Fallin’ for Fall

It is here; the time right before Halloween, just after football has kicked into gear, the temperatures have dropped, the air is crisp, and I am no longer sweatin’ life.  Fall is my favorite, and a monumental weekend of fun, friends, family, and new experiences during the past few days really hit home this sentiment in my world.  I hope you had a great weekend as well.

This coming week, before I get to a few events that might peak your interest and calendar around town, I’d like to give a shout out for 2 calls for artists for all creative folks that might want to do the following:

1-      Metro Nashville Arts Commission just announced a request for artists qualifications for public art at the new Bellevue Branch Library on Baugh Road.  3-5 artists or teams will be selected to develop proposals and one of which will be selected for the final commission to fabricate and install permanent, site-specific public artwork.  The deadline for submission is Friday, October 4^th, at 1am Central, and you can find more information at www.callforentry.org and visit the Bellevue Library project website (Google it).

2-      Untitled Nashville is having another call for their October show.  It is open to all artists, of all levels and any media and subject matter.  It is uncensored and un-juried.  One piece per artist.  $15 registration, and your piece must be wired to hand according to the guidelines of the show.  You can check out more information here- http://www.untitlednashville.org/register/pop-up-art-shows/.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24th, it is once again time for another FREE Night of Speech over at Logue’s Black Raven Emporium (2915 Gallatin Pike).  Hosted by Honest Lewis, from 7-11pm, it is another full spectrum mix of styles and subject matter.  Everyone is welcome to get up and share their ideas, prose, and words in general.  It’s a good time had by all, and that’s about all you can ask for, right?

Then, Wednesday, September 25th, over at the Nashville Public Library, come check out the legendary performing group of Playing By Air (www.playingbyair.com) from 5-5:45pm.  Jacob Weiss and the gang will perform a FREE public show and people will have the chance to watch videos and learn more about Playing By Air’s event entertainment and community outreach programs.  Seriously, juggle your schedule so you can get there on time because the show will start promptly at 5pm sharp!

Special note, just after the Playing By Air show, you’ll still have time to jot over to the Bluebird Cafe (4104 Hillsboro Pike) to catch a very cool “In the Round.”  At 6pm, not only will Bryan Edwards, Dana Romanello, and Mark Lonsway be there, but the one and only pair of Ronny & Sarah Criss will showcase their original tunes for everyone present.  It will also be a wonderful time had by all there.

But with those two gems on Hump Day, don’t forget about Pictures of Fireworks over at Fido (1812 21st Avenue South).  With the monthly night of storytelling that showcases a combo of Nashville’s best comedians and authors, it’s most interesting residents and characters, and YOU, you can either sit back and relax or throw your nerves around and throw your name in the hat to share your story too.  Starting at 7:30pm, hosted by Heather LeRoy, half of the stories are curated before hand while others are spontaneously presented from the brave kiddos in the crowd.

Thursday, September 26^th, you can rest easy to think or go out and party in honor of the 24^th annual celebration for John Austin Beard’s birth.  That pretty much says it all for that day, in my opinion.  Glad to have him and happy we kept him around.  Good ol’ Linus.  War Eagle, kiddo.  War Eagle, bro!

Happy Birthday Austin! Some things never change.

If you do get out on Thursday for any reason besides for Austin, you might make it a point to listen to a lecture from Andrew Graciano (an art history professor and associate chair and graduate director in the department of art at the University of South Carolina.  It will be the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Lecture in Art History at 203 Cohen Hall at Vandy.  Andrew’s lecture is titled, “Joseph Wright’s Academy by Lamplight (1769) in Context.”  It will be something cool and probably better for your health than doing shots at the bar for Austin’s and Pete’s sake.

Friday, September 27^th, from 5:30-8:30pm,  join Bennett Galleries (2104 Crestmoor Road) for a cocktail and a snack, chance to meet the artists, and see some wonderful works of art!  Bennett Galleries are having a party for the opening reception for “Inhabiting Wonder-Anton Weiss and Lisa Jennings.”  Then, at 7 pm over at Zeitgeist Gallery, 516 Hagan Street, you can experience the “Joo Won Park with John Latartara.”  Park strives to make everyday sound beautiful and strange so that everyday becomes beautiful and strange.  I love that line and I love that Park performs live with toys, kitchenware, vegetables, umbrellas, and other non-musical objects by digitally processing their sounds.  You can’t sit here and tell me that this isn’t the coolest thing you’ve heard today.  It’s very cool!

Also very cool on Friday at 7pm, over at Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt University (2501 West End Avenue), you can listen to some of Nashville’s finest poets during this month’s installment of Lyrical Brew: an evening of local poetry.  This month’s brew will feature poets Tiana Clark, Bill Brown, and Stephanie Pruitt Gaines.

