News

Hi Everyone,

Just a brief update. Last Sunday’s performance at CSLN went quite well. I guess that was to be expected, with such a great band backing me, and with the addition of Frank Wood, Pam Atha, and Tom Huebner on backing vocals. I was quite pleased, and when I watched the video stream the next day, I still felt good about it. If you would like to see it, you can go to CSLN.TV, our YouTube station.

Meanwhile, a reminder that this Friday, May 6th we will be resuming the CSLN Writers Night, after a several month hiatus. There will be an Open Mic from 6:30 – 7:30–sign up at 6:30, 12 slots open. Then from 7:30 to 8 P.M. we will have two Spotlight Performers doing 15 minutes each. Denny Martin is a well know songwriter and producer here in Nashville, who has performed at the Bluebird Cafe, The Listening Room and other notable venues around town. The other Spotlight will be Sam Gyllenhaal, who often works with Denny.

At 8 p.m. we will have our Featured Performer Susan Shann, who will do a full set. Sue is a prolific songwriter with a beautiful voice, an environmental activist, and has been a speaker at our Sunday Services a number of times. She plans on sharing some new material with us.

This will be a potluck event, as always, so please bring food or drink to share. A $5.00 love offering to the Center will also be appreciated.

Next month, I will be our Featured Performer–More on that in my next newsletter.

Looks like spring is finally here to stay. Enjoy.

Gordon

ELLISVILLE NEWS UPDATE 4/18/22: CSLN Writers Night Resuming; Guest Performer At April 24th Sunday Service; Featured Performer in June

Hi Everyone,

Well spring is definitely here in Ellisville. How can you tell? When you get 80 degrees, severe thunderstorms, then temps near freezing and sleet and snow showers within a 48 hour period, yes, it’s probably spring. And of course, the leaves are back on the trees, and everyone’s sneezing.

---

I guess I’ll start off with a bit of self-promo. Next Sunday, April 24th, I will be the Guest Performer at CSLN’s Sunday Service. I will be doing four original songs, backed by their wonderful band under the direction of Larry Faragalli, and am planning to have three backup singers as well. The service starts at 11 a.m. (Central time), and if you are out of town and want to see it, you can go to CSLN.TV (Our YouTube channel) where it will be streamed live or can be seen later.

---

Meanwhile, the CSLN Writers Night (Formerly the Coffeehouse) will be resuming on Friday, May 6th. There will be an Open Mic from 6:30 – 7:30 (Sign up starts shortly before 6:30 with space for up to 12 performers).

From 7:30 – 8 P.M. we will have two Spotlight Performers doing 3 songs each. I don’t have their promo yet, but Denny Martin is a well known performer and songwriter in town, with a number of songs cut by known artists. He will be bringing the second Spotlight Performer, Corrine Cook.

Then around 8 P.M., we will have our Featured Performer, Susan Shann. Susan is a wonderful performing songwriter with a beautiful voice and several CDs to her credit, and has been the Guest Performer at our Sunday Services several times, as well as one of our Guest Speakers.

There is a $5.00 suggested Love Offering, and this is a potluck, so please bring something to eat or drink–we will only have what people bring.

And speaking of Featured Performers, I am honored to have been chosen for that spot on Friday, June 3rd. More on that in next month’s newsletter.

Well, that seems to be all for this edition. Y’all take some allergy meds and enjoy the warm weather.

Gordon

Hi Everyone,

It has been a while since my last update. Frankly, I haven’t had a lot to share since my CD Release Celebration in November, which was a very gratifying experience. Definitely a highlight of 2021. The video turned out great too, and can now be viewed on this site, by going to “Media” and clicking “Videos.” Note: The performance doesn’t actually start until 5 minutes into the video.

As a result of that performance, the Jabberwackers blues and jazz band asked my trio (The nucleus of the large ensemble I performed with at the Release Party) to perform between their sets at Brown’s Diner, just before Thanksgiving, and that went well too–thanks, to all who came out. I feel fortunate that those two gigs fell in the lull between COVID surges, but then things spiked again, and we decided to wait until things settle down before booking more gigs. Now that cases are dropping, I hope to start lining up some more performances–stay tuned. My nursing home gigs were also largely cancelled, but are slowly picking up.

—————————————–

So, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on, but I did want to mention a few things, while also simply wanting to stay in touch. On Sunday, March 13th, from 6 – 10 p.m., there will be a big benefit for Miranda Sullivan at the Commodore Lounge, hosted by Debi Champion, and I will be performing a song or two around 6:30 that night. There will be many songwriters on the bill–some of them hit writers, and others probably only a step away from having a hit. This event was originally scheduled for January, but got snowed out. Hopefully, good weather will prevail this time. Please come out.

