Y'all.
EVERY TIME I do this, I look back and I think each individual show is the very best one. Our night with Lori McKenna was no exception. Darrin with Nelson's Green Brier was lively in his whiskey tasting presentation, Joel Meeks was our perfect bartender with so many side chops INCLUDING PLAYING THE HARMONICA, and the Italian-themed menu was stellar (especially the sauce on the PRB pork chops!). My elderflower custard didn't set, but it was great for dipping the Georgia pecan shortbread and Peach Truck peach slices, and for sipping! And though we were short a few regulars, my crew of staff and volunteers NAILED kitchen time and service.
Then there was Lori's performance...
From her first song, I was moved to tears. It seemed like I could relate to every character in her stories in some way - as a daughter, a mother, a human in the world relating to other humans having human experiences, as a hostess, and as a woman. She cracked opened our hard candy shells and made us vulnerable to our own squishy centers. My guests, my crew, and I loved every second of it.
The next Studio Mama Supper Club is October 19 and features Black Opry Revue: a roster of Black artists working in country, Americana, blues, and folk music. Country and roots music have been made and loved by Black people since their conception, and for just as long, have been overlooked and disregarded in the genre. Black Opry is changing that.
The Studio Mama Supper Club is way more than the sum of its parts. It's synchronous and magical, like the tickling wisp and delicate scent of a mimosa flower and "trying to catch the deluge in a paper cup," the both/and of Summer inside ourselves.
I love the weight this event carries for me. It seems important. There are plenty of wrinkles to iron out, but I hope you'll come along for the ride. Bring your friends.