Timpanogos Storytelling Fetival 2019

I have just returned from the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, out in Utah. What a festival! Set in Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, you would not want a better venue. Beautiful gardens, paths, waterfalls, falling water pools surround the huge tents which house some of the best storytellers sharing their craft. From tellers like myself sharing the traditional tales, to the brilliant Bil Lepp with his tall tales, there was the powerful, gracious and witty Carmen Deedy, the clever and humourous Tim Lowery, the musically crafty Anne Rutherford, Don White with his dry wit and heartfelt and funny songs, Antonio Rocha dancing his way gracefully through his stories, both fairy tales and personal stories (I love this guy and his work), Motoko with her amazing craft, school girl giggle and wonderful stories, Andy Hedges telling us stories about the songs his sings (another favourite of mine), the impeccable and immaculate Donald Davis, the cheeky, fun Barbara McBride-Smith, and the sweet, and lovely Sheila Starks Phillips who will surprise you with her tales! I also got to ‘sit in’ with a wonderful duo called Tiny Home made up of Sonya Cotton and Gabe Dominguez, who on Tuesday night played a fabulous version of ‘All the Pretty Little Horses.’ And we got to see Chris Osmond open up the festival on Thursday night. That’s Donny’s son, I think.

Not Chris, but me telling the school children

Antonio did a set of stories Tuesday night, when I first saw Tiny Home at a wonderful gazebo in town. A large family arrived late so he and I did an impromptu set for them after and ended up getting more people show up to listen. The sunset which happened behind the audience was amazing, and Antonio, of course, wound it into one of his stories. I got to see tellers I have never seen before like Carmen Deedy, who I also got to perform with. What a treat that was. I have been wanting to see Robin Bady’s “Nancy Drewinsky and the Search for the Missing Letter” and was NOT disappointed. She is incredible. I have only seen a little bit of Motoko so had to see more of her craft. She and Eshu Bumpus did a fabulously crafted Jappalachian ballad. So clever, so beautifully sung. Motoko’s Laughin’ Night story was another really clever piece with a brilliant ending, and her Shivers in the Night Story was one of my favourites. I had never seen Barbara or Sheila before and I was not disappointed, their stories were great. They both have a twinkly (sly?!) sense of humour which I loved. Tim Lowery is so clever with his stories and goes so deep. I got myself a good dose of Tim, as I did with Antonio and Andy Hedges. Andy is something else. I have to say that I am not a country fan, nor a fan of Western music. I have been exposed to that genre since I was a kid, so know a variety of styles. Andy Hedges plays cowboy music, which, I think is outside of the realm of C&W. There is something gentle, and at the same time rugged.about the songs he sings and the poetry he recites. Some of the songs can be heart breaking but many are laugh-out loud funny. I am a fan! I have seen videos of Don White but to see him in person is a lot of fun. He runs deep and I was lucky enough to spend time chatting with him about our craft. Anne Rutherford is another clever and funny storyteller musician. I saw her set and was very impressed with what she did. Carmen Deedy. Wow. Carmen Deedy has a very strong fan base, and rightly so. Powerful, funny, irreverent - is it any wonder we got on like a house on fire? Not at all. Go see her. I got to share the stage with Bil Lepp, another honor, and boy is he funny. Tear rolling, belly aching funny. Love the guy. Donald Davis of course, a regular feature at Timp, and so on point and wonderful.

Motoko working her magic with Eshu

I have to mention the Youth Tellers. These kids come from all over the country and vary greatly in age. I saw a couple of them and was highly impressed and again, many of them at a Q&A, and they asked some great questions of the panel. When Antonio and I performed together for the school groups on Thursday, we were opened by Youth Teller Sohan Bhakta. His timing was impeccable, his wit and humour sharp as a knife. The way he re-crafted the story of the Freedom Bird was creative and clever and his voices were a joy to hear! I think we will be hearing a lot more of him as he works on his craft!

Antonio and I being mesmerized by Sohan!

Sohan telling the Freedom Bird

One of the things about performing in an event like this is that you get to hang out with all these wonderful people and their partners and families. Andy’s family was wonderful to have around, and I got to make pirate hats and paper swords for them, and tell them stories in the green room. Little kids light up rooms and many of the tellers had fun interacting with them! And Bil was there was his most of his family, who I met for the first time last year at Jonesborough - which is coming up fast! I got to know Bil and Paula and their daughter better which was great. Love those folks too.

