Spoken word series continues TPAC run
Featuring the wildly original Minton Sparks as the headliner for each show, this innovative series combines spoken word, storytelling and song. Often compared to leading contemporary Southern writers, Sparks is a writer, poet and storyteller backed by musicians as she paints vivid pictures of people and places in the South with her words.
“This series is a chance for TPAC to recognize spoken word as a relevant art form, and we wanted to provide more than just a performance,” said Kathleen O?Brien, TPAC?s president and CEO. “The combination of all the elements ? delicious comfort food from Monell?s, Johnson Theater?s intimate space, the addition of cabaret tables, and some of Nashville?s finest musicians paired with Minton Sparks? raw talent ? created an entire experience that is steeped in Southern culture and ambience. I can only guess that with talents like Jessi Colter and Rodney Crowell, this series will continue to be received with utmost enthusiasm.”
Opening for Sparks at the April 15 performance, Jessi Colter is celebrating the release of her first solo album in 20 years, Out of the Ashes, which draws on her deep roots in gospel, blues, R&B and traditional country. Colter, widow of the legendary Waylon Jennings, topped the country charts in 1975 with “I?m Not Lisa,” which also crossed over to the pop charts as a top-five hit. From the same album, I?m Jessi Colter, she also released the top-five country hit, “Whatever Happened to Blue Eyes?” Colter teamed up with husband Jennings, Tompall Glaser and Willie Nelson in the following year on Wanted: The Outlaws, the first officially sanctioned platinum LP in country music history.
Wrapping up the series on May 13 is Rodney Crowell, who has worked with Emmylou Harris, Booker T. Jones and Roseanne Cash, among others. His recordings include the breakthrough Diamonds and Dirt, which generated an unbroken string of five #1 singles with “It’s Such a Small World” (a duet with Cash), “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried,” “She’s Crazy for Leavin’,” “Above and Beyond,” and “After All This Time,” winner of the Grammy Award. The title of his 2005 release is The Outsider. Crowell?s “Making Memories of Us,” recorded by Keith Urban, spent five weeks at #1 on the country charts.
Accompanying Sparks at both performances is John Jackson, a Nashville native who played with Bob Dylan for seven years and also toured with Lucinda Williams and Shelby Lynne. Jackson often appears onstage with Sparks, enhancing her performance and serving as a foil to her spoken word.
For these performances, ticket-buyers will enjoy free appetizers in the lobby beginning at 6:30 p.m., a post-show dessert reception with the artists, and a new, reserved-seating chart for Johnson Theater that includes cabaret tables. Audience members are invited to take beverages into the theater during the performance.
Collaborating with stellar songwriters, singers and musicians, Sparks has recorded three CDs. Her debut release Middlin? Sisters included cuts with Waylon Jennings and Darryl Scott. Her second CD, “This Dress,” was named best spoken word album of the year by Just Plain Folk Music Awards and listed as one of the top five “Off the Beaten Path” recordings of 2003 by the Chicago Sun-Times. Her newest CD “Sin Sick” was produced by the Grammy Award-winning Gary Paczosa and features Nickel Creek?s Chris Thile on mandolin, Steve Conn on piano, Abigail Washburn on banjo, and John Jackson on guitar.
Sparks? radio credits include “Weekend Edition” on National Public Radio, “WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour,” Knoxville?s WDVX “Blue Plate Special” lunch time webcast, and the Thackford Mountain Radio Show broadcast from Oxford, Mississippi. She received a master?s of education in Human Development Counseling from Vanderbilt University and taught poetry in Tennessee schools as a recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship. An adjunct professor of psychology at Tennessee State University; she also teaches creative writing workshops.
minton sparks & friends @ TPAC: the voices of today is recommended for mature audiences. Tickets, including appetizers and desserts, are $25 for standard reserved seats and $30 for cabaret tables. Tickets are available at the TPAC Box Office (Downtown or at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in The Mall at Green Hills), online at www.tpac.org, or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets may also be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 615/255-ARTS (2787).