Thank YOU, thank YOU, thank YOU and hello again! Welcome to another wonderful collaboration between East Side Story and The Post. Let me be the first to officially and whole-heartedly welcome you to the 81st epic edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 80, I repeat … 80, 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. So without further ado, fulfilling the entertainment portion of your day, this is the recap and recording of East Side Storytellin’ 81. Let us begin, again.
Our first featured artist of this event is a legend in the Nashville poetry world. He’s been actively helping Nashville become a more creative scene for over 20 years. He’s the author of the following books of poetry titled “Feelings, Emotions, and other Binding Chains” as well as “Some Gentle Moving Thing.” He was the screen writer, director, and co-producer of four short films titled “God & God Invisibility, INC.,” “Untold War Story,” “The Darker Brother,” and “The City.” In his writing classes, this man encourages students to identify, explore, and define relationships being articulated in their art. On this particular show, we are lucky to have THE Jefferson Street Poet on hand to help us explore his words and ideas. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about the one and only James C. Floyd!
James, like the rapper NAS, only need one mike. Actually, all he needed was a mike and a stool. No papers were needed. No words on a sheet. James C. Floyd took a seat in front of the crowd and let his stories spill out from memory.
Unlike any other featured author of East Side Storytellin’, James shared two short stories and then followed each up with a short poem that corresponded to the themes and original material expressed in the short stories. I know I was not alone when relaying after the fact that James’ performance sent me to a place where I felt like he was talking to us like we were family from his front porch in the country and there was a river flowing behind the house. The tone, tempo, and emotions that James used in everything he said put me in a spot where I would’ve been comfortable to just sit back and listen to a million of his stories back to back to back to infinity without a single worry in mind.
One of the stories was a family tale from with an uncle telling little boys about the fable of “Bloody Bones.” He followed that up with “Junk Man,” the first track of his CD “Some Gentle Moving Thing” (sold at East Side Story if you want a copy after listening to the below track in the show). The repeated melody and chorus of “Junk Man! Junk Man! If you can’t use it, I sure can!” was AWEsome for a lack of better words to recap. The second story was inspired by James’ first attempt at reading a Toni Morrison novel suggested by another friend. James admitted that he struggled in the initial process of digesting said book. He quoted Toni saying, “I don’t write for anyone who doesn’t participate.” Nothing was more true to be said in that moment as everyone in the crowd participated in listening closely to James recounting a story that took place on a bus with many insightful and unique characters all taking a ride together.
Not ending with everyone taking a ride on James’ masterful literary bus tour, he finished his set with a poem titled “If.” Like most of the time when I recap these shows, I would not give this poem justice if I tried to describe it. Just listen to the entire recording and let James C. Floyd take you for a ride. It is well worth your time before the stop where you journey ends.
Our featured musician of the night is someone who was recently described by CBC as a shining jewel in the crown of Canadian songwriters. A recent Nashville transplant from, you guessed it, Canada, this young woman was nominated as “Emerging Songwriter of the Year” and “Contemporary Vocalist of the Year” by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2014. Joined by her good friend and the most talented guitarist she has ever seen in the entire world in that of James Robertson, I was honored to introduce the rising Northern star in Jadea Kelly.
Jadea prefaced her set by telling the crowd that she wasn’t feeling the best. Taking something bad and turning it into a good story, like any great artist does, she broke the ice by relaying her recent 7-state adventure with friends ending in Las Vegas and jumping into some new music that was inspired by said adventure and landscape. She went through “Wild West Pain” and “Make it Easy” to get to her television debut in the show “Bitten” with her song called “Lone Wolf.”
Each song had a wonderful story and each story had a beautiful sound. One of the tracks that stopped everyone in their seats was a brand new song called “Mercy.” It was all about, you guessed it, the definition of mercy. Before she played it, I loved the comment she made that mercy was a lot like forgiveness and it’s usually more for yourself than for others … like holding on to a hot coal in your hand, if you follow my drift. That said, everyone in the room was following the music from Jadea and James.
Then before she left the stage for a bit, she took us on another voyage altogether in the song “On the Water.” One of many things I absolutely loved about the performance and Jadea’s music was that she could change her tone slightly in each story to perfectly match and relay the core of the song to the audience. If you closed your eyes, you may think it was two or three different songstresses, all with amazing talents nonetheless. All I’m trying to say is that this girl is not just good … she is great! And before she ended her set, she brought up another Canadian gem in Emma Harvey (of Harvey Cameron fame) to share the stage and perform a love song called “Count On” that was an ultimate drop the mike song for this wonderful evening.
Before I said goodnight to the crowd and the featured guests, I once again had the featured guests up on stage with me to talk about their personal takes on Nashville and their creative journeys up to this point in time. They were candid, positive, funny, and generous every opportunity they had to share the spotlight with other friends in the crowd or people who had helped them along their ways. One of the main reasons I think that every one of these shows is so special, without being completely bias from involvement, is because of the quality of people who are featured on the show … the quality of talent they possess as artists but also the quality of people they are, more importantly, when not in the spotlight. There is a reason why these two, James and Jadea, are admired by their peers and others who have the chance to experience their art … their gifts. I know I’m a better person today because I was able to meet and experience their work. So, without me rambling on anther love fest about these two, take a listen for yourself below and let me know what you think by sharing this post with others.
Here is the recording of East Side Storytellin’ #81 that featured the likes of James C. Floyd and Jadea Kelly (featuring James Robertson and Emma Harvey) at The Post on Tuesday, April 19th, 2016:
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Jadea and James and James and Emma for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Jame’s writing here- http://beaboutchange.org/forgive/
You can listen to more of Jadea’s music here – www.darthjadea.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.
Our next show will be
East Side Storytellin’ 82
Tuesday, May 3rd
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Veerajar Rajaratnam (www.joypoet.com)
Singing- Becca Mancari (www.beccamancari.com)
That said- that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 81 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