Thank YOU, thank YOU, thank YOU. Hello Again! Welcome to another recap and recording of quite the monumental event at Riverwood Mansion that went down on Tuesday, January 20th, 2015. With Unbound Arts at the helm of another beautifully planned evening, let me be the first to officially, whole-heartedly remind you that we celebrated the 53rd spectacular edition of East Side Storytellin’! Like the 52 previous shows East Side Story has put together, we all arrived at Riverwood Mansion to get y’all 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 the night, this is East Side Storytellin’ 53. Let us begin, again.
Wait, before I talk about how the event started, I should remind you that the guests knew what their pre-ordered tickets got them on top of another killer East Side Storytellin’ show. Not unlike having the golden tickets for Willy Wonka, everyone came in smiling and knowing they had the chance to meander around the mansion and experience a wonderful, historical trip through a house like few others near or far. Riverwood Mansion, if you haven’t seen it in person, is a treat to enjoy.
And speaking of treats, one of the coolest things we did for this epic series of events on Welcome Lane (so appropriately titled) was to involve the Riverwood Mansion owner/chef, Debbie Sutton, to create something very special for the night. She had contacted the featured guests before the show and planned a 4-course meal to add to the mix. Debbie greeted the packed and seated crowd with pleasantries. Then, without skipping a beat, she described the food and its inspiration in the order that it would be served.
1st – Marinated Asparagus, Chicken Salad, Carter Creek Micros, Toasted Sunflower Seeds
2nd – Beef Bourguignon Stew
3rd – St. Louis Shaved Rib on Sautéed Kale
4th – Deconstructed Lemon Meringue Chocolate Pie
Again, like the previous show at the mansion with Debbie revealing the course(s) ahead, the crowd was overtly giddy with excitement. Debbie left the stage to get the food, and then the first course was served.
When the plates hit the table, East Side Storytellin’ 53 began. Here it is, for you to remember and yet plan ahead for the next.
The first featured guest of the evening was a woman that has lived the majority of her life in Missouri. We’re all better for her now calling Nashville home. Aside from being a featured author at East Side Story, she has spent time as the Children’s Director for Oasis Worship Center in Dickson, TN (the hometown of famed Nashville poet and East Side Storytellin’ alumnus Dave Wright). Not the featured story or book for tonight, she has published her first book by the title of The Cottage Porch Stories that you can find and purchase at East Side Story. Along with that work, she has written another collection of short stories called More Stories From The Porch and is working on a series of children’s books in a collection called Talks From The Treehouse. Since moving to Nashville, she is most proud of finishing two half marathons and continuing her passion for writing. It was my honor to finally get this author on the show and the mansion crowd was give a very big round of applause for the featured author of the night in Roschelle Ridenhour!
Roschelle made the crowd feel at ease with her own personal introduction to her books and also the story of the night. She wanted to try out a new story, fairly recently finished, called The Journey of Stabat. Inspired by an older biblical story or character or two, Stabat was a wonderfully fresh tale about a lady who had lost her husband and son. Devastated by the loss of her family, she goes on a journey, hoping to meet the person who is responsible for their deaths. Along the journey, Stabat discovers truth about herself, her loss, and more than she could ever imagine when first heading out on her search for peace.
Overall, it was a touching, well-written story that had religion and faith elements but it was far from feeling like church on a Tuesday night. It felt like a parable that we could all relate to in some form or another. It was an excellent story telling and start of the show, in my humble opinion. Roschelle, no pun intended, killed it.
And, before you knew what hit you, it was time for the musical portion of the show. The featured musician of the night was already very close to the East Side Storytellin’ family even before making his appearance. He is the brother of the wonderful group The Smoking Flowers, the very first featured musical act we ever had way back on East Side Storytellin’ 1 on November 6th, 2012. Like introducing a character in the cartoon The Simpsons … you may have heard or seen this man before in acts and projects such as Pale Blue Dot, The Buddies, Candy Apple and The Buddies, Cosmic Thug, and Justin and the Cosmics … OR you may have also heard some of his work with other groups like Deer Tick, Welcome to Ashley, or Diamond Rugs- to name a few. This night, alongside his friends Kyle Walsh and Conor Lynch, we let this man and his music do most of the talking. I instructed the people to please put down their eating utensils and drinks for a second or two to properly put their hands together several times for the likes of Justin Collins!
