Hello again and 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 82nd epic edition of East Side Storytellin’. Like the previous 81 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 listening 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 of the 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’ 82. Let us begin, again.
The first featured artist of this evening is an admired poet and well-published scientist. Born and raised in what is now Sri Lanka, she earned a doctorate from Marquette University and has been a faculty member at a variety of medical schools in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and right here in Nashville at Vanderbilt University ever since. She is currently calling Nashville home as a trusted consultant Scientific Editor living in middle Tennessee with her three children and loving husband of nearly 30 years. She is the c0-author of the devotional Resurrection Reflections and has been published in the anthology Filtered Through Time (which is also sold at East Side Story alongside her poetry collection titled Joy of Being). She came prepared to read a little from everything she’s done and she was welcomed with the joy and open arms of a packed post house. I’m talking about the likes of the poet known as VeerajaR (pronounced Veera-ja-R).
If you’ve never heard VeerajaR read anything or spoken to her at all, then you really can’t grasp the magic in her voice. She uses words like the rest of us use on the daily, but the way she says them takes it all to another level. In one of her poems about a good morning with God, she must have said the name God at least 30 times. In the thick of this presidential election season, where most candidates and television talking heads use religion and the name of God with various intentions for any given vote, it was more than refreshing to hear the word God with its purest form of love, peace, and understanding as VeerajaR recounted them throughout her prose. I made the off-hand comment after the show that there was a distinct difference between the way she said and meant God than our Republican figure Ted Cruz does on the daily (special note, it wasn’t too long after this show aired when Mr. Cruz dropped out of the race for good = possibly a coincidence, but I digress).
VeerajaR took her time explaining each poem, the back story of where and how she got the idea to write each one and also the intricate details of how each writing session empowered and inspirited her in the creative process. I haven’t heard too many writers that talked about the material at the same time she delivered the material in such a refreshing and original manner. Like her book Joy of Being, the entire reading set VeerajaR curated was filled with faith, spirit, hope, awe, and prayer that would make a literary believer of anyone listening. Don’t believe me? Take a listen to her words in the recording below. I also made another off-hand comment afterwards that if I was ever to have an autobiography published (not on my bucket list at all), I would request that VeerajaR be the voice on the audio book because she would make my life seem more interested and add a deep, spiritual tone to it that could connect with everyman. Seriously she’s that great. Take a listen below and thank me later. But, before I get to the music of the show, I do want to say, sticking with the religious elephant in the room, I’ve never heard more thoughtful proverbs than the set of haikus that Veerajar finished her set with before taking her seat. Each were profound and simple at the same time. She made it appear easy to write and yet very easy to follow at the same time.
Our featured musician of the night is someone who has already made a backing appearance on East Side Storytellin’ way back in East Side Storytellin’ 41 with now new mom Sara Marie Thompson. This lady is not only an extremely talented musician loved by pretty much every other musician in town, she is also a traveler and storyteller to the core at heart. She’s lived like a gypsy from Staten Island, Florida, Zimbabwe, Virginia, India and Pennsylvania, among others, and she has collected plenty of tales while spinning sounds and stories while on her journey. She makes songs that mix the organic stomp of American roots music with the approach and attitude of raw rock & roll. Her music is a snapshot of a musician who’s still on the move, constantly writing songs about the people she’s met and the impression they leave. I asked the crowd to give this young artist an unforgettable impression of applause so she might just write a hit song about us in the future. I’m pretty sure Becca Mancari is writing that song as I type.
Becca is a true original. A lot of people have heard her Summertime Mama song recently in the Lightning 100 spin cycle, but we’ve been privy to hear her magic for awhile now. Like her journey to Nashville, Becca’s songwriting has been a long process of finding the right stories after living a lot of them. I’m not saying her songs are all autobiographical. What I am saying is that she’s doing a lot of living to inspire herself in between writing songs that in turn inspire us. One such song and tale told about being moved by a poem while working as a part-time janitor was called Long Way Down.
Becca treated the show like I always envision them, like a perfect blend of your favorite house/cafe show. She drew the crowd in with her humility and humor, and slayed the moment with her poignant and poetic stories told through hauntingly great melodies. She, like VeerajaR, makes sharing creativity appear easy and that is no easy feat.
Becca busted out a few brand new songs and one that she had never sang in public before this show. I was not alone in the room to appreciate such dare to share. And, like several of Becca’s friends who have played the show before, she brought up a few musical friends from the crowd. She ended up eventually coaxing her good friends and bandmates and brothers in Aaron and Nathan Wahlman to come up on stage and help sing a lovely cover to bring the great set to a close. Like a true professional, Becca had a plan for us before the show started and she perfectly executed it to entertain and enlighten us all.
And because I always have the opportunity to ask the featured guests some personal and deep questions about their creative processes and passions, the above is a visual take on what you’ll hear in the recording below. The entire night had a casual and meaningful flow of positive energy throughout and it had everything to do with Becca and VeerajaR. A lot of people tell me great job after the shows are over but all of the credit truly should go to these featured artists who give their time and talents to us for the price of the time we take to experience their show. I’ll stop rambling now and let you hear what happened on the night mentioned above right here. These ladies say everything a lot better than I could ever write it.
Here is the recording of East Side Storytellin’ #82 that featured the likes of VeerajaR and Becca Mancari at The Post on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016:
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Veerajar and Becca for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Veerajar’s writing here- www.joypoet.com
You can listen to more of Becca’s music here – www.beccamancari.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.
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’ 83
Tuesday, May 17th
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Justin Quarry (http://as.vanderbilt.edu/english/bio/justin-quarry)
Singing- Megan Palmer (http://meganpalmer.com)
That said- that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 82 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