personal stories of how she learned and has discovered certain things that she believes to be certain in her world. And trust me, I wasn’t the only one who was relating to her words. She reminded us that no person is an island and that we are all yearning to connect to others as soon as we enter this incarnation. It might not get any better said than those two gems. I know that recently, whether you see it on the news on tv or your newsfeed on social media or in person with extended friends and family, times have been really hard on a lot of people. There are so many people feeling alone, depressed, lost, and lacking the strength, hope, and sense of community that we all need to thrive and survive in this world. It’s reminders like those Diana shared with us this evening that can make the world of difference to those who need it at that very time. I’ve heard someone say recently that the only two things that we really need to concern ourselves with doing every day and moment is to tell the truth and love everyone & everything. These are the things that Diana does with her writing, and we are all better for reading and listening to her speak her truth.
Before Diana left the stage, she threw in another great thought. She asked us if we remembered our first friend. She told us that her fondest memory of a first friendship was wrapped with moments of watching Spice World and soccer and other things nice. It’s not every day when you hear someone read a story and the content has you following along with their words as they peel the layers of the creative onion and at the same time you are equally mesmerized while digging into your memory vault at the same time. Diana both spoke her truth as plain and as efficiently as she could (she’s a brilliant editor so you know she’s great at practicing what she teaches) and laid out a most effective lesson plan for everyone in the crowd to practice their own version of her Artist’s Way in real time. The end result, it was a most delightful reading to witness. I look forward to reading the rest of her book (and books to come in the future).
Our featured music of the night is someone who drove here from McMinnville, TN and who has been on East Side Storytellin’ before, sharing the stage and supporting the amazing Anna Joy Harris. Lately you may have seen him on the road, or heard him on the radio and around town supporting my dear friend Lauren Farrah, on top of doing this own thing, of course. Two things that I find most interesting about this man’s current life besides his music and friendships are the facts that he gets to work alongside the great Todd Jarrell at that cool thing called Bluegrass Underground and he claims to be musically influenced by none other than one of my all-time favorites, D’Angelo. Hot off the release of his recent album titled I’m Not Trying to Flirt with You or Anything, let’s not waste any precious time here, and let’s get this music started by putting our hands together to honor the one and only Griffin Winton!
Griffin didn’t waste any time with introductions of himself or his music. He plugged in, stepped forward, and did his thing. He was so ready to do his thing that after the first line of his song he laughed and asked the crowd if we too ever forgot the words of songs when they started to sing them. It was a cool candid moment that showed Griffin’s lack of a superego and revealed that he was going to be just as truthful and amazing as Diana was minutes before. Griffin picked up the song from the top, without skipping a beat, and hit his groove, notes, and lines perfectly and immediately.
After he finished his first song, Griffin made the most of his time while really diving into the stories between and behind the music he created. Including some of the mutual friends named above in his introduction, as well as laying down a heavy dose of the always entertaining Rayvon Pettis, Griffin gave us all a major and clear glimpse into how each song of his came together organically and with positivity in the process before he floored us with the final products. I can’t emphasize how good some of the most revealing lines were and are in Griffin’s music. One of my favorite lines was something about how it’s “funny how you sneak up on yourself.” Like Reading Rainbow, you don’t have to take my word for it. You can simply listen to the recording below and buy his record online to listen to these songs for yourself. Griffin does a tremendous job of take what we all seem to make so complicated in our daily lives and thoughts of ourselves and others and makes them into simple phrases and songs that you can easily digest and apply in your mind instantly (most often with a laugh and a smile).
Another great moment in Griffin’s set came to me when he was talking about memories of long walks in his hometown of McMinnville, TN, and the smell of the woods. Being a father of a 2 year old with Netflix (we have the Netflix, it’s not like he has it on lock from his parents, of course – just to clarify), we have spent the past week watching the most recent version of the movie Pete’s Dragon. Point being, it’s set in the 70’s in the Northwest USA with a bunch of beautiful forests and logging companies. As with most of life, it was just a solid moment where more than one world of mine collided and made the impact and the splendor of the moment (in this case, the songs of Griffin Winton, with the crowd present at The Post, with thoughts of movies and personal time with my family all hitting each other just right at the right time) … the magic of the moment was fully felt.
After Griffin put down his guitar for the night, I was lucky to have Diana join us back on stage to share some more personal anecdotes about how they each got into the arts and why they do what they do and love doing it. Both Griffin and Diana cut through the typical everyday bullshit filters and spoke from their hearts. It, like the content they shared before the conversation, was so refreshing and nice to hear for a change from the things most people do/say every day when not being recorded. I was able to speak with several people in the crowd after the show, and each one of them agreed that it was just such a nice evening to be a part of in the crowd. To say that we all needed that in our lives, and that we would like to experience similar moments and art every day, would be a huge understatement.
So, here it is … the edited recording of East Side Storytellin’ 135, the night we featured Diana Morris and Griffin Winton at The Post East. Yessiree, August 7th, 2018 will not be forgotten any time soon because of these two and everything they shared with everyone listening with open minds and hearts. This truth will keep on ringing for a very long time. Enjoy and share this recording, as you wish.
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Diana and Griffin for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Diana’s work here- dianaramorris.com
You can listen to more of Griffin’s music here – soundcloud.com/griffin-winton
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 – www.eastsidestorytn.com/in-our-own-words
I’ll keep the gratitude going for Tom Eizonas, my lovely wife and most talented artist in Emily Harper Beard (efharper), 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.
Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to give one last shout out to Tonya and Chris for making The Post so welcoming and positively life-changing for the East Nashville community at large.
Our next show will be
East Side Storytellin’ 136
Tuesday, August 21
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Corey White
singing- Damien Horne
That said, that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 135 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. I repeat, please remember to be nice to one another out there. Thank you and goodnight.
Much love,
mE