Time To See The Piper

Well, the first ever Writer's Rochambeaux at The Basement on Monday was one helluva good time. I dealt out plenty of lame insults to my fellow writers, and (standing at just under 5'2") received many a midget joke to boot. That's okay. I'm quite accustomed to it. I really loved being on stage with Peter Matteson, an eerie lyrics-man with a classically trained voice (although he uses it with a lot of beautiful grit). I bet he could have been a lot meaner than he chose to be, but with the humor I encountered off stage, I'm glad he took it easy on me. :)

I'm proud to announce that I'll be the first guest on Ty Brando's new radio show on Nashville Free Radio 107.1 WRFN! Tune in this upcoming Monday, the 13th, to hear me chat and play some tunes. I'll be on air at 7:30.

And finally, I had the privilege of viewing hit songwriter Marcus Hummon's latest Nashville theatrical production, The Piper. For those of you who don't know Hummon by name, you probably do know him by song- remember "God Bless the Broken Road" or "Cowboy Take Me Away"? Yeah, that guy! Maybe I just have witnessed/participated in too much Rogers & Hammerstein, but I think of myself as a hard critic of musicals in general. This, however, I loved from start to finish. I did attend with the knowledge that this was a working production.

UK native Kim Bretton takes a lead, and I swear, she's absolutely magical. Her eyes glitter like none you've seen and her warm presence on stage brought more than a few tears to mine. Set in 1890's Boston, it's a story of lust, redemption, and the power of story and song. Of course, being that we are here in Nashville, the musicians (including Hummon (and accompaniment by my friend Knox Ewing)) in the pit were seamless. You'll hear an assortment of flutes, Irish-inspired rippling guitar, mandolin, and hand drums next to flowing and at times dissonant piano.

It is so important to support your local arts. I'm not going to say the R word, but we all know that times are incredibly hard. I believe that one of the best ways to start digging us out of this hole is to put our money back into the pockets of our community. Theater itself has been a struggling art for some time now, but it is so fulfilling both for those on stage and those in the audience. Let The Piper be your reintroduction.

Remaining show times are:
Thursday-Saturday 7:30
Sunday 4:30

xoxoxoxoxo