Hello everyone, and welcome to another great round of East Side Storytellin’. Much like the 35 previous stellar shows, we’re all here, right HERE at the computer again, to provide you with ample amounts of awesomeness in the form of a local Nashville writer reading from original prose, followed by amazing local musicians 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. This is East Side Storytellin’ 36. Let us begin.
The first featured guest of the evening is a musician, teacher, event planner extraordinaire, killer soccer player, poet, and basically anything and everything he wants to be. He is the founder and leader of the legendary spoken word series called Poetry Sucks! He is a former student and economics teacher at Auburn University, WAR EAGLE, a MFA in poetry grad of Murray State University, go Racers, currently an instructor of Literature and Composition at MTSU, go Blue Raiders, originally from Memphis, TN, go Memphis, and recently the co-creator and main man behind the Third Man Books release of Language Lessons, Volume 1, I was honored to finally track down “the cheetah” and introduce the man, no myth, the legend, Chet Weise.
Chet, with beer in hand and spunk all around, took to the stage like he always does. He jumped right into letting the audience at hand know about where he had come from, before Nashville and with his poetry, and then let loose his words and poems out into the crowd like a lion escaped from the zoo. The words went where they wanted, and every poem roared beyond the norm. Even the birds took their cue within the essence of the poems being read, and the backstories that were told about each involving music and life surrounding Chet at the time that he wrote them in the first place. Chet’s tempo, tone, and delivery of each of the poems that you can hear below were pitch perfect for fully appreciating what he had/has to say. By the end of the performance, he even had the young kids in the crowd, of whom he edited a word here or there during the show because he’s just that nice of a guy, talking about poetry and language all around them. The whole thing was quite impressive, as usual with Chet and his art of choice.
The second featured guest of the evening was a late and special addition to the bill. It’s fitting that on a night when we featured an artist talking about his Third Man book, we also had a third person featured for the first time since our show’s inception. Sticking with a solid literary connection, this artist wrote her first song at 16 as a substitution for a high school paper, and really hasn’t stopped since. Quickly recognizing the power of music, melody, and her love or putting words to both in order to relay emotions and stories she wants to share with the world, this girl’s talent is obvious and we considered ourselves very lucky and honored to have her with us this particular night. From Dead Flowers to Shanghai Cigarettes to Own Side Now to The Stand-In, to opening for Neil Young and The National, to appearing on the Grand Ole Opry, the applause seemed to never end for the inspiring local girl doing great, Ms. Caitlin Rose!
Caitlin, usually always with a band of good friends and solid musicians at her back on stage, was solo for the show with East Side Storytellin’. She openly admitted, several times, that she was nervous as all get out, and that she wasn’t as totally confident in her guitar skills on her own because of a lack of practice doing so lately. She was so innocent, humbled, and honest to the crowd that it felt like everyone there to see her perform did everything short of coming up on stage to give her hugs to show her support. Every time the crowd would clap, she told them to stop because that didn’t help the situation. The best part of her shyness on stage, and I don’t think I’m alone, was when she said something to the effect that, “At least I’m not like Cat Powers and hiding behind a table! I’m out here doing it in front of y’all.” What she said was true, and she was simply more than words. With her songs, her talks in between, and her taking the time to step outside of her comfort zone to better herself as an artist along her way, everything about her was refreshing and welcomed by a genuinely caring crowd of observers. I can’t really say more about how nice it was in words other than letting you listen to the experience below, if you weren’t there to hear it for yourself. And just like that, Caitlin was finished with her short, stellar set for the night.
The final featured artist of the evening was a guy who works all night every night so that you can have a good time. He’s promised and delivered to do the same in about a quarter of an hour for East Side Storytellin’. A Poetry Sucks! alum, born on February 17th, 1973 in Danville, Virginia, he learned to play guitar at 15 and the common theme of his life is that he’s played in a bunch of Rock n’ Roll bands everywhere he’s lived ever since. A fellow liberal arts grad with a degree in English and a creative writing concentration that made his mom and dad happy as well as the tie-in with this show and East Side Story. He did a stint as a minor league pro wrestling ring announcer, created the soon to be famous George Jones White Lightning Chili, has a 12 year old one-eyed dog, is a seasonal allergy sufferer like me, and unlike me, has played the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame AND the Country Music Hall of Fame. Yes, I’m talking about the one and only Heath Haynes!
Heath, having already told me that he had another gig on Broadway with his band after this show was over (along with another gig or two every single night of this week and more, as he detailed to everyone later), made himself comfortable with the great crowd instantly. He strummed his chords through his own pa and played his songs like an electric modern americana crooner for the real Nashville crowd at hand (not ones you may see on reality shows galore). It was interesting to note and hear that Heath had his first music experience and live performing experience in Nashville at this very location. It wasn’t Mad Donna’s back then … it was actually called Radio Cafe back in the day. I’m not sure if they had Drag Bingo or not, but it sure was nice to see Heath so happy to come full circle artistically and within his Nashville adventure up to this point as well. Again, just like that, after a few great songs that everyone enjoyed, the live music ended.
I had some minutes left to spare for the full show, and since nobody was close to leaving or getting out of their seats after this show, I asked the guests back on stage to talk a little bit. Staying true to their humble selves, I didn’t get too many personal words or talk out of the guests by the end of the show. That was okay, they had already given so much of themselves by sharing their poems and songs throughout the night. I was happy. The crowd was happy. And, to say that the show was finished, the guests were really happy to join the crowd and sit back and enjoy the beautiful night and gathering we had together at hand. It really was something special.
So, without further ado, here is the edited version of East Side Storytellin’ 36. Please feel free to share it with everyone and your mother and to listen over and over as many times as you want.
https://soundcloud.com/eastsidestorytn/sets/east-side-storytellin-36-chet
I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Chet Weise, Heath Haynes, and Caitlin Rose for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us. Please keep the gratitude going for Tom Eizonas, for the recording and sound of the night, Clay Brunton for the art print, for Kevin at 5 Points Digital Imaging (http://5pdi.com) for printing those art prints,and to my lovely wife 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.
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 – http://eastsidestorytn.com/in-our-own-words/
But we are not finished.
The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event will be …
Date- Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
Time- 7 pm sharp (Central)
Location- Mad Donna’s (1313 Woodland Street)- http://maddonnas.com
Featured guests- author of The Southern Foodie and The Tennessee food critic Chris Chamberlain (https://www.facebook.com/TheSouthernFoodie) and music by the great Zach Broocke (@zachbroocke).
That’s all for the East Side Storytellin’ 36 show. Thanks for coming out and sharing the good word. Remember to be nice to one another out there. Thanks and good night. Much love.
