The website of Knoxville’s eclectic radio station WDVX describes Wordstream: The Weekly Writer’s Voice this way: “The Weekly Writer’s Voice takes places every Friday, 12-1pm, on the WDVX stage in the Knoxville Visitors Center. The show features poets, novelists, play excerpts, and more with hosts Linda Parsons and Stellasue Lee.” Sometime in the middle of 2019, my colleague Alan Holmes shared (via Facebook) Wordstream‘s announcement that it was beginning to book programs for 2020. I immediately contacted Linda Parsons, a poet I’d heard much about from Alan and other ETSU colleagues, to enquire about being booked. Linda responded — with poet Stellasue Lee — quickly and enthusiastically and generously. We set up 17 January 2020 as a good day for the show — if the winter weather cooperated. I would play some songs and read some from Gabriel’s Songbook, and Alan would come along to play rhythm guitar alongside me.
I found Linda and Stellasue to be just as gracious, enthusiastic, and supportive in person as they’d been via email. They made Alan and me welcome. And a youngster named Johnny — a Pellissippi State CC student — made us sound good!
We began with some songs:
- “Landscapes”
- “Genesis Road”
- “She’s a Wild One”
- “Big Shoes” — I don’t often get to do “Big Shoes” live, because most places I play are a bit too loud for it. But the Wordstream audience was filled with listening ears, which I so appreciated.
- “Jamboree”
We’d planned to do “Rain on the River,” “Complaints,” and “The Bells of Vimperk,” but when we finished “Jamboree” I looked at my watch and saw that it was time to begin the reading portion of the show.
I read two sections from Gabriel’s Songbook:
- from “Chapter 4: Dancing on Air”: selected passages leading up to Gabriel’s writing of “Best I’ve Ever Seen,” which Alan and I then played.
- from “Chapter 21: Homecoming”: Gabriel sings his song “Homecoming” during the offertory for the homecoming service at the church where he grew up. Alan and I played the song, and then I read a passage featuring Gabriel and mountain fiddler Delbert Gunter. The scene takes place first in the Piney Ridge Methodist Church, across the river from Runion, and second behind the church, at the edge of its cemetery — all modeled very much after the Walnut Methodist Church and its cemetery. (Check out this homemade video of “Homecoming” that features many of the real-life things the novel is about.)
We ended the program with “There Was Always a Train.”
Linda and Stellasue treated Alan and me to an after-show lunch at Babalu in downtown Knoxville. Back at the car, which was parked beneath a wonderful mural, we took one more picture before Alan and I hit the road back to Johnson City.
Thanks again to Linda Parsons and Stellasue Lee for being such gracious hosts. I’m happy to return to the Wordstream stage any time!