My sort of review, because I told you I'd tell you about all my artist adventures. (Originally posted to my Patreon, because they get everything 24 hours before everyone else. But all my blogging will always be free here, because good writing should be accessible to all.)
Before you read this blue collar -sort of review of a great backyard concert, this was I think the fourth or fifth time I’ve had the honor to open an event, or host one for local Toledo songwriter Ben Stalets. He has been one of my closest friends for a few years now, and I have the great fortune to often hear his song ideas come to life, as he and I often trade writing ideas, between songwriter and poet. Between storyteller and storyteller. But trust me, I won’t let that artistic brotherhood get in the way of me telling the truth of that amazing Friday night.
Ben Stalets first messaged me a few months ago, and said keep July 7th free. So I simply wrote “something with Ben Stalets” on my calendar. It would be several days later that I started getting the details. A backyard concert, much like the one he performed at last year. This year Sam, from Hello Emerson, a Columbus, OH singer/songwriter would open for him.
I got to the show 45 minutes early. It was hosted in an Old West End backyard that features the perfect stone patio stage in the back fenced-in corner, and has beautifully strung summer backyard party lights throughout the trees. The weather was perfect. 80 degrees and sun fading to 74 and warm, dark summer night. Ben informed me just before the show that it was a sellout. Well over 100 tickets bought and paid for, and that was several people bigger than the backyard concert he headlined last year.
There was a merch table in front of the garage, and the neighbor’s connecting backyard was open for a ragtag smoking section. A fantastic example of next door neighbors working together to create an amazing backyard concert experience. There were complimentary beverages available, adult and otherwise, and there was an open cooler atmosphere encouraged.
John Zenz ran the sound, and I’d met him working with Benny before. John is a pretty cool human, and a damn good sound man, one of the most underrated members of putting together a good show.
Rob Krain from Over Yonder Concert House helped organize the show, and if you’ve never attended an Over Yonder Concert, you’re missing out. They do amazing work hosting backyard concerts and local small venue shows for traveling musicians and songwriters, and he’s worked with Ben on at least one show before this one. Rob introduced everyone to the evening, laid out the itinerary, then introduced me as the opener.
I had a 15 minute time slot to read some poems and then introduce Hello Emerson from Columbus. I only needed about 10 minutes though, because I only selected three poems to read. One thing I’ve learned the hard way is get in and get out quick when you’re reading poetry with musicians. No matter if you’re in a dive bar reading with local hip hop artists, or at a big backyard concert, that crowd is there to jam to music, and if you try to read them too much poetry, you’ll lose them quick. Better to read them a few quick good poems that pack big punches, so the audience will remember you later.
Plus, being an opener is the same for poetry as any other art form. It’s my job to entertain the crowd a little, and get them ready for the music. I wanted to make everyone laugh a little, read one factory poem, because poetry is for blue collar workers, too, and I wanted to end with one good enough to get everyone’s attention just before the first music act. I think I did pretty good.
Sam of Hello Emerson took over after me, and they picked up right where I left off, just like we’d planned it, although we surely didn’t. I’d just met them a half hour before the show, but I was excited to see them perform, and they didn’t disappoint. Stories before each song. Stories that made them personal, and got you hooked before he’d strum the opening notes to another well written hymn about midwest American life.
I enjoyed Hello Emerson’s songs, and the time spent talking with them before and after, artist to artist, trading art inspiration and stories.
Sam played for about 25 minutes, and kept the crowd hooked and enjoying the ride so much that Larry Meyer, the next host, got a roar from the crowd as he asked Sam to play us one more. A kind of encore that artists only dream of.
If you don’t know Larry Meyer, a local musician and one of the biggest supporters of the local art scene that you’ll ever find, if you don’t know Larry, you’re really missing out on an interesting freaking human. Larry announced an intermission after Hello Emerson, and for as long as I live I’ll never grow tired of the magic of having two dozen people shake your hand, give you a back slap and a hug, and quote back lines of your own poetry that they loved, and buy your books and ask you to sign them. Hearing someone tell you that you made them laugh, or that you got them choked up a little emotionally, never grows old.
The intermission was short but perfect and the sun was gone as Larry introduced the headliner of the night, Mr. Ben Stalets himself. And I’m about to say some good things about my friend, Ben, and just to show you I’m maintaining my straight shooter writing style, remember that a reviewer from the Pulitzer Prize winning Toledo newspaper once called Ben “the folk hero Toledo needs right now.”
Benny took the stage and owned it for well over an hour, in the style and manner that he has crafted over a decade of playing music and writing songs. He told stories in between his songs, as he often does, in a style that reminds me of the great Texas songwriters like Townes and Waylon, but one of the things Ben does that I’ve come to respect over the years of being his friend and studying his success, is he almost never goes over the 60-90 second mark in his stories, so he never loses his audience. In fact, in his true work hard at it everyday Midwestern work ethic, I know he has carefully crafted most each story to add a little something more to each song.
Benny played all his best songs, a couple of covers, including a pretty sweet rendition of a John Mellencamp tune, and he reached deep into his ever widening arsenal of original songs, and kept us all laughing, crying, hollering and dancing late into the night.
One pretty cool moment took place when Ben shouted out a thank you to Larry, which got a big, well deserved roar from the crowd that made Larry have to clean his glasses a few times afterwards. Later I joked to Larry that he might be the only non performer I’d seen to get a standing ovation at a show.
Then Larry, and the roar of the crowd, got Ben to do an encore song, and I know that he was flying high Friday night as he carried us away with feel good Friday night smiles in our hearts.
After the show was over, and the chairs were stacked and being carried away, I told Ben that he was ready for theater shows. You know, the 500 - 1,000 seaters. He has been working on writing songs everyday for a long, long time, and he’s been playing shows in bars and small venues all over the Midwest, and he’s ready man. He’s ready to keep 1,000 people glued to their seats, tapping their feet and getting carried away by his stories and songs. And as long as I’ve known Ben Stalets, his songs and his audiences have gotten bigger and better every year, so I know he’ll be there soon. He's a testament to what can happen if you take some talent and work at it everyday of your life, day after day, year after year, and he's got an artist work ethic that I envy, and strive to match still to this day.
It was the perfect Friday night. One of those ones you think about and feel good about for a long while. For me as a poet, I was just glad to be included. Glad to get the chance to get in front of a big crowd. Opening for Ben Stalets has often led to me performing in front of some of the biggest crowds I’ve ever read for, and one thing I love about Ben Stalets’ fans is that they’re a blue collar poet’s dream crowd. Ben’s fans are tough, and cultured, and have lived around Midwestern rust for so long that they have a deep appreciation for hard working artists that don't try to bullshit them.
Go find Hello Emerson and Ben Stalets on social media, and on whichever music platform you use, and follow them. And keep your ears peeled back for any upcoming shows they've got.
Ben Stalets playing at his Backyard Blowout
A good photo of me and my buddy Ben after the big show.