After Friday, go out and get together with friends and soak up this beautiful fall weather and time while we have it.  You can go for a walk in the park, buy a book from East Side Story and read it on a hammock or front/back porch, go to listen to some music, try some new local food, or whatever you choose.  When you choose local, everyone wins!  Now get going and make the most of the day and week ahead!

much love,

chuck

www.eastsidestorytn.com

www.nashvillesheart.com

PS- 

Check this link out too for East Side Storytellin’ sake:

http://eastsidestorytn.com/east-side-storytellin-22-when-the-buckeye-state-gave-east-side-story-luck-and-perfect-prose/

The NEXT East Side Storytellin’ event will be …

Date- Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

Time- 7 pm sharp (Central)

Location- Mad Donna’s (1313 Woodland Street)- http://maddonnas.com

Need information or details about Mad donna’s, call 615-226-1617.  Otherwise it is first come, first available seats.

Who will be featured- painter Jonathan Richter and poet DKM (authors of Subjects with Objects – www.rabbitroom.com/2013/070rr-interview-subjects-with-objects-co-author-dkm/) and music by Bulb (www.reverbnation.com/bulbthemusic).

 

 

How to juggle a lot of goodness in, around, and even despite the rain

Right now, at this very moment, I can promise you a few things for certain: the rain will end at some point, the sun will come back out eventually, and this weekend most assuredly has the potential to wash clean the rest of your soul that which the rain misses during the rest of the week if you allow it to do so. Are you stuck in a dreary mood, cubicle, or possibly even beneath an imaginative raincloud that seems to follow you wherever you go? Well, don’t worry or run; the fun is about to come your way if you are indeed looking for it. Look no further … look here!

Although the schedules for my weekend’s top three activities cross paths at several points, as always I will do my best to give you the correct information for you to decide and juggle your own schedules all the while writing you the best schedule to follow in order to experience all of the below without it being a perfect world. Wait; it is a perfect world when you think about it.

In my perfect Nashville world (a world that doesn’t include any crime and my bank account is endless to help others of course), this Friday, July 16th, 2010, kicks off the weekend with the first dose of a 2-night doubleheader special of everyone’s favorites, Guilty Pleasures at Mercy Lounge. Doors opening at 8pm, and the best music around starting approximately at 9:30pm (both Friday and Saturday nights), let Guilty Pleasures surround you with another solid as a rock performance with sounds that will have you singing along every note, dancing to every word, and losing and finding yourself again and again in the best of ways all through the night(s).

After I take everyone that was in the band and in attendance out for ice cream, breakfast, or a combination of both (remember, I’m still in my perfect world typing … not to forget to mention the morning and early afternoon with time spent where we feed all of the homeless, build a few homes for Habitat for Humanity, and squeeze in a little pool party on the side), I’d love to send Guilty Pleasures and 1/3 of Friday’s crowd back over to Mercy Lounge for their Saturday show. I’d then send another 1/3 of the crowd and other friends that had plans from the night before after a long week to unwind down at the Douglas Corner Café (2106 8th Avenue) with the always a pleasure to hear talk and sing, Fred Wilhelm. He will be unveiling a few new songs, mixed with a few original favorites, and gladly share the stage with “Can You Duet” stars The Stellas and superstar songwriter John Scott Sherrill. The show begins at 6pm. I suggest that you arrive early if you want to get a good seat and get inside before the packed house gets there for that matter.

Now you may be wondering where the heck I sent the other 1/3 of the crowd of people that begged to listen to my advice? Well, I sent them to the first of another set of doubleheader hit shows taking place on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon for the special cause of helping various cancer support organizations. Saturday, July 17th, at 7pm, and Sunday, July 18th, at 2pm, the majestic group Playing By Air is helping raise money and awareness for a special cause through a fusion of music, circus, and theater! Both show-stopping, high-energy, variety act, full-length stage productions will be performed at the Nashville Children’s Theatre. Past performances have been described by cancer survivors as “tremendously inspiring, impressive, and amusing” and “a gift of laughter and joy.” Can you honestly tell me anything else that gets you refreshed and ready to jump head/heart first into the beginning of another week in your own perfect world!? I didn’t think so.

If you are too busy for any of the above events, and you are not going to Florida to see the grand opening of a friend’s athletic store after he does a sprint triathlon, then I suggest you totally reevaluate your priorities. Seriously … take some quality time to step out of your personal raincloud and rush hour traffic and for once do the things you want to do that you know will be good for yourself and others as well.  You know you deserve it!

Thank you for your time. Come again now and later, ya hear!

Salud,
Chuck Beard