Miranda was in a head on collision shortly before Thanksgiving, spent a month at Vanderbilt Hospital, and has been slowly getting her strength and her life back, but with no income and bills piling up, she needs help. Donations will be gratefully accepted, and I believe there will be a silent auction, so if you have something to sell that will help the cause, please bring it. For anyone not familiar with the Commodore Lounge, it is in the Holiday Inn on West End Ave. at 28th Ave. South.

———————————————

---

Congratulations to Holly Butler on the release of her debut novel, “Me, Myself, and Marilyn.” This engaging story about Kelly Jean Cavanaugh–a struggling Hollywood actress and budding songwriter–seemed at first to simply be a kind of romance novel, but it is really about a woman not only struggling with her acting career and her love life, but most of all with her own self esteem. She starts getting visited by the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, who she has been impersonating at conventions and private parties to make ends meet. Marilyn’s advice is often sound, but not always welcome. Written in first person, the story, the places Kelly visits, the conflicted feelings about her affairs, and even the juicy love scenes are all very believable. Is there any hope for Kelly? I suggest you get the book and find out. I really enjoyed it.

———————————————

BTW, if you have a copy of my “Messages” CD and have liked it, I would love it if you would post a review on Amazon. I heard that if you get 25 reviews, it gets more promotion, though I don’t know exactly how that works. Hey, good promotion never hurts.

———————————————

Well, that’s all for this edition. Spring is just around the corner, so let’s enjoy. Be well, stay safe.

Gordon

Hi Everyone,

I just got word that the CSLN Writers Night on Jan. 7th has been cancelled due to COVID concerns. In fact, CSLN has just gone back to requiring masks during services. We don’t know when this event will resume, as there is no way to know how long these restrictions will have to be in place. I’ll let you know if/when we will start up again.

Stay safe,

Gordon

Hi Everyone,

I hope you have had a nice holiday season, and I hope you are all staying safe with the new rise in COVID.

I will try to keep this brief, in case you are busy with end of year stuff to do.

The next CSLN Writers’ Night will be next Friday, Jan. 7th . The Open Mic will be from 6:30 – 7:30 with 10 spots open, and possibly a couple more if we are running ahead of schedule. At 7:30 and 8 p.m. we will have Spotlight Performers Bob Houston and Bruce Jon Brigham. Not sure who will be on first, and so far, I don’t have any promo info from either of them.

At 8:30 Lisa Aschmann will be our Featured Performer, doing 45 minutes to an hour set. Lisa’s bio could fill a book–suffice it to say that she has had 100s of songs cut and numerous songs placed in movies and TV shows over the years.

If you’ve never been there before CSLN is at 6705 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, 37209. As usual, potluck snacks and drinks encouraged, as well as a $5.00 Love offering to the Center. Remember, this is a potluck–we will only have what people bring.

To be honest, after not having the writers’ night for 4 months, we expected a really good turnout in November, but our turnout was disappointing. We know people have lots of things to do and lots of choices, and COVID may still be keeping some people away, but a fair amount of work goes into each event, so after talking with AJ (Our leader–I’m only the MC and part of the team), if the interest doesn’t seem to be there, we may decide to stop doing it. It only makes sense to continue, if people want this.

---

Another noteworthy event is the Benefit for Miranda Sullivan on Thursday, Jan. 6th, going from 6 p.m. to whenever. Debi Champion has devoted this writers night to help raise money for Miranda, who was in a head on collision in November and spent a month in the hospital. There are many bills related to her care, and many others that would otherwise have been paid, but can’t be because Miranda cannot work yet.

There will be numerous writers rounds throughout the evening, with many writers doing a song or two (Including me around 6:30). Some of the writers have had cuts with major artists, and some are simply great writers who are friends of Miranda’s. There will be a silent auction and (I’m sure) opportunities for monetary donations. It will be at the Commodore Lounge in the Holiday Inn, 2613 West End Ave.

——————————————

Each year, between Christmas and New Years Eve, I do a review of the year (Kind of like the news programs recapping the year, except it is a review of my year). I simply scan the year to see what stands out each month). Three of the things that stood out for me this year were the release of my “Messages” CD in February (And yes, you can purchase it from the Music page on this site); A nice visit from my brother at the end of August; and a great (Though Covid-delayed) CD Release Celebration of “Messages”in November (You can see the video by going to the Media page and clicking on videos).

There were also writers gig cancellations due to COVID, and a loss of income performing at nursing homes. Most years are a mix of positive and negative, but usually there is more positive than I may have realized, when I review the year and put it into perspective.

I hope that whether it has been a good, or not so good year for you, that 2022 will be better.

Happy New Year!

Gordon