East Side Storytellin’ 20: When The Coal Men didn’t miss the Bus, People

I must admit that it is quite a treat for me to have the chance to sit back and reflect on these shows just days after they take place.  It’s not like these are just the run-of-the-mill shows either, in case you haven’t been paying attention.  If you haven’t been paying attention to East Side Storytellin’ shows so far, after nearly a year, shame on you and I might have to de-friend you on Facebook or friend you just so I can de-friend you on Facebook.  Seriously,  you are seriously missing out on something extraordinary that won’t last forever and only has so many rain checks for you to take advantage of experiencing such amazing shows … I stress the word seriously here.  Don’t believe me, check this show out below.

August 20th, 2013 marked the 20th edition of East Side Storytellin’.  I’m not one too much for numerology, but 20 seems like an A-okay number to me.  Aside from the number 20 all around, it was also the mark of a unique Blue Moon – also the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.  What all these moons had to do with East Side Storytellin’ and the people involved, I do not pretend to know.  What I do know is that it was one hella time had by everyone there.

The featured author, Mike Pentecost, is quite the storyteller.  He’s been featured several times as a guest speaker and storyteller and token male for the monthly comedy series called That Time of the Month (http://www.that-time-of-the-month.com).  Side note, the creator of said series is none other than the wonderful East Side Storytellin’ 11 alum author and comedian in Melanie Vare (revisit her show here- http://eastsidestorytn.com/east-side-storytellin-11-laughter-the-day-after-april-fools/).  But back to Mike, he is a man of the church sermon writer turned faith on humanity and comedy non-fiction, out of this world funny, storyteller.  You can see how he captivated the audience in this one picture below, if you aren’t tripped out by the panoramic shot.

Mike Pentecost is the author of the most true, most hilarious collection of stories involving Greyhounds I’ve ever read.  It is called Bus People, and you can come get a copy of it at East Side Story today, if you don’t have one already.  Short hand, it is thirty days on the North American roads with several charismatic, stranger than strange nomads traveling on the same buses as Mike.  It is an honest, wonderful trip that Mike wrote about and pleasantly continues to share with anyone willing to get on the bus with him.  You can listen to a few excerpts that Mike shared with the crowd on this particular evening to see if you’d also like to buy a ticket to ride.  You can hear it in the SoundCloud link below, and I assure you that you won’t be disappointed for giving up a few moments of your time.

And speaking of time, it was about time that I finally got around to having two of the coolest musicians I know on this show for the first time.  I call them Dave and Dave, but they normally call themselves The Coal Men when on stage performing together.  They are both two solid guys, managers at two successful Nashville businesses (one is at Ugly Mugs Coffee and Tea, and the other is at See Spot Eat and also Dogs and Kat: Dog Training & Behavior Counseling).  As I mention in the recording, I met both of these gentlemen via their smart, also very successful better half wives, but this is what they look like when they are having fun out on the town at night playing original songs that kick are.

Yes sir (and ma’am), Dave and Dave of The Coal Men are one of a kind as a group.  Dave Ray, on the drums, is usually bouncing out of his seat with a pop usually seen in only one other happy drummer I’ve ever seen (on the internet) in that of Sir Ringo Starr.  This specific show, Mr. Ray stood up the entire time and kept the beat and back-up vocals in check while smoothing out every song as only he could.  Dave Coleman is hands down one of the finest guitar players in a city filled with people trying all day and night to do half of the things he can do in a 3 minute song.  As mentioned above, you can listen to the songs and stories in the link below that contains the edited show, but you can bet you’ll be hard-pressed to find another singer and guitarist in town that can shred away all of the nonsense dressings and get to the artistic core of every song that he sings and plays.  It is really something, for lack of better words here.

But yeah, after the songs were played, and the crowd finished clapping (that took awhile after this show), I was yet again fortunate to stand and talk with all three of the fine featured guests of the evening.  Some nights in the past, some shows have been hard to pull out answers and stories from the guests.  This was not one of those nights.  I’m not sure if this was when the Full Moon and all of the other moons described kicked in, but I’m pretty sure that we could have talked for another two hours with no problem.  I felt truly blessed to be standing by three grown adult men who have been brave enough to pursue their dreams, find a balance of family and working lives, and also just plain appear to get it.  It’s not every day when you are able to converse with such remarkable guys, and I know I was not alone for being in their presence for that time being.  The crowd and myself were better people for having listened to their art and their personal stories.