Some melodies sounded like Roy Orbison. Some of the vocal arrangements had a flair of 1950’s rock n’ roll. Still, some other songs sounded like a young Lou Reed mixed with the reverb of ordered chaos and notes bouncing all around the hallways and high ceilings of Riverwood Mansion. In a small phrase, it was perfect. The set, without planning ahead, seemed like a perfect balance and soundtrack to the theme of sorrow and longing from Roschelle’s story. Without trying to force feed us with intent, it was tragically beautiful. Justin, when he did let Conor coax him into saying a few words before jumping back into another song, spoke in depth about his songwriting and why most of the instrumental parts were written to be played in grungier venues and crowds and not particularly made for listening crowds … so that was something new, for everyone, band and all.
The song Black James Dean was very poignant on Justin’s upbringing, growing pains, and view of the world he grew up in. He dedicated it to Martin Luther King Jr, the day after MLK day. Again, it was perfect … I repeat. It was especially great when one of the patrons in the crowd sang the lyrics “Totally Lonely” during the song of the same title. See below in the recording if you can catch the moment or two when that happened and everyone, including Justin, absolutely LOVED it!
After the music was finished, finishing with a happy song of sorts, I was able to get Roschelle and Justin on stage alone to share some further thoughts and ideas about their creative paths and why they do what they love to do. In another serendipitous moment, it came out in the answers that both of the artists were from Missouri (not planned). You can catch that lovely moment on the recording as well. Anyways, I’ll let the recording speak for itself to give these great artists the credit they deserve. But, before I share the link, I must say the most touching part of the show was when Justin gave some credit and love to his brother Scott (who wasn’t able to attend). It was priceless.
So, as promised, here is the edited version of Unbound Arts presents: East Side Storytellin’ 53 with Roschelle Ridenhour and Justin Collins (featuring Kyle Walsh and Conor Lynch). Enjoy it over and over and share it with a friend or two:
https://soundcloud.com/eastsidestorytn/sets/east-side-storytellin-53
Before I say goodbye for this round of fun, I’d like to give a big round of thanks for Roschelle Ridenhour and Justin Collins (and Kyle Walsh and Conor Lynch) for sharing their stories, talents, and time with us.
You can read more about Roschelle Ridenhour- www.roschelleridenhour.com
You can listen to more from Justin Collins – www.justinandthecosmics.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 –http://eastsidestorytn.com/in-our-own-words/
I’d also like to show much love to Clay Brunton for the beautiful artwork for the prints made by Kevin Anthuis at 5 Points Digital Imaging (http://5pdi.com) to celebrate the show.
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 the crew at Riverwood Mansion: the owner and chef- Debbie Sutton, including Shannon Marie Smith and Jennifer Anderson, for allowing us to celebrate East Side Storytellin’ in such a fun place and way.
The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event presented by Unbound Arts will be …
Tuesday, February 3rd
East Side Storytellin’ 54
Riverwood Mansion (1833 Welcome Lane)
7pm
reading- Ariel Lawhon (www.ariellawhon.com)
singing- Korby Lenker (korbylenker.com)
For more information: Email chuck@eastsidestorytn.com or unboundartsnashville@gmail.com to see about purchasing tickets.
OR
Purchase your tickets and share with friends here-
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/unbound-arts-presents-east-side-storytellin-tickets-15488529609
Read more information about the location and all involved in this limited run of shows here-
That’s all for East Side Storytellin’ 53 and another fabulous event here at Riverwood Mansion with Unbound Arts. 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. Thanks and good day your way.
Much love,
mE
