The Unchained Tour of Georgia
www.theunchainedtour.org

‘Unchained Tour’ to Barnstorm Georgia for Indie Bookstores

Savannah, Ga. (Sept., 2010) Five Moth raconteurs, a couple of musicians and a juggler are preparing to board an old Blue Bird school bus for a barnstorming “Unchained Tour” of 13 Georgia towns in support of independent bookstores. The tour is set to begin Oct. 11 in St. Simons Island, Ga.

The Unchained Tour is the brainchild of novelist George Dawes Green. In 1997, Mr. Green founded the Moth, a series of storytelling nights in New York City. The Moth has featured such celebrated raconteurs as Salman Rushdie, Garrison Keillor, Malcolm Gladwell and Sam Shepherd. There are now regular Moths in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston, with plans to expand to four new cities this year, including Berlin, Germany, and Savannah. The new “Moth on the Radio” program on NPR reaches more than 200 radio stations, and is one of the most successful new programs in thirty years.

“We’re embarking on our tour,” Green commented, “to spread the message that indie bookstores should be the vital center of communities. Nights of storytelling and music, of book groups and talent shows, are at the heart of any living town. It’s time to break the chains of the Internet, and of addictive shallow surfing, and get back to books and deep reading and sharing evenings with living breathing people.”

The 1975 Blue Bird school bus is now in Savannah, being painted and refurbished by more than 30 artists, carpenters and mechanics. Following the opening tour date in St. Simons Island, the tour travels to the Georgia communities of Statesboro, Thomasville, Newnan, Macon, Zebulon, Gainesville, Athens, Washington, Savannah, Augusta, Canton and ending the tour with two nights of shows, October 28th and 29th, in Atlanta. The tour schedule is available online at

http://theunchainedtour.org/events‐calendar/.

For more information about the not‐for‐profit Unchained Tour or to purchase tickets or merchandise or make a donation, visit http://theunchainedtour.org/ or e‐mail francis@unchainedtour.org.

About Us:
George Dawes Green, Founder
Founder of the Moth and acclaimed author of The Caveman’s Valentine, The Juror, and Ravens.  He is currently working on his fourth novel.

Lisa Parker Fort, Co‐Founder and Creative Director, an Organizational Consultant who has worked as the Volunteer Coordinator and Event Director for The Savannah Book Festival, Location Consultant for Kingsgate Films, Program Development for the Family Enrichment Program and Speaker Coordinator and Program Chairman for the Episcopal Church Women of Saint John’s Church.

Francis Allen, Executive Director and Daddy Rabbit, Former President and CEO of Syntheny, Ltd. Currently active in community gardening, serving on Board of Directors of Savannah Urban Garden Alliance and Co‐Founder/Garden Manager of Starfish Community Garden. If you can read and don’t, do not for a minute consider yourself
superior to someone who wants to read and can’t. – Francis Allen

Chad Faries, Vice‐President:  Chad Faries was raised mostly in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but lived in 24 houses by the time he was 10 years old. These experiences are chronicled in his forthcoming memoir, And Then We Moved (Emergency Press February, 2011) . His poetry collection, The Border Will Be Soon, was the winner of the Emergency Press open book competition in 2005. The Book of Knowledge, a poetry collection whose design and contents were inspired by a 1911 children’s encyclopedia, was just published by Vulgar Marsala Press. He has published poems, essays, photographs, interviews, and creative non‐fiction in Exquisite Corpse, Southeast Review, New American Writing, Barrow Street, The Hawaii Review, Afterimage, Post Road, and others. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee and was a Fulbright Fellow in Budapest. He has lived extensively and taught in Central Europe. Currently he is an Asst. Professor at Savannah State University where he also hosts a theme based storytelling and music program on WHCJ 90.3 . He now owns a house in Thunderbolt, GA but lives abroad and
gets lost on his motorcycle whenever he can. More info can be found at www.chadfaries.com.

Ariel Janzen, Secretary:  Ariel holds a masters degree from the Savannah College of Art & Design and has over 12 years
of web, print and identity design experience, having worked as an art director in Toronto before relocating to Savannah in 2001. In 2004 she founded the graphic design firm brightwhitespace, which has re‐branded dozens of organizations including the City of Savannah, designed and helped publish dozens of books, and launched countless websites. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in literature, loves typography and kerns letters in her spare time. www.brightwhitespace.com

Samita Wolfe, Producer:  Samita Wolfe is currently a senior in the environmental science program with Savannah State
University. She spent five years in the military where she learned how to “take care of business.” She drives a pick‐up truck, raises chickens and co‐owns an online vintage store. She spends her spare time studying organic chemistry and listening to NPR, now that’s taking care of business!
Performers:
Tina McElroy Ansa, Storyteller
Tina McElroy Ansa is a novelist, publisher, filmmaker, teacher and journalist. But above all, she is a storyteller. She calls herself, “part of a long and honored writing tradition, one of those little Southern girls who always knew she wanted to be a writer.” She grew up in Middle Georgia in the 1950s hearing her grandfather’s stories on the porch of her family home and strangers’ stories downtown in her father’s juke joint, which have inspired Mulberry, Georgia, the
mythical world of her five novels, “Baby of the Family” (Mariner, 1991), “Ugly Ways” (Mariner, 1995), “The Hand I Fan With” (Anchor, 1997), “You Know Better” (Harper, 2003), and “Taking After Mudear” (DownSouth Press, 2008).

