Join local narrative artists Tom Jeffords and Andy Collins as they present original stories and poetic musings never before seen or heard by the public. They are happy to share the stage with a couple of other storytellers: global sound artist Langston Kelly and writer/poet/creative facilitator Erin Hallagan Clare. Come, sit, let us entertain you on a Friday evening with a good time, humor, and maybe some hope. Some decisions are hard. This one is easy!
-
Tom Jeffords started his journey toward this moment in 1990 when he was cast in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” performed in a cafetorium at Patch American High School in Stuttgart, Germany. He has definitely looked back since.
Primarily a writer of memoir and personal narrative, Tom mines his past as an Army brat and sometimes inadvertent world traveler working in live theater to weave together tales confirming that small beauties, precious routines, and longing for connection all happen backstage at Wicked and in young families moving from Texas to Germany, too, not just in Grover’s Corners.
Tom currently lives in Asheville, doing business as a psychotherapist under the name Liminal Space, and has recently, proudly, completed Story Parlor’s Inward & Artward Creativity Facilitation training.
-
Andy Collins has been a writer since he wrote a hard-boiled detective story for a class project in the fourth grade. Since then he’s tried his hand at poetry, short fiction, essays, educational curricula and, as an office worker for the last 26 years, approximately seven million emails.
A little over a decade ago he discovered the pleasure of publicly reading his work, and, when he found Story Parlor’s Open Mic in 2024, his current medium of poetic monologue was born.
-
LKHD is a sonic adventurer and a true citizen of the glob. His stage is the culmination of a lifelong expedition from the gritty innovation of the UK and USA into the ancient harmonies of Algeria over the soulful rhythms of South Africa and through the poetic folk traditions of Ireland. He hasn’t just visited these places, but absorbed their culture creating the context for a worldwide artistry. Adding to this innate of many musical dialects, LKHD is the quintessential architect of global sound.
“Forget world music. This is worlds’ music.”
This deep, authentic immersion is why he defies categorization. He doesn’t switch between roles; he synthesizes them:
-The storyteller’s poetry forged in the mountains of Wales and on the streets of Cork.
-The instrumentalist’s skill, sharpened by New York jazz and European symphonies.
-The singer’s voice, riveting as the bardic traditions and smooth as American soul.
The DJ’s instinct, weaving collected sounds into a unified, modern tapestry.
On stage, these converge in a breathtaking act of live creation. The architect LKHD builds tracks in real-time from the raw materials of his travels.
The hypnotic pluck of an ancient Greek lyre becomes a deep house melody. A vocal drone from the Sarah transforms into a trip-hop bass line. A balophone rhythm is translated onto the guitar which strums its way into a new rock anthem.
He gives you the world remixed and returned, but with its ancient soul perfectly intact.
-
Erin Hallagan Clare is the founder of Story Parlor, a narrative arts listening room and experiential learning space, as well as co-owner of the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, both based in Asheville, NC. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Creativity at Rowan University where her dissertation is focused on the ontology of story and creativity.
With a Masters in Creative Psychology—plus certifications in creativity coaching, applied mythology, the narrative psychology of fairy tales, and the Enneagram—Erin is passionate about helping others explore the intersection between creativity and story.
A writer, storyteller, Moth Story Slam champion, and Emmy-winning producer, she teaches regularly at both Story Parlor and UNCA’s Great Smokies Writing Program, and leads a bi-annual Creative Facilitator Training Program.
Her writing can be found in Psychology Today, The Cleveland Review, and others, and she is a contributing author to The Coach’s Guide to Completing Creative Work published by Routledge. Erin has spent her career developing the “Inward & Artward Model of Creativity,” and recently launched an online school dedicated to this methodology.