Tim Jackson's Storytellers Tour

What is a Storytellers Tour?

A story can be told in many ways. My personal favorite is through music. On Saturday August 26th, I went to Lynn Haven, Florida to experience the Tim Jackson Storytellers Tour as they performed at Roberts Hall.

Music touches me unlike any other form of communication. This show was magic. The performers were: Tim Jackson, Lindsey Thompson, Duke Bardwell, Eric Erdman and the show was made even fuller with great guitar playing by Mark Gillespie. All of this group of musicians played and sang, except for Mark who was there to fill in with his fabulous guitar playing. His contribution was the whip cream on top of the sundae; he added sweetness with his guitar that made it more special.

I suggest you google these performers or check them out on Youtube. Duke Bardwell was the bassist in Elvis Presley’s band for a period of time. And please don’t ask who Elvis Presley is…that happened to me recently when I was talking with some people in their late twenties. They also did not know Marilyn Monroe! I suppose it means I am old that this surprises me. Ok, I accept it, but I remember musicians and other famous people from decades before I was born. The young people today are wonderful but in my opinion, they tend to live in the moment and don’t do much looking back. 

Tim Jackson and Lindsey Thompson often accompany one another and they have many songs they co-wrote. Both are extremely talented individuals. If you ever see any of these names on an upcoming show…drop what you are doing and make plans to go listen.

My son, Eric Erdman ended the show and then, for a grand finale sat on the edge of the stage with all of the other cast to play a song that is so new the ink is still wet to the touch. This song is one he wrote with Tim Jackson and it laments the pains of hurricanes that hit our southern border; such as those the people in southern Texas are suffering right now. It also reminds us of the resilience of the people who live in the path of these hurricanes. As the water recedes, they come out and build again. The song is called “Hurricane Scars”, if you live anywhere near a hurricane path as I do, it will touch you.

Many brand new original songs were played at Roberts Hall last Saturday evening and it was an honor to be one of the first to hear them come to life.

I want to thank Tim Jackson for his hard work and dedication to music. He is a shining star in the music scene today. I also thank the other musicians and Eric the sound man; they all worked hard setting up the stage and then putting their hearts into an absolutely perfect night of music. I believe everyone there enjoyed it as much as I did as witnessed by the standing ovation and the roaring applause!

I was surrounded by Greatness

Surrounded by Greatness

Sometimes in life you can feel the magic in the air around you, somehow you know you are standing in the same space that was filled with bravery and honor long before you got there. All around me I saw old military planes, jeeps, wagons and re-constructed POW dwellings where people risked their lives and in some cases lost them.

Looking up at those majestic wings my mind was filled with thoughts of the lifetime of this jet and the world it had grown up in and grown old in. It still had a look of great strength and pride but, just like me there had been bumps and bruises along the way. I was at the Pavilion at USS Alabama Park in Mobile that evening, turning in every direction to see these exhibits, aircraft, landcraft and other things I would never have expected to see.

My son Eric Erdman was performing for an annual celebration in honor of the workers at a company called Seabulk Towing.  In addition to live music; a feast of seafood and all of the trimmings was prepared and ready. Tables with brightly colored tablecloths filled a large cleared out section as they waited anxiously for the guests to arrive.

Eric began playing his music at 5pm and people began arriving shortly before that. It was a gathering of people who loved one another and seemed to be happy to be alive and happy to be  sitting in the middle of greatness as they ate this fabulous meal. The surrounding scenery could not have been better.

As the evening progressed, I decided to walk around and get a closer look at some displays I saw on Vietnam. I am happy I did that; yet it brought back some truly gut-wrenching times. 

When I was completing the last couple of years of my high schools days; Vietnam was the topic everyone was discussing. Many of my friends, my brother and my boyfriend were all soon heading off to fight a battle in a place most of us had not even known existed before the Viet Nam War grabbed us and would not let go. I lost friends and neighbors in that battle and my boyfriend was killed by a hand grenade. He was an exceptionally kind person and his passing left a huge, un-fillable void. Though I was only 18 years old at the time, it altered something inside of me for all the years that have followed. I still have a shoe box filled with his letters. It is a part of him that I can still touch and hold.

There was a section in this Vietnam display that focused on prisoners of war. It brought gruesome thoughts of what those guys went through. One display brought tears to my eyes the minute I realized what it was. The captured men had taken their government issued army green socks and positioned them into the shape of a Christmas tree on the wall of their tiny prison. They were imprisoned but their hearts were filled with thoughts of family celebration and the love they left behind.

