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 71st epic edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 70 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 the East Side Storytellin’ 71. Let us begin, again.
Special side note- Gotta love the first appearance for the annual new introduction to our East Side Storytellin’ series. You may catch a small CHUCKle with this show’s intro in the recording below because I was totally taken back by the sitar solo. Anyone who comes regularly to the show knows about the ongoing conversation between Tom Eizonas and Chance Chambers and their mutual love for the sitar (and George Harrison). That said, on with the show!
The first featured guest of the night is a poet and writer and the author of 3 collections of poetry: Joby, Uninterrupted: Bittersweet Symphonies and Bohemian Rhapsodies (1989-2009), Poetry Man, and The Writing’s On The Wall (of which you can buy your copy of each at East Side Story later). He is the creator and author of the blog, The Joby Chronicle. Originally from sweet home Chicago, he relocated to Nashville last year via Burbank, California. He holds a BA in Communications from Greenville College in Illinois and boy does this
guy know how to communicate his art and words with the best of them. He has performed at a number of venues around the country including the Austin International Poetry Festival, The Tuscon Festival of Books, and locally at Ciona Rouse’s wonderful Lyrical Brew and Poetry in the Brew among others. Featured in the PBS/National Geographic documentary called “Skin” in 2002, I was honored to have him featured on our show at last. Ladies and gentleman, I’m talking about the likes of Mr. Joseph Powell!
Joseph was the first author that requested to put the podium to the side of the stage. He sat his set list of poems on the stool to his left and jumped right into his spoken word. Beginning with the title Riding the Coltraine, Joseph’s voice and tone was entrancing. It took everyone in the place on a journey, a powerful ride, through his personal experiences twisted with a deep sense of cultural creativity from time long past bridged to the current. Joseph did a tremendous job of articulating repetitive phrases at just the right moment to get everyone in tune with where he was guiding us and it was quite the mental trip.
Joseph followed up the powerful intro with one that knocked me off my feet in Blood on the Grass. It also combined an extreme awareness and creative twist on several current events involving race and society in general. So where do you go after delivering back-to-back powerhouse poems? Joseph went back to his original inspirations, first with a poem dedicated to Maya Angelou and then to his fiancé (his “SUN”) and then to his favorite singer of all-time in Donny Hathoway. All three of those poems were the perfect rising crescendo to his finale titled Because. Joseph explained that it is the ultimate ode to why he writes. He then went on to repeat the words I write because … and every sing reason he shared had a direct impact on me and everyone else that heard it from the crowd. The emotion even spilled out a little bit from the stage as Joseph got personal for a second and it was much appreciated from all. It was truly an amazing performance and experience. Thank you, Joseph!
And then it was time for the music.
The featured musician of the night is someone who is part of the few and proud who actually hails from Nashville, TN. Partially true in that statement, this guest came from the small city of Arkadelphia, Arkansas (being 1 of about 10,000 to claim that label) and then literally “hailed” his way into town during a great hail storm about 8 years ago. That said, writing and recording his specific brand of alterna-pop for the better part of a decade, he is known for weaving quick wit with elemental truths in song that speak to the core of the human condition, like a great poet. Aside from performing live and recording great songs, this cat has cultivated quite the online community of fans that have come to expect the unexpected. He started the podcast called WHO WRITES THIS STUFF in late April 2011 to showcase some of the great talent that he’s constantly surrounded by living in Nashville, including artists in all mediums. Hosting several mutual friends of this show, the talented Erin Rae to name one of our favorites, I believe he has already hit our dream mark with over 100 episodes for you to peruse online after you digest this show. Back to this show though, this guy was more than ready to showcase some of his favorites from his recent release titled Futureboy and more – boasting a bold step forward with a sound that’s fresh and familiar. Everyone, please take note of this man and iconic artist in the one and only Nick Flora!
Nick, not accustomed to sitting down in a chair or being without his guitar strap to hold up his instrument of choice, was like a cat on a leash … he couldn’t sit still. That said, he managed to funnel all of his energy and spunk into his witty commentary and music. I honestly believe, and it was confirmed by my wife after the show, that Nick had the most perfect musical storytellin’ set we have witnessed to this point. Combining his insightful songs with his equally brilliant back stories to set them up in the first place, Nick would have taken us anywhere in the world and everyone would have gladly followed.
Nick and I briefly talked about some of our mutual friends who had played East Side Storytellin’ and who they resembled both vocally and appearance-wise, and it was such a treat to take in Nick’s performance and think of other musicians I admire who he showed glimpses of during the show. At times, his style and delivery reminded me of a young Randy Newman paired with one of my all-time favorites in Colin Hay (came to find out Colin has appeared on Nick’s podcast!) Seriously, Nick Flora is that great, y’all.
Whether he was singing a song about conventional relationship break-up terms being twisted into a tale of a 1920’s bank robbery pair going down or singing about another close friend who gives up music every now and then when he realizes he’s not going to be the biggest thing since sliced bread or talking about a song written in the perspective of a person who nobody likes and how they deal with that going forward, Nick was AWEsome! And as great as the first few songs were, it kept on getting better. Nobody gets out clean spoke volumes and Futureboy pretty much sealed our pop culture (movie, time travel, and battles with nostalgic memories at all times) friendship moving forward. I was not the only one who was profoundly present and in the moment when Nick decided to disregard an old song, come out for his encore as the crowd requested, and play a new holiday song called Evergreen that set the mood for the upcoming best time of the year for my household. Like Joseph’s wonderful delivery, Nick finished the night repeating the soothing phrase of repeat the sound in joy and it was definitely felt close to heart by all. Again, THANK YOU, Nick!
After the music stopped, I had Joseph and Nick back on stage and it, like the entire show in general, was so smooth and fun for all. We matched wits and laughs and even got a little bit deep without ever taking ourselves too seriously. And isn’t that what art and life is about during these chaotic times more than others? Yes. The answer is yes. I know you are going to listen to the recording below, but please take note of the middle part of the talks when each took the torch the other was passing and blended a beautiful conversation about the process of creating from the three levels of the self to the greater world at large to the other people we are fortunate to be close to in our lives who are practicing artists. Trust me. It will make more sense when you hear the below recording, but I’ll just say that once again I felt even better about the day, my life, and our world after experiencing East Side Storytellin’ with the likes of two more featured guests like this pair offered together. There is no formula for these pairings, but it feels so good when it always works out just right.
So with that, I hope you enjoy the following recording of East Side Storytellin’ 71. It all took place on Tuesday, November 17th, 2015 at 7pm at The Post with featured guests Joseph Powell and Nick Flora. It was quite the pair and quite the evening. Enjoy this recording and share with others over and over. Thank YOU!
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Joseph Powell and Nick Flora for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Joseph Powell‘s writing here- http://jobychronicle.blogspot.com
You can listen to more of Nick Flora‘s music here- www.nickflora.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 WordsTab – 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.
I’d also like to show much love to Clay Brunton for the beautiful artwork online to promote the show.
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.
The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event will be …
East Side Storytellin’ 72
Tuesday, December 1st
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Melissa Gordon
singing- Glen Martin (http://glenmartinmusic.com)
That said- that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 71 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.
much love,
mE
