One of my favorite contemporary writers is a southerner named Sean Dietrich. He also uses the moniker Sean of the South for his blog and a one man show he performs all over the United States. He uses music and humor to make folks feel good.
But he’s more than a southerner and more than a writer or a musician. He’s a storyteller whose message and everyman themes stretch across geography, generations, denominations and all the other imaginary lines we humans like to draw around ourselves.
My gateway into his work was this video where he talks about a kind librarian and the difference she made in his life. Go watch it and come back. I’ll wait. It is lovely, heartfelt and worth your time.
Because of this video I discovered his daily essays and podcasts before finally reading one of his books and then another and another. I have not read everything he’s written but I’m working on it because his writing inevitably makes me feel better about the world.
Searn writes about people who are kind or who are doing something good in this world. He writes about his dog Thelma Lou and about how church ladies run the show. He writes about his own origin story which he justifiably still wrestles to understand.
He writes stories that prove there are still good people in this world. What he doesn’t write about is politics, religion or anything else that might divide us. His writing is a study in seeking out the good, looking out for one another, and in creating the family you need or, maybe, that needs us.
He’s a modern day Mark Twain and is said to be the south’s answer to Garrison Keillor. He’s a man of profound words and many talents with a sense of humor that ranges from smartly witty to canned corn. And for someone who regularly stands in the circle of a spotlight, he seems a humble man too.
My fella and I built a long weekend of books and fun around seeing the Sean of the South stage show in Cincinnati earlier this month. I’m a fan of the advice to never meet your heroes because too often we find that talented humans are still just human. They’re never as good as we hope.
I’m thrilled to say that Sean Dietrich was exactly what I thought he would be and more.
Sean performed in Ohio for the first time as what must have been a sold out audience welcomed him to the 20th Century Theater. His wife Jaime meets and greets folks at the merchandise table where you can buy books, shirts, and music cds.
His stage show is a fun medley of storytelling and music. He tells jokes and funny stories using music sometimes as vehicles for the stories and sometimes like props. It’s a high energy show with few lulls and no time to get bored. Sure, there were some men in the audience who clearly were there because their wives demanded it but the rest of us were thrilled to spend a couple of hours with his wit and melodies.
When it was over, Sean Dietrich stood by the front door and greeted every person in line. He signed books, hugged people, posed for pictures and talked with folks. We had second row seats so we were near the end of the line and waited about an hour to have our turn. Friends, there are few people on this planet I would stand in that kind of line to meet but I was so grateful for the opportunity. We accepted hugs even though I’m not a hugger but it’s sort of a when in Rome moment. He signed my books. Best of all, he answered my question about writing in a way that was so gracious and kind I was actually surprised at how much thought he put into it.
I thanked him for his daily essays, a bright spot on social media which feels more like a cesspool sometimes than a place to find inspiration and light. I told him to be careful going home and he told us to watch out for deer. We rural folks like to remind everyone of the ever lurking dangers of deer in the road.
It was like chatting with an old friend.
In fact, everything he puts out in the world feels like a chat with an old friend and that’s something we badly need these days. We need someone in our life who will remind us there’s still good in this world despite what the algorithm shows us. We need talent and creativity and someone to inspire us to be kind to a stranger, to share a funny story or to flex our creative muscle even if it’s just for ourselves.
By the way, his father committed suicide when he was only eleven years old. