The Second Story - A Writer's Night

Special Writers Night featuring Matraca Berg, Marshall Chapman, Emily Saliers & Minton Sparks.

The Second Story is not a musical group or the name of a new band, but the title of a special evening of songwriter performances and their words and music paired and potentially reimagined in a unique way through the words of an author, poet or playwright. Like many songwriter presentations, our “first story” will be the traditional round of performances and stories behind the songs. Our “second story” is a new concept that will interlace the talents of those songwriters with someone from a seemingly totally different realm of creativity.

On this night we’re weaving together these accomplished artists:

Matraca Berg, a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, has had songs recorded by artists such as Randy Travis, Faith Hill, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Pam Tillis, Keith Urban, Dusty Springfield, Clint Black, Loretta Lynn and dozens more. Her co-written “Strawberry Wine,” as performed by Deana Carter, was named the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year and NSAI Song of the Year in 1997. The two-time Grammy nominee has earned a dozen BMI songwriter awards.

Marshall Chapman is a singer-songwriter-author who has released thirteen critically acclaimed albums to date. Chapman’s songs have been recorded by everyone from Emmylou Harris and Joe Cocker to Irma Thomas and Jimmy Buffett. She has also found herself in numerous movie roles and is a contributing editor to Garden & Gun Magazine and Nashville Arts Magazine. She’s also written for The Oxford American, Southern Living, W, Performing Songwriter, and The Bob Edwards Show (Sirius/XM). “But music,” she says, “is my first and last love.”

Emily Saliers is one half of the duo Indigo Girls who have sold over fifteen million albums worldwide, including eight double-platinum, platinum and gold discs, as well as earning six Grammy nominations. Her first solo album is due out in 2017. "I am really excited to finally be recording a solo album,” comments Saliers. "I am kind of a groove/beat/world music/electric guitar/ukulele fanatic in an acoustic guitar singer-songwriter's body! So I have decided to shake off any reservations and make a solo record that shines a light in some of my unexplored musical corners.”

Minton Sparks is known as the wildly original spoken-word artist. Fusing music, poetry, and her intoxicating gift for storytelling, she continues to be in a category all her own. A recipient of numerous awards, Sparks travels extensively, performing at various universities, clubs, and music, poetry, and storytelling festivals to share her unique brand of performance poetry and creative writing workshops with audiences nationwide.

Sponsored by Jackson National Life