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By Mary Kate Nolan
Hometown Weekly Intern
Don Gage shares his lengthy spoken word poem with a captivated audience. Photos by Mary Kate Nolan
Tucked away in the Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, the Appleseeds Coffeehouse slowly filled up on a Saturday night as members of the church and local performers carried in their instruments. As the open mic night commenced, the stark white function room was warmed by the strums of acoustic guitars and the honest words of poets and storytellers.
Jim Stetson, the evening’s host, began by expressing his hope that the event serve as “an opportunity to reconnect with some like-minded musicians and storytellers.” With the troubling recent developments in Guam and Charlottesville as his backdrop, he wanted the coffeehouse to be a restful and mindful place in which attendees could reflect on these events, should they choose.
This performer treats the audience to a series of swing numbers. Photos by Mary Kate Nolan
Many of the acts centered on a sense of community, which could also be felt in the audience’s reception of the performances. Stetson noted that he wrote his original piece, “Fig and Vine,” alongside his son, while another performer looked to family and friends in attendance for courage and inspiration. One first-time performer at Appleseeds even chose to play the Carter Family’s “Hello Stranger” as a way of thanking the audience for welcoming her, a stranger, into their community.
This storyteller takes her audience back to her experience of the 2008 presidential election. Photos by Mary Kate Nolan
The audience could not get enough of it. A look around the room at any point during the evening would find many eyes shut, concentrating on the musings of a spoken word poet, or willing mouths forming the words of a chorus they were invited to join in on. A performer playing swing music on his guitar looked up to find the tapping of his own foot echoed in the feet of his audience. Heads nodded with understanding of a storyteller’s struggles during the election of 2008 and bodies swayed to the rhythm of a Native American flute reminiscent of a tribal serenade.
Each performance ended with the resounding applause of an audience grateful for the performers’ willingness to share a piece of themselves in this intimate setting. Don Gage, a spoken word poet, said, “There is something about sharing your thoughts that broadens you … you are reaching out and touching other people’s lives.”
This guitarist invites the audience to sing along. Photos by Mary Kate Nolan
Last year after Stetson and his wife, Linda, joined the church, the two resurrected Appleseeds, which, according to Stetson, had been “dormant” for some time. They now host four to five events per year, the proceeds from which go to support the church, especially its music program. Stetson says that past events have featured lots of bluegrass and political commentary, USO songs, and even 15 violin players onstage at one time.
The coffeehouse provides a platform from which to speak about social injustices and personal struggles. Attendees have an opportunity to open themselves up to what others have to give and to nurture the seeds of creativity within one another. It is in doing so that the seeds will become fruit for the community, just like the apples which sit on the tables of the Appleseeds Coffeehouse.
