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 161st epic edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 160, I repeat … 160, 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’ 161. Let us begin, again.
The first featured artist of the night is someone who I first heard about via the amazing team at April Gloaming Publishing (shout out to Lance & Robyn and the rest of the team). You, like me, may have seen him read via his association with another rad local publisher in Chet and Third Man Books (shout out Jack White). This guy, not Jack White, is the author of The Deathbed Editions and several poetry chapbooks, including the Third Man Books work titled Terraformers. His collaborations are endless and endlessly cool. His work with Mike Kleine, titled We R the World = http://www.noisemakerjoe.com/wtr/2019/5/31/we-r-the-world-dan-hoy was featured in the 2019 Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction, and his work has also been featured in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Triple Canopy, Elderly, and many awesome publications. Point being, this guy is awesome, and we are lucky to have him here today. Surrounded by a large number of close friends and fans of Dan’s, it wasn’t hard to ask for and receive a big round of applause for the one and only Dan Hoy.
Dan dover right into his work, per usual. He prefaced that we was going to share with us some older work first. Like most of life, in The Bible or otherwise, he started with The Tree. My reflections on his work and reading won’t do it justice, because it never gives full justice to any of these brilliant artists, but I told Dan after the show that I was enamored by his approach and process to creating poetry. A fan and not a regular practitioner of poetry, a fledging amateur at best at the moment, my favorite aspect of great poetry that I love most is that when done right it is excellent at saying the most with the least amount of words. Dan does that in his work, but he takes that a step further. As he emptied out each outstanding metaphor after the other, it was clear to me that he had started with the concept of a single tree and then squeezed out a near endless amount of deeper ideas from his view of tree and life in general from that single source of inspiration. Point being, the final poetic result, at least to me, is a perfect reflection of saying the most in the fewest words and, at the same time, getting the most out of a single source. You can take a closer listen to Dan’s words and see if you can understand what I’m rambling about. Even if you don’t see what I saw, I’m sure you will enjoy his work.
Midway through his reading, Dan said that he had a bout with allergies and that we was not crying from the reading. I’ll let you be the judge. Like I said above, his work is brilliant. Dan literally ran through a handful of poems without saying the titles or giving pause for snaps or applause. It was equally awesome in content and delivery. Then Dan finished his set by reading from his work with Third Man Books titled Terraformers. A sci-fi poetic take of the future, I’m gonna need to read it and listen to the reading several more times to get the full effect. I was so blown away by the concept and the beginning alone that I need to take it in again to fully absorb it. But that feeling was felt for me during the entire reading. Dan’s words are so simple in structure but complex in thought. Each sentence can be broken off into an hour discussion about life and its meaning in the moment and its place in time. His work is like a modern society take of Rumi or stories allegedly recorded from the mouth of Jesus (not to sound too blasmephous), and it hits you close to home and in your face and heart because it’s often the same things you are thinking about regarding the current state of the world we live in. If that’s not what you want to get and be inspired from art, then I’m not sure if we can be friends going forward. But, either way, give Dan a listen below.
Our featured music of the night is, like most of the amazing things that have happened in my life in Nashville, someone I met through the friendship courtesy of Bret & Meg MacFadyen, Art & Invention Gallery (#neverforget), and The Idea Hatchery … specifically, via this man’s better half at Riveter. This guy, not Bret or his bride, is one of the most humble and most talented guitarist that I know. He’s played with and around just about everyone and everywhere you know and don’t or haven’t even been to yet, but that’s why this guy is such a light for music and Music City’s sake. He’s gone out into the unknown and has come back with some music and wisdom to enlighten our own stories. In this day and age of politics, this guy is fully endorsed by the talented Ricky Skaggs without any strings attached. Fresh off the release of his album Rhinestones and Broken Bones, and in front of several tables packed with official Brad Sample fan club mustaches, it was once again easy for me to instantly show love and garner loud appreciation & applause for the extremely talented Brad Sample.
The first thing Brad did on stage was give major props to Dan and his work. Like a good comic, Brad self-deprecated by saying his work would dumb down the mood set by Dan’s words and ideas. Nothing could be further from the truth. For Brad’s work is not your typical, run of the mill, pedal tavern screaming, Broadway belting, nonsensical auto-tuned stuff you’ll hear on the rotation of most music coming out of Music Row for the past decade. No. Brad is a wonderful mix of what Country Music was built upon with the heart of Nashville Americana and rock n’ roll. I thought it was perfect timing that Brad was the featured author to follow up the Nashville Americana week and the premiere of Ken Burn’s awesome documentary of Country Music that has been airing lately on NPT. Brad not only has the Nashville experience and musical history in his blood and upbringing, he has the touring track record and the talent to match anyone around Broadway. If you take a listen, even for a second, it doesn’t take you long to recognize the real deal.
Trading back and forth from guitar to mandolin, Brads vocals and picking is unmatched by many in the area. I felt like his voice has a Nashville authentic take on a young Kenny Loggins with the humble pie and picking nature of a young Vince Gill. Put those two together and try not to be in a good mood. Brad’s set was an adventure. He started the set, tying the two sets together nicely, with a song about death. He then played a light-hearted song about a pretty baby. And since 3 is the magic number, Brad broke out a song inspired from a conversation and collaboration with his better half titled Something About Whiskey. It was beautiful, and it reminded me of my own better half. Brad finished the set with an instrumental of Nashville Rag, probably the only country song every inspired directly by
Eckhart Tolle’s Brave New World, and then finished with his current favorite original song and single titled Break My Heart. Overall, I am confident that you will be in a great mood after you listen to all of Brad’s work below. Just take my word for it already.
With both of these artists putting all of their hearts into their art, it wasn’t surprising to me to have them be so authentic and honest and open and direct about their art with me and others in the crowd. They were succinct with their answers and emotions, to the point, and really just great teachers for anyone willing to listen to their life learned lessons. Whether it was throwing himself into the creative energy and scene of New York with Dan or meeting and sharing the stage and bill with Garth Brooks and his band and realizing that you can have success and still as good a person as you are creatively talented in Brad’s case, these two have seen a lot and yet still have a lot to create and share for the long haul. Like most of my friends, I see tremendous talent in these two, and it’s refreshing to know that they will find continued success as they continue to grow in their craft and inspire others while they learn about and inspire themselves.
Plus, did mention they both have official fan clubs who have yet to make official websites? It’s darn near impossible not to reach successful heights with people like this in your corner. And speaking of Vince Gill, I’m pretty sure he would be a member of Brad Sample’s fan club too. Stay tuned, literally.
So here it is, the edited recording of East Side Storytellin’ 161, the night when we were lucky and grateful to feature Dan Hoy and Brad Sample at The Post East on Tuesday, September 17, 2019. It was as wonderful as their individual fan clubs are wild and passionate for great art. Feel free to listen to and share this link with as many people as humanly possible. They will thank you for doing so, in time. Trust me.
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Dan and Brad for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can experience more of Dan’s writing here – https://thepinupstakes.com
You can listen to more of Brad’s music here- www.bradsample.com
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’ 162
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Timothy Charles Davis
singing- Patricio Johnson
That said, that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 161 and another fabulous event at The Post with East Side Story at the helm. Thanks for coming out 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