When LIFE calls, YOU answer!

When Life is knocking on any of your doors, you open them, slap Life in the face, and then shut the door laughing before Death can catch you. Okay, so I'm not exactly sure what that means fully yet but I like the imagery of it all. Let it sink in.

Now let this week filled with Life begin. Today, Monday, March 18th, I'll let you rest … you'll need it. If you aren't resting, then odds are you are celebrating the entire week long event around town known as the Nashville Craft Beer Week. From March 18th-24th, you can pretty much find a good time and good cold local beverage all around. See here for more information if you don't know already- http://rhizomeproductions.com/craft-events/nashville-craft-beer-week-mar...

Move over Monday, and jump head first into Tuesday night's special. Has it been two weeks already? Yes it has. On Tuesday, March 19th, East Side Story is celebrating good music, writing, storytelling, food, and local beer at Fat Bottom Brewing Co. (900 Main Street) at our 2nd ever East Side Storytellin' event at the new location. At 7pm, the fun will begin promptly so you might want to come early to get a seat or call ahead if you know you need to reserve a table (615-678-5895) to experience a tribute night of sorts. Local author Barry Mazor will read from his book "Meeting Jimmie Rodgers" while you will be amazed afterwards by the musical stylings of Paul Burch (www.paulburch.com). The event is finished by 8:30pm, it's FREE to attend, and there will be merch and limited edition art prints by artist Alex Smith for sale on site. Side note, Fat Bottom has some killer beer and burger deals to enjoy as well. Hope to see you there.

Also Tuesday night, in case you are trapped on the other side of the river, you should drop by Zeitgeist Gallery to attend a professional practice workshop with Andrea Aieher of ZieherSmith from 6-8pm. Sponsored by Nashville Cultural Arts Project's (NCAP) and Zeitgeist, this workshop is $25 in advance and $30 at the door (can RSVP at director@n-cap.org). It will be 2 hours of learning the best professional practices regarding developing and maintaining the artist/dealer relationship and is targeted for students and professional artists alike. It is a very handy thing, if you don't already have a firm grasp on the business of art, to learn more about how to approach galleries, studio visit etiquette, artists rights, networking, consignment and more. Just saying, these are some very smart people in the game that anyone can learn a lot from.

Wednesday, you can spring on over to the Hillsboro area to get your fill of creative word artists. At Fido, at 8pm, another installation of Corporate Juggernaut's storytelling show, Pictures of Fireworks, will be upon us. Pictures of Fireworks is a FREE event to attend that showcases a combination of Nashville's best comedians and authors telling some authentic and original stories. Half of the tales are told by performers or locals who are curated in advance while the other half come from audience members who can drop their names in a hat at the start of the show. This is a show dedicated to finding the funniest, most compelling, touching, and outrageous tales in Nashville. All that's required from each teller is honesty … the stories have to be true and have a beginning, middle, and end. No scripts allowed and it is non-stop fun. Each show is hosted by the talented Jane Borden. The featured guests this week will be Emily Volman, Melanie Vare, Chad Riden, and another to be announced the night of the show. It could be Ben Folds. You should come to it and find out yourself! You can learn more about Jane and the show at www.janeborden.com and www.corporatejuggernaut.com.

Come Thursday, March 21st, and you can return back to the East Side of town in order to witness and experience Un Bound Arts presenting Third Thursdays @ The Building beginning at 6pm sharp. This series is a monthly event series that combines spoken word with the visual and performance arts. There are established artists in all disciplines and new people coming on the scene as well. This March show will feature visual artists Shaun Shively and Barbara Clark, musical artists Stephen Simmons and Ole Mossy Face, and then several spoken word artists that you may or may not know about but definitely should if not. The amazing, multi-faceted performance, visual, and spoken word artist of Landry Butler will be on hand. I will also have 30 minutes to host several featured local poets that have their work in East Side Story. Those very talented poets are Ben Burr (author of "The Nashville Poems" and "feeling nuthin but stones"), Jamie Givens (author of "Never Offer A Chair To A Dancing Girl"), and Nicole Branigan (author of "Stained Glass Mirror"). It will start at 6pm sharp and is only $10 at the door for more entertainment and local culture in one spot on one night than you can handle. Can you handle it?! The Building is located at 1108C Woodland Street.

Well, well, well. Also on Thursday, this just in, from 6-9pm, if you aren't at The Building, you should definitely visit the Open Studios at Platetone! You can join members of Nashville's community of printmaking, paper and book arts studio for a monthly open studio session. Platetone members will demonstrate various printmaking techniques and encourage visitors to particpate in talks and artwork with ink and paper. The main activity this month will be to celebrate Platetone's new name and LOGO! You will learn more about silkscreening the logo and other designed patterns. You can bring your own shirts, hankerchiefs, notebooks, bags, and whatever you want to screen yourself! How much fun is that? A lot of fun is the answer of course! You can learn more at www.platetone.org.

Then Friday will roll around and hopefully the weather will be just as nice as last Friday so you can park the car and walk to all the shops, galleries, and restaurants that you can all over town. I would say put down the phone, plan ahead, and just enjoy everything nice that Nashville is offering to you at this moment in time. There are parties, art, and fun all over town if you just get out there and look.

One event I will share with you this Saturday that might be off the radar of your typical date night is the Untitled Artist Group's show called "Superstition." It features all-local, uncensored art for unlimited audiences. These shows don't happen every week or anything so you should check them out when you have the time. You are more likely to find the next diamond in the rough unexpectedly and have a great time at the same time. Superstition goes down Saturday, March 23rd, from 6-10pm (one night only) at 506 Events Gallery (506 Davidson Street). Get out while you can to enjoy more spoken word by the likes of Honest Lewis, Christine Hall, Mitchell Savage, Jake Bailey, and Pranny Gulavane, tarot card readings, photobooth fun, live music, and food trucks all around. It's a one stop-shop for all your entrainment and culture for sure.

So this weekend, in honor of ending your week in style and possibly giving you two stellar opportunities to give back to some fantastic projects and people doing remarkable things locally and beyond, here are two of my favorite kickstarters at the moment. One deals with art and the community, and the other are two of my favorite people married in music. First, The Bicycle Bus is an art project. The bus will become a functional art project-turned-bicycle hub underneath the pedestrian bridge in the heart of Nashville. You can see more here-http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1158639128/the-bicycle-bus. can Second, lastly but not forgotten on anyone who has seen them and heard their music, here is the kickstarter for the making of the next Carolina Story album. I can't say enough positive things about these two people. Check this link out and share it with your friends on and off of Facebook so they can take the next step on their creative journey. They are amazing! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/carolinastory/carolina-story-running....

Oh, another thing to let all you business owners and artists alike know about. You should know that a very cool event and auction is taking place in April that you can totally help with if you have the time and a heart. I'm talking about Nashville's Blue Tie Blue Jean Ball and Late Party to be held at the Gaylord Springs on April 27, 2013. It benefits Autism Speaks and you can read more about how awesome they are here- www.autismspeaks.org. But back to the donations to be made, any and all donations or sponsorships are greatly appreciated. Items for the Silent and Live Auction are due by April 2nd (also known as World Autism Awareness Day). You can donate by clicking HERE- http://www.autismspeaks.org/ways-give?utm_source=autismspeaks.org&utm_me...

So that is pretty much it. There are other things going on besides the craft beer week and everything else I mentioned above, but I'm not sure if you'll have time for it if you decide to follow half the instructions above. Regardless, I hope this reaches you well, busy and happy, and be nice to others. See you soon.

much love,
chUck