Cary Ann Hearst & Michael Trent, Musicians
Cary Ann Hearst has a snappy turn of phrase, a simple sense of melody and primeval sense of guitar rhythm that is a direct result of her Nashville upbringing and she shouldn’t be missed.  Her song, Hells Bells, ended Episode 6 of this season’s True Blood series on HBO. Michael Trent has a knack for amazing melodies. Check out his new album The Winner. The duo has recorded an album, Shovel & Rope, that is getting much praise. They play a unique blend of country and back‐woodsy blues. The duo’s artistic chemistry is startling and the soulful duo shouldn’t be missed.

Dan Kennedy, Storyteller
Dan Kennedy is a writer and comedy/story telling performer living in New York City and the author of the national best seller “Rock On” (Algonquin, 2008), which the London Times named a Book of The Year, and the widely‐acclaimed debut “Loser Goes First” (Crown, 2004). He’s a longstanding contributor at McSweeney’s dot net, and a regular host of The Moth’s StorySLAM events in New York as well as The Moth podcast.

Edgar Oliver, Storyteller
Edgar Oliver is an American stage and film actor, poet, performance artist and playwright. Born in Savannah, Georgia, he has lived and worked in New York City since 1977. He is considered “a legend” of the downtown New York theatre scene. He started performing in New York at the Pyramid in the mid‐1980′s alongside artists including Hapi Phace, Kembra Pfahler, Samoa and playwright Kestutis Nakas. His published works include A Portrait of New York by a Wanderer There and summer and The Man Who Loved Plants.

Juliet Hope Wayne, Storyteller
Juliet Hope Wayne was named “Best Storyteller in Philadelphia” and was the first female to win the Grandslam at The Moth in New York City. She received her BA in Animation with a minor in Textile Design and has since worked for The Fabric Workshop Museum and The Cartoon Network. She’s currently working on a “Little Golden Book”‐type project for grown‐ups which will feature her stories illustrated and accompanied by a DVD of animated and live versions.

Katy Rose Cox, Fiddler
Originally from Austin, Texas, Katy Rose Cox has been referred to as virtuosic. She is accomplished in classical, pop, and bluegrass styles, and has performed in venues all over the US, from punk clubs like CBGB’S to classical performance spaces like Carnegie Hall.

Wanda Bullard, Storyteller
Wanda Bullard grew up in Boonville Mississippi, but has been living on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia for the past 15 years. A teacher for 40 years, she currently works with emotionally disturbed and behaviorally disordered 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in Brunswick, Georgia.  The initial inspiration for The Moth came from nights of storytelling on Wanda’s porch.

Tour Destinations – Venue – Date – Time of Event
Week One:
Brunswick/St. Simons Island – Palm Coast Coffee – 10/11/2010 – 7:30pm
Statesboro – The Emma Kelly Theatre – Averitt Center for the Arts – 10/12/2010 – 7:30pm
Thomasville – The Bookshelf & Gallery – 10/13/2010 – 7:30pm
Newnan – Newnan Carnegie Library – 10/14/2010 – 7:30pm
Macon – Cox Capital Theatre – 10/15/2010 – 8:00pm
Zebulon – A Novel Experience – 10/16/2010 – 8:00pm
Week Two:
Gainesville – Outdoor Amphitheatre, NE Georgia History Center – 10/19/2010 – 7:30pm
Athens – Seney-Stovall Chapel – 10/20/2010 – 7:30pm
Washington – Retro Cinema & Books – 10/21/2010 – 7:30pm
Savannah – Venue TBA – 10/22/2010 – 8:00pm
Savannah – SCAD River House – 10/23/2010 – 8:00pm
Week Three:
Augusta – Le Chat Noir – 10/26/2010 – 7:30pm
Canton – Historic Canton Theatre – 10/27/2010 – 7:30pm
Atlanta – Manuel’s Tavern – 10/28/2010 – 8:00pm
The Unchained Tour of Georgia
www.theunchainedtour.org Page 8
Atlanta – Manuel’s Tavern – 10/29/2010 – 8:00pm
In the Media:
The Tale of a Yarn Spinner
By Melik Kaylan, The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124043978013345219.htm

George Dawes Green talks about The Moth, where storytellers take flight
By Ben Machell

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/nonfiction/

article6741878.ece
LIVING
The Moth Mainstage … That’s the truth, really
By Marylynne Pitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10237/1082370-51.stm#ixzz0ytmUR1OS

Unchained Tour of Georgia (ft. storytellers) coming
soon!
The Unchained Tour of Georgia
www.theunchainedtour.org Page 9
By Janet Geddis, Beyond the Trestle

http://www.beyondthetrestle.com/features/unchained‐tour‐georgia‐ftstorytellers‐

coming‐soon
The George Dawes Green Interview: A Storyteller’s Storyteller…
By James Calemine, Swampland.com

http://swampland.com/articles/view/title:the_george_dawes_green_interview_a_storytell

ers_storyteller
Contact Information:
The Unchained Tour
208 East 44th Street
Savannah, Georgia 31405
www.theunchainedtour.org
facebook: The Unchained Tour
For Additional Media Kit Information:
Francis Allen
Cell: 704.533.2517
francis@theunchainedtour.org