The remarkable Carmen Deedy

The conversations at breakfast and at the end of the night were priceless. So many stories swapped, and So Much Laughter. Anne’s husband Norm Brecke was there and added another great voice to the after-show frivolity! Eshu Bumpus, a legend in my mind is a fabulous man and had such a deep level of understanding of our craft. I was so lucky to spend time with him. Just driving around with these folks and talking shop was a wonderful addition to the week.

The little dots before the pipes are the choir!

Then on Sunday morning, those who performed over the weekend were invited to see the Tabernacle Choir at the Conference Center. I had no idea how large that space is. I have seen it on tv once or twice, but it is HUGE. The choir and orchestra were amazing. It was a moving experience.

The Gang!

If you have never been to Timpanogos Storytelling Festival then I would highly recommend it. There is food on the site which is wonderful, the gardens are incredible, the organization is remarkable and the stories to be heard are brilliant. There’s a ton of other stuff to do at the festival too. There are puppets galore, jugglers, more music, liars, and pottery tents. This is a VERY family oriented event, so if you ever want to visit Utah, make sure you visit when the festival is on.

A huge thank-you to the organizers, and ALL the volunteers who are the most friendly ‘do anything for you’ people I have met. What a community! I am humbled.

Now it’s time to get tickets for CA, and prep for White Mountain Storytelling Festival and the National in Jonesborough!

Until next time…

Peace

I have been told that there were about 6,000 people at this closing night Laughin' Night!

Stone Soup Storytelling Festival

I have to say that my visit to Stone Soup Storytelling Festival needs a proper blog post with a few photos. There are more on my Facebook page!

It was quite the experience, not least for the reason that a number of the New Voices stayed together at an AirBnB. Although due to 'unforeseen' circumstances the sleeping accommodations were a little wonky, it worked out very well. So many deep conversations were held, stories swapped, and silly ping-pong games!
It was an early start on Thursday, the moon high in a dark sky, but watching it rise at the airport was fabulous. Arrived in Charlotte at a little before 9 am, got into the rental car and found a diner to have breakfast in!
After breakfast, I took a somewhat winding way to Woodruff, South Carolina to see the country I was in. I feel back roads more interesting to drive, and you see where you are better in terms of culture, too. It also allowed me to see a roadside attraction - Gaffney's Peachoid - a water tower where art imitates life, I think!
Stone Soup Storytelling Festival has a segment called New Voices created by Linda Goodman. A bunch - this year 12 - of tellers are asked to perform as part of the festival. We do it for love and for the chance to get to come back, paid! A number of us decided, at the organizers suggestion and organization, to stay at a near-by AirBnB. Karyn Page-Davies is a wonderful organizer and planner and very full spirit. She could be likened to a sunflower rising up above the rest sharing light and happiness. Anyway, I arrived at the AirBnB. On Thursday and Friday it was pretty much just Paul Strickland, Jane Ogburn Dorfman, Rachel Ann Harding and myself, then we were joined by Cooper Braun, Mark Goldman, Yasu Ishida, Sheila Gray, and Sarah Beth Nelson. Apart from lots of tea and coffee, laughs to be had, table tennis, and stories shared and swapped, there were long deep conversations about life, storytelling and business. It was incredible. I would not trade that experience for anything.

