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 151st epic edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 150, I repeat … 150, 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’ 151. Let us begin, again.
The first featured artistof the night is someone who grew up in a small town in Kentucky (shout out bluegrass) and who is a partner with the Nashville Law Firm of Evans, Jones & Reynolds (shout out to my mother’s maiden name). He has been practicing law for 30 years, and handles business related law, but that is not why he is featured on this show. He is husband to Tammy, the father of 3 children, and step-father to two others, but, again, this is not why he is featured on this show. He is featured on this show because he attended an East Side Storytellin’ this year and introduced himself and his short-non-fiction story to me about an old African-American shoe shine man in Nashville that later was used as an outline for the Nashville Public Radio podcast called Neighbors in the story called Shine Service in August, 2017 (See link to that show below). That said, most of his stories are fiction. But for this show, he planned on reading from that non-fiction story I mentioned. Close friend to Percy, I was excited to introduce the very smart and talented Phillip Byron Jones.
Phillip, like the professional that he is on the daily in his regular gig, came to the stage prepared. He had brought with him several nice/framed pictures of the man behind his story. More than the pictures, Phillip did a masterful job of giving the audience a crystal clear picture of the local legend, Robert Person Sr. (aka Percy). Cramming years of research and interviews into a solid fifteen minute briefing is only done well by a professional storyteller. Phillip is that. He broke down the history of Percy’s shoe shining journey and career through decades of change, and often personal tragedy, in Nashville, from historic beginnings on Jefferson Street to the center of Downtown in The Arcade. Phillip did a wonderful and entertaining job of going through the details and hitting the high points of a brilliant personal story arch.
Phillip and Percy met close to 30 years ago, when Phillip was starting his law career in Music City. One of my favorite parts of the story that related to Phillip personally was the glimpses of his relationship with his own father and what about their bond that eventually led him into Percy’s Shine Service a few decades past. What started off as a shoe service, an excellent shoe service at that, started a friendship that grew as naturally as Phillip saw Percy make friends and help others in the community every second of his life. Percy is still very much alive and shining shoes (probably shining a few pair in the time it takes me to write and post this), and he is the main focus of the Shine Service podcast of Nashville Public Radio’s Neighbors series, as well as a new documentary in the works by Phillip and his wife and crew. Phillip spoke a little bit about the production of said documentary before the end of the show, but the point you should know now is that this story is just at the beginning of being told beyond Nashville. There are very exciting things on the horizon for both Phillip and Percy, and I can’t see anything greater than the friendship and community inspiration that both share every day of their lives.
Our featured music of the night is a Nashville-based, singer-songwriter who uses his sideways viewfinder on the world to create moody, personal, hard-hitting songs that deliver a gut-punch most often with a sliver of hope and hint of humor. Basically, his lyrics and melodies and rich vocals take listeners along for a ride in his bumpy emotional sidecar, so feel free to buckle up now and be well-warned for the better. His work as a singer, guitar player, and producer has credited him with film and tv spots of which we can talk about after the music. Like Phillip, I first met this guy at an East Side Storytellin’ show. Unlike Phillip, I met this guy when he walked in here with a real-life pirate named Tom (Mason). This guy, not Tom, is currently working on his latest and greatest album, but it truly was an honor to introduce this unforgettable artist, alongside another dear friend of his who rocks percussion all over town by the name of Pete Pulkrabek. I’m talking about the one, the only, Stuffy Shmitt!
The opposite of Phillip in preparedness and wardrobe selection for their chosen careers, Stuffy pretty much told the crowd that there was no rehearsal for he and Pete, that there was no fixed setlist written, and he was ready for anything to happen. I’m a naturally prepared person in my own life, so it was very refreshing for me to witness a professional like Stuffy who does his own thing and totally makes the most of every moment. He immediately commands your attention with his height and hair, but it’s his personality that shines brighter than the sun rising over the Cumberland. He is a gentle giant who doesn’t hide the tread marks of the entertainment world but yet allows you to see the inner glow that keeps him moving on and growing as an artist as much as time permits us all.
And as much as Stuffy owns the moment, his honesty and writing skills take everyone to another level way beyond the surface of his sound. Whether it is tracking the drug-induced coma kaleidoscope of visions that even John Lennon would be jealous of telling his friend Lucy about or following the cat walk at the fashion show of Stuffy’s search of his dream girl (just a plain Jane), Stuffy’s songs and stories reflect on real experiences and give you no choice but to listen and relate to every single reference or thought he imagines. He’s kinda like the Willy Wonka of East Nashville’s next great chapter of music, in my opinion. He wouldn’t like to name drop, but he will, so me saying he’s Willy Wonka is okay. And I’ll go ahead and say this too. Although I enjoyed the entire set, the first and the last songs Stuffy played really blew me away. Like, they were magnificent and changed my world in real time.
Like every show, I was fortunate to get the featured guests on stage to share what makes them tic, or, at the very least, share what was on their minds and hearts. Again, like the 150 shows prior, these two guys shared their truth and did not disappoint anyone in the crowd. Phillip spoke a little more in detail about the process of unfolding and packaging Percy’s story in the best way possible, and Stuffy walked through some of his past chapters while properly preparing us for the awesome stuff about to come this summer. Point being, these two artists have a very bright 2019 and 2020 to be excited about, and, in turn, we do too (thanks to them).
These guys share stories that make you think, laugh, cry, and be better people than you were before you heard them. If you think anyone else in your life would benefit from doing those things today, feel free to share this blog recap and recording below. This is the edited recording of East Side Storytellin’ 151, featuring the likes of Phillip Byron Jones and Stuffy Shmitt (with Pete Pulkrabek) at The Post East on Tuesday, April 16, 2019. It was a very special show and evening. Please listen to it and share with others, over and over again.
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Phillip and Stuffy and Pete for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can listen to more of Stuffy’s music here – stuffyshmitt.com
You can read about and listen to Phillip’s story about Percy here- http://podcasts.nashvillepublicmedia.org/neighbors-shine-service/
You can go visit Percy and support his shoe shine business, Shine Service here- Percy Shine Service: 32 Arcade, Nashville, TN 37219 = 615-244-7487
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’ 152
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Doug Hoekstra
singing- James Rotondi
That said, that’s all for recap and recording of East Side Storytellin’ 151 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. Thank you and goodnight.
Much love,
mE