Billy Joel is quoted as saying:
"The good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems"

When it comes to war, the past is sometimes painful, but it is something we must never forget. 

It is amazing to me that in this huge pavilion lies every emotion. There is pride, pain, laughter, joy, and right now a celebration of teamwork, hard work and family. It is not easy to get so much between the walls of one building, but here it is tonight for us to experience.

Eric played his beautiful songs with a smile. I could see his excitement as he looked around at huge helicopters and airplanes, ground support vehicles and so much more. For a musician, it has to be awesome to be able to perform in the middle of all those things that represent great power and strength. For me it feels like touching the past as it is sitting all around us.

As I stepped out at the end of the evening, I glanced up at the stars and I felt the spirits of those I lost so many years ago. When I arrived home, I went straight to the letters for a touch.

This was a happy night, a night of remembrance. An evening filled with love, great food and music. I am so proud to have experienced yet another show that rebooted my soul.

Support Your Local Talent

If a person loves live music, original music and a quiet area that allows them to really hear the words and soak them in, the places that provide this are few and far between. House Concerts are the best, however a couple of public places are popping up that provide this too.

The Listening Room at 78 St Francis Street in downtown Mobile is devoted to the performer and puts the spotlight on them. It is small, nothing fancy to look at, except the art on the walls that was painted by local arts. Jim Pennington provides the place because he loves local talent and he wants to bolster this talent and give them a place to shine. 

In addition to the music, Jim Pennington provides a place for local artists to display their art and sell their art.  Occasionally Jim will have art exhibits that feature one artist, i.e. Robby Amonett who paints music scenes as they happen, in order to capture that moment in time. Robby’s art is unique and very special. He is a retired professional bull rider as well, if you see him painting at a music event, talk to him, he is an interesting guy for sure. I was recently there when Jim featured paintings by Ryan Balthrop.  Ryan is not only a fabulous musician and songwriter, he is a phenomenal artist. Check him out at southernwindowart.com; you will thank me later because he is absolutely the real deal! His paintings are done on actual windows and it makes you feel you are seeing this beautiful scene outside your own window. This young man is on the come-up in his music and his art; grab some of his music and paintings while you can still afford it.

The Listening Room does support art, but primarily it is there to support local and regional music. It allows a match-up of music makers and music lovers which is a perfect marriage. It provides a place where you can relax, and hear the story behind the song, then better understand that song as it is being presented. It is a place where one can be surrounded by like-minded music lovers and spend a few hours soaking it in; its an uplifting time for everyone.

As a town that has more than their share of talent, we must appreciate the people, like Jim Pennington who RECOGNIZE our talented folks and stretch their hand out to provide them a hand up.

In Fairhope there is a place called The Book Cellar, which is part of Page & Palette Bookstore and coffee shop. The Book Cellar, at this time, has music every Monday night. They bring in local musicians (usually solo, singer/songwriter type acts). There is no cover, there is a full bar with a sweet and beautiful bartender named Molly (who happens to also be a great musician). 

Every Monday for a month The Book Cellar features the same musician from 5-7pm. This allows everyone an opportunity to check them out while balancing their schedule. If they love the music and have room on their schedule, they can return to see them for all the Mondays in that month. The first Monday of each month a new musician will start their month of Mondays. These artists do not come here just for the money, it is not alot. However, the people of Fairhope are very generous and normally the artist makes as much in those two hours (through tips), as they make at a 3 or 4 hour show at a noisy venue. The real plus is that it is a listening room type atmosphere. Everyone is gracious, respectful and they cling to every word the musician sings.

These shows in Fairhope are special to the musicians and the music-lovers who attend. There is no noisy banter, smoke-filled room, pool tables with balls clanging, no screaming or loud voices that drown out the talent. It is a time and a place dedicated to our precious, talented musicians and it restores their souls. It helps them to rejuvenate, charge their batteries, and find a place of remembrance of why they are in this business. As the mother of a musician (Eric Erdman), I can tell you that it restores my faith in people. For me personally, I love books and I love live original music, so The Book Cellar and Page & Palette in Fairhope is awesomeness from the front door to the exit.

These two places are where you can go to forget all of the hate and frustrations in this topsy-turvy world. These are places that will crank your tractor and drive you right back to happy!

Support The Listening Room in Mobile and The Book Cellar on Mondays in Fairhope.

The local musicians will be forever grateful!