You know someone else who might be better for listening to their art and stories, it might just be YOU!  Here is the chance, on the link below, for you to take a trip back to Tuesday, August 20th, at 7pm, to experience what you either missed or want to experience again, over and over.  Be sure to like it if you like it and share this page and post with others.

 https://soundcloud.com/eastsidestorytn/sets/east-side-storytellin-20-8-20

Here’s another something that you won’t want to miss out on.  This was the art print that my dear friend and artist Alex Smith made for this show above.  It’s truly amazing, if you look closely and back at the others that he has made for each individual show, how he transforms the links of the featured guests that I send him (sometimes he only sees the websites and listens to a few songs), into something that totally captures the extraordinary events to remember it by- doing so before they even happen!  Take a moment and check it and his work out here:

 

And one more final round of Thank You‘s, before I tell you about the next show coming up in September.

To Emily Frances Harper Beard (www.efharper.com), you are my everything.  I can’t say anything else because everything means everything!

To Tom Eizonas, you make us all sound amazing while recording the show and making sure that everyone in the crowd hears every word and note as it is intended to be heard.

To Alex Smith, I think I just said a majority of what I want to say here in the paragraph above, but you are so amazing.  Thanks for sharing your talents with the world.

To Chris Haston and the Fat Bottom Brewing Co. family- www.fatbottombrewing.com, THANKS for allowing us to call your place of business our little place of home for a few nights a month since February.  We have had an absolute blast while highlighting the best of what you guys are about and sharing all of our stories and talents together.  This will definitely not be the last time we all come together and have fun for East Side Storytellin’s sake.

To Mike Pentecost- http://mikepentecost.blogspot.com, thank you for going on your bus adventure in the first place.  Thanks to your wife for letting you go and write this too.  I know it took a lot of courage to put ”normal” life to the side to make this story happen and then write about it, but you have done a tremendous job so far and I have no doubt many many more people will take note of it going forward.  You are an inspiration to your kids and wife and more people than you know.

To Dave Ray and Dave Coleman- http://thecoalmen.com, you guys are two of a kind.  Not only did the big random police raid at The Family Wash not deter you from rocking that place til’ the end of your set, but you totally made August 20th one night to not forget any time soon.  Your talents are obvious, individually and together, and much appreciated by everyone that knows and loves you.  Like Mike, this is definitely only the beginning to your creative journey, and I want to thank you for letting me and East Side Storytellin’ be a very small part of that trip.  I look forward to shows at Key West and beyond.  Basically, you guys ROCK!

But this is not the end of East Side Storytellin’, by any means.  We have a change of plans, for location only really.  We are already booked every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month through the rest of 2013 with some of the finest local authors and musicians in Nashville so don’t you worry.  The thing is, as we are always apt for change of scenery and to adapt the show where it needs to go next as long as it keeps on growing and going, we are moving it, beginning September 3rd, to Mad donna’s (1313 Woodland Street)- just down the hill and street from East Side Story bookstore!  We will have an open-air patio to play on when sunny, and we’ll have the cool upstairs event space to get out of crappy weather or the cold air coming sooner than later.  Also, the month of September will feature local poets as the featured authors for the first time in both shows.  Here is the information for the next show to take note of and attend with all your friends.  Don’t be scared, it’s FREE!

But we aren’t finished quite yet!  We’re just getting started.

The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event will be …

Date- Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013

Time- 7 pm sharp (Central)

Location- Mad donna’s (1313 Woodland Street)- http://maddonnas.com

Need information or details about Mad donna’s, call 615-226-1617.  Otherwise it is first come, first available seats.

Who will be featured- Jamie Givens (author of Never Offer A Chair To A Dancing Girl) and music by Bill DeMain & Molly Felder of the band Swan Dive (http://swandive.org).