Jane, Paul, me and Rachel Ann

The weekend was filled with stories and panels, discussions on storytelling, meeting other storytellers like hobbiest storyteller Kanute Rarey, and the dry and funny Sam Pearsall, the brilliant Tony Marr, who I met last year but did not hear.
The whole weekend is filled with story. From the Lunch and Laugh at the Soup Kitchen; the Story Panel which Regi Carpenter nailed, along with Jeff Doyle, Tony, Sam and Kanute; and the opening concert all on Friday. We did look over the town of Woodruff and I saw a beautiful pocket watch. It was an antique and would have cost $75.00 which for an antique is not too bad, but I was thinking of the people at the Soup Kitchen and couldn't bring myself to buy it. There are people there who were struggling to put food on the table and the watch seemed to be frivolous to me.
Saturday began with amateur storytelling open mic where we heard some tellers who should be telling way more, and a young 13 year old girl who told a remarkable sci-fi story. This was MCed by a very capable daughter of Nicole Hazard who had MCed the panel on Friday. From there we went to the first New Voices concert which featured Sarah Beth Nelson, Sheila Gray, Cooper Braun, Meanie Knauff, Denise Mount and Rachel Ann Harding. All were good, some were brilliant, and my kitsune tale from Japan and was brilliantly told. Her pace, and delivery were top notch. Sarah Beth Nelson told the story of Dido in a way that surprised and delighted me. It was so good and filled with depth and humour. Melanie Knauff's personal story of bears and soda machines was a riot. She is quite a powerhouse and defiantly a good laugh. I met Sheila Gray at Sharing the Fire this year, and I think I met her once before, and her story was a great story from the Native American culture. Another story I liked a lot was the story of how Denise Mount's parents met. Denise's delivery was fabulous, and her story heartwarming. A whole set of love stories, pretty much.

The second set - Paul, me and Mark, Jane, Yasu, Lori and Omar

favourite tales were by Cooper and Rachel Ann. At first Cooper's story seemed to be a complete departure from his normal deep, mythic tale, appearing to be a personal story, but then the girl in the story opened her wings took hold of Cooper and flew off. There it was! The mythic! Rachel Ann's story was a
Our New Voices MC, the very chirpy, wild and funny Lona Bartlett was the best. Her handling, introductions, and outros were perfection. The audience had been given a voting sheet with all 12 names on it, as the audience (and the tellers) were asked to pick ONE performer from each set as their favourite. This was incredibly hard to do. In both sets I had a hard time picking one person, and part of me was saddened I could not choose more, best of three would have been good! After each set, Lona had the tellers return to the stage space and ran through all the stories pointing out the tellers. Marvelous job, delivered with grace and humour. When Lona says of herself: "You might find I am a little crazy. And I am very good at it!" she is not kidding. I loved her MCing us. The performance order for both sets were decided by drawing from the Soup Bowl of Destiny! Which brings me to lunch.

Getting eaten by a dragon for lunch

I grabbed lunch on my own at a local sandwich/hot dog shop which was really good. Not only the sandwich but the space to be solo for a while. It was a very good sandwich.
Afterwards I went with others to see Jeff Doyle tell to kids at the local library with Kanute. Jeff has a way that brings kids out of themselves which was great to see. He thoroughly entranced them. Kanute had fun too.
Paul I left to get back to the performance space for New Voices part two. Paul and I first met at the Jonesborough Storytelling Festival last year at the Exchange Place. The National Festival's way to introduce new tellers to the event. I loved the tale Paul told then and I enjoyed his company then too, although it was brief. Hearing him again here in Woodruff, confirmed everything. He is brilliant. His stories are so well crafted, clever, funny, playful and yet insightful. His stories, although tall tales which will have you crying with laughter speak of the deep truth of life at times if you are willing to see it. See Paul if you get the chance, you won't regret it. He wasn't the only one to hit the mark, Jane Ogburn Dorfman also told a brilliant story, delivering with gentleness and depth. A wonderful mix of personal narrative and folk tale, beautifully done. The set was opened by Mark Goldman who told an historical story. It was incredible and the ending a total surprise. I cannot give it away, as I hope he will be making this story more available. Yasu Ishida was another clever and thoughtful performer. His story about time travel was remarkable and the end was just astounding, catching everyone, it seemed, out! Quite brilliant. I very much enjoyed his company both at the performances and in person, very gracious human being, and enthusiastic, too!Omar and Lori Hansen are tandem tellers and did a great traditional tale. The humour and fun they obviously had on stage made it all the more enjoyable. And I told The Goat from the Hills and Mountains! People seemed to enjoy it.
You might think that was it for stories but no! After a short break the storytelling returned in the form of a liars competition - Say What?! That was a lot of fun and we got to see more of Cooper, Paul, Jane, and Lori and Omar (although theirs was not a tall tale, but a folk tale), Sarah Beth and other storytellers too. Paul won the main prize which did not surprise me, although I really enjoyed Jane's tale too, and that was a very good fib.
A bunch of us went out to supper together. And when I say a bunch, I mean a bunch! Imagine a couple of tables filled with storytellers - well, here's what it looked like! Yep, it's a busy chatty two tables!

 We had fun talking about all sorts of things, from why people tell the tales they do, to where they tell them and how to make series of tales! It was a lot of fun. After super we headed to the siree to hear Regi, Sam and Kanute tell again. Regi was once more amazing, powerful, leaving me filled with wonder and admiration. After the after-party I could have gone to the cabaret, but I was exhausted. Late nights up talking with those who were staying at the AirBnB, all the stories, and walking about Woodruff left me tired out .

I headed home for a short rest, then the other tenants returned and the deep conversations and table tennis began again and lasted, for me, until 1 am! We talked about politics, racism, the power of stories, conferences, festivals, everything, it seemed.
Fortunately we didn't have to be up until a bit later on Sunday for the Sunday service at the local First Presbyterian Church. The Reverend Steve Phillips presided with Regi and Tony Marr adding to the service. I liked what everyone did and the pianist, Madeleine McEntire was fabulous.
This was followed by another mass-eating fest for brunch. No photos, just great conversations about a fabulous weekend of tales.
Woman of the weekend - Karyn Page-Davies without a doubt. The organizer of the weekend, a sunflower standing above all giving radiance and smiles wherever she went, apparently oblivious of the whirlwind of a festival going on around her, yet orchestrating the thing! I met so many wonderful people, heard so many great tales, and need So Much Sleep now it almost hurts!
If you ever get the chance to visit this festival, please go and support it. The people there are great, the stories told are remarkable.
https://www.stonesoupsc.org/

Why Sound is Important

I have met a number of people who are weary of microphones, PA systems, and the like. I get comments like - too many cables, not sure where they go, what does it all do! I get it. The first time I saw a sound board I was a little "awestruck!" Meeting so many storytellers who are not comfortable with sound systems I decided to offer a workshop and from that grew a small booklet - a basic 'how-to' on the whats, wheres and why-fores of sound in relation to performance, in particular to voice work.

Sound is important in our job as storytellers. It is, for the most part, an oral art form for an aural audience.  Obviously, this is not always the case. There are amazing storytellers who are deaf and use sign language, there are storytellers who use tell tales using a digital format, but for the rest, it is our voices that do The Job.

In an ideal setting we would never need amplification. In an ideal setting we could use our ‘indoor’ voices and everyone would hear. We would never get sore throats, or infections. We would all instinctively know the best way to use our voices to maximum effect with minimum effort. But this is not the case. The hall is massive and our voice is lost or echoes so much there is an eerie delay, the wind takes our voice, or the acoustics are so bad people whispering at the back are as loud as you are annunciating and articulating with your best projection from the front! Sometimes we need amplification.

In my youth I was in a number of bands and always into the equipment side of things: the mixing boards, the microphones, and speakers, both in and out of the studio; even though I was ‘just a drummer’ and never had the voice to sing outside of a shower or car! I discovered that different voices did not always sound good on the same microphone. Some mics were okay all round microphones, but some mics worked well for one singer and another mic worked better for a different vocalist. Guitarists choose amps to project a certain sound or feel. Drummers use different skins, have kit and cymbal manufacturers they preferred over others.

As a storyteller I was able to bring all this knowledge with me, and when I got ‘kitted up’ for larger performance spaces and for venues where the acoustics were lavatory quality, I knew what to do. (All my old equipment was left in the UK and sold, or given away over 20 years ago.) I tried out a number of microphones when I recorded my first CD as I know my voice has a strong sibilant side. For fun, I tried out the most expensive mic the studio (Pepperbox Studios in Vermont) had in their collection. My voice sounded scratchy, and hissing to the point it might make one wince. The mic sounded great on someone, just not me! I tried out a few other microphones and found one that cut the sibilance down and brought a slightly deeper resonance to the mix. That mic I liked a lot. It is the same with speakers. They have their own ‘colour’.

Our art requires us to be heard and understood. As storytellers we need to have equipment which allows us, even in the most horrendous of situations, to be clear as a bell, to be heard over traffic, wind, heating/cooling systems, or rude patrons, amongst other handicaps. As professionals we need to be aware of what is available, what makes us sound good or bad, and most importantly how to set equipment, and a room up for success. We display our professionalism and that we are worth our salt. We show we know what we are doing. People then know we take our profession seriously. It shows our customers, be they libraries, museums, businesses, theatres, etc. that we can be trusted to do a great job and that we can be hired again, and that means more work for all of us.

