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 recap and recording of the 83rd epic edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 82, I repeat … 82, 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 East Side Storytellin’ 83. Let us begin, again.
Our first featured artist is a Senior Lecturer in English and Program Coordinator of Undergraduate Creative Writing at Vanderbilt University. He holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt, where he received high honors in English, and an M.F.A. from the University of Virginia, where he was a Henry Hoyns Fellow. His fiction has appeared in a number of publications, including TriQuarterly, The Southern Review, New England Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and The Normal School, which awarded him its Normal Prize in Fiction. He is also the recipient of the Robert Olen Butler Short Fiction Prize, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Arkansas Arts Council, and a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, among other honors. In addition to teaching at Vanderbilt, he also serves on the faculty of the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference at the University of the South. The room was filled with several handfuls of friends to support the one and only Justin Quarry.
Justin prefaced the show by becoming the very first featured artist to bring a bouquet of fresh flowers for me and the other artist of the night. Let me just say, it was the nicest unexpected way to start any of the shows so far but that’s just how Justin rolls. Before he reached the podium in front of the adoring crowd, we had already talked a bunch about what he refers to as the “creative crisis” that he was faced with recently when taking a break from writing to experience life in other ways to get re-charged to tackle writing creatively once again. After completing his handgun certification and training (it is the South and it totally relates to a major inheritance he received that he tackles in his nonfiction essay), Justin decided to take a break from his novel in the works to try something new. He was shaking just a tad, and no more than any other reader who we’ve heard so far on this show, and brave enough to share his new work for the first time since writing it.
Before he got to the story, he took more time to thank everyone involved with the show, from production to the audience in front of him. I’ll tell ya, the kindness that beams from this guy is radiant and effortless. After he finished with his thankful speech, he jumped into his essay about his father, guns, college, getting lost in the woods only to be saved by sirens ringing just over the trees next to him, and coming out of the closet with those he loved and all the while wondering what his father was seeing in the future as he looked out from his deathbed. It was pretty deep stuff but it was perfect. Once again, I could’ve sat there and listened to the featured author read for an entire day. I’m definitely not alone in wanting to read the next essays on deck.
Before I get to the music, and before you take a listen to Justin and Megan sharing everything they so gracefully shared, I must add that there were so many gems laid out in this amazing essay. I definitely wrote more notes in this show than I had in some time (and that says more about the magical combination of Justin and Megan than anything else). Here are a few tidbits that made my soul smile and belly laugh to keep an ear out for while you listen to the reading: no girl scout cookies in the wood, hiking = a pacifist’s parallel to hunting, “looking at me how only the dying view the world …” , red hair and Sarah McLachlan pen, “death rattle” and its definition and context within families and friends near death, camouflage Cabbage Patch Kid doll, and many more. Point being, Justin is a brilliant writer, whether he is diving into non-fiction, fiction, or whatever strikes him with a pen in his hand (or a laptop close by). We happily await his forthcoming novel and everything else in between that finish line.
Our featured musician has been on East Side Storytellin’ two times before while supporting our friend Tim Easton way back in East Side Storytellin’ 22 and then again East Side Storytellin’ 77 with Darrin Bradbury. To top that show connection, she is so cool that her website bio was written by one of our all-time favorites in Aaron Lee Tasjan! She started in Ohio and explored New York City before making her way to Music City. Beyond her gifts with music, she spends her spare nights and days as a Palliative Care Nurse at Vanderbilt University Hospital, often beginning work in the morning and then closing concert gigs late in the night. She’s been extremely hard at work at her latest album called “What She’s Got To Give” and it’s already being toted as the next big must have in this city … not that anyone who knows her and her music is surprised. Tasjan gracefully put it like this- This record leaves the impression that Megan is one of those rare people who truly care. She expertly communicates in her songs her sense of kindness and compassion even when there’s good reason to behave otherwise. It’s not just something she says, it’s also who she is as an artist and a person. I’m honored to finally feature this fine friend and musician. I coined her as our version of Paul Simon to the first years of Saturday Night Live (the best years) … I’m talking about the unforgettable Megan Palmer!
Like every other time Megan has graced us on East Side Storytellin’, she didn’t come alone. But instead of bringing other talented players to be by her side, she brought along a plethora of instruments to liven up her original songs the only way she knows how … the best ways possible. That’s right. Her car was packed with an electric piano, a fiddle, a guitar, brand new CD’s hot off the press, and the same positive attitude that Megan brings to every show and day. She is a bright star.
After a said a few nice words for introductory purposes, Megan laughed and said that it was ironic how I said those nice words and yet her first song was gonna be her new track involving a knife. So that made for number 4 on the synchronicity of this show’s pairing between Justin and Megan (Vanderbilt connection, caretakers beside a bed, artists just out of their own versions of creative crises, and now violent symbolism within their stories via guns and knives). Oh, and both of these artists are super down to Earth and cool as cucumbers fresh from the fridge. Megan then followed up knife talk with a new take on a classic syndrome called jealous mind syndrome (to which I thought initially she said jealous mime syndrome and I was totally going along with it). It’s where you want your friends to become famous but not too famous without you getting there too, or something like that. Like everything else I write here, the artists read and sing much better than how I can relay the message to you in this post-show recap. Megan jumped on the piano for the next few tracks to add a little soul to her string play and it felt like Tuesday night church by the Cumberland River once again. Like Justin’s essay took us on a personal trip, Megan lifted our spirits with an original tale about what it’s like to be a pilot.
Megan finished strong and calm by picking up her fiddle and playing a cover song that could easily make a grown man cry if he was moved to do so. I’ve seen Megan play several times and one of my favorite things about her musical talents is when she owns the fiddle. She can do more to a song in her pauses than most guitarists do by thrashing the strings non-stop. She highlights the notes and words she gives the world by making the most of the spaces in between. She is truly gifted at telling stories through music. And her new CD is pretty kick ass too!
Once again, I took great pride in the fact that I had a few minutes with the featured artists to see behind the curtain of their creativity and let them talk a little more about their art than what their stories and songs give on the surface. The crowd was attentive, the atmosphere was chill, the humor was witty and candid, and the personalities on stage couldn’t have been more delightful and genuine. These two professionals broke it all down so that even someone in the crowd who doesn’t write or sing or do many things creatively could leave The Post and feel like they had been a part of something special and could then go forth and create something with the time and energy they have left in the day, week, and year ahead too. These two are special people.
So here it is, the edited recording of East Side Storytellin’ 83 which featured the likes of Justin Quarry and Megan Palmer on Tuesday, May 17th, 2016 at The Post (one day before my Mother’s birthday … Happy 60th!). Enjoy and feel free to share with everyone and your mother as well!
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Megan and Justin for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Justin’s writing here- http://as.vanderbilt.edu/english/bio/justin-quarry
You can listen to more of Megan’s music here – http://meganpalmer.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’ 84
Tuesday, June 7th
at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) at 7pm
reading- Linda Barnickel (www.millikensbend.com)
singing- Tanya Montana Coe (www.tanyamontanacoe.com)
That said- that’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 83 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