We want an audience to go home having felt they were in an intimate setting, having an intimate experience, no matter the size of venue, or number of bums on seats. Maybe we get the room set up so perfectly, they leave not even realizing there was amplification. We need to know how to amplify a room for ourselves. Finding and using the right equipment properly is so important. As I implied, and can confirm, the equipment does not have to be the most expensive. But it does have to be right - for us, as individuals.

Why Sound Matters by Simon Brooks, © 2016

Old Books and research

I have always loved old books. When I was a kid I loved the design of paperbacks my parent read, especially the Pan and Penguin titles. There was a style I loved. Although those paperbacks had cool covers, there was something about reading and holding a hardcover book. There seemed way more permanence with these books. Visiting places like Hay-On-Wye, a city of books I have seen grow over the years, I know that paperbacks have a much shorter life and are passed on far more readily. Hardcovers stay in a home for much longer. So it is wonderful when you find a treasure. I recently came across a fabulous book by Molly Bang called The Buried Moon and other stories.
The tales come from England, India, and China. One story is retold by Ms. Bang by combining a Japanese story and the Grimm story of Wolf and the Seven Kids. I know a Chinese version of this tale - Lon Pon Po. 

A story I found in The Buried Moon and other stories I had not read or heard before which excited me no end. I am now on the search for other versions of it. Maybe you have heard of it. It's called William and Jack and te King of England. The King of England is not really in the story, so the title might be a little misleading. It is about two brothers who look very similar (twins?), who go on an adventure. The first brother goes without his mother's blessing and gets pierced by a thorn and falls into a deep slumber. This is a sort of male version of Sleeping beauty, but his brother comes to his rescue. The younger or second brother goes on to be gifted a cloak of invisibility and shoes of flight and saves a woman and defeats a devil. It's a great story.
And so begins a black hole of researching a story!

As a storyteller, I read a lot of folk and fairy tales. In the quest to find great stories to tell I do not seek out literary tales (copyright issues) and I also try to find at least two, hopefully three or more versions of the same story. One reason for this, is that someone went to a great deal of effort to find and share a story. If I can only a single source, I get in touch with that source (author or storyteller) and ask permission to tell the story, or where I might find some other sources. Right now there is a very fun story from Japan I am trying to find another version of! Why do I do this? Because I make money from what I do, and I believe in being ethical. Teachers, librarians, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc., do not have to do this, but it can be a lot of fun (as well, sometimes, a lot of work).

Some stories don't need to be set in a particular place when a tale can be found in one form or another anywhere on the planet. But when a story has strong cultural anchors, one should keep the story in its place - its home. Stories can be like people - there are world citizens, and those who/which do not leave their country/culture (sometimes home town)! Digging and delving into story variants and alternate sources often puts you on the trail of other stories, and can lead you to new stories you might never have found otherwise. If something doesn't make sense (a word, phrase or what seems to be a mis-placed action), I look into it.

A story which seems overly reactionary - a camel allows a donkey to fall to its death, for example – can come from a culture which has a harsh or reactionary past. Sometimes these places in history, you might discover as I did with this particular tale, were always being invaded. It was a dangerous region in which to live. When the donkey and camel escape from their captures (in the story I think it was a farm of sorts) they promise when they cross the hills and deserts to be quite. But the donkey is so thrilled at being free, it begins to sing. They are heard and are chased. The camel is able to flee safely however, the donkey comes to an untimely fate.

Researching some of these folk and fairy tales can be incredibly educational, and is a great way to explore the world, its cultures and histories. It can also be a black hole, but a very fun one! Doing this sort of research with your kids (or the kids of others if you are an educator or librarian) is a sneaky way to teach with the fun of stories. If you are doing this research on your own, you can add a lot to the stories you end up telling. You can give them far more depth and richness than some re-tellers of stories provide, and keep (or return) the roots solidly on the tree of story.

Anyway, back to Molly!

The book is filled with amazing illustrations by Molly Bang, who has written a book about what makes a good artist. That book is called Picture This. It is about how to ramp a story's illustrations up from sort of scary to down0right frightening! I think I might have to get that book too!
What books and stories have you found. Shoot me a message or email me and let me know.

Molly Bang, The Wolf in Disguise, Copyright Molly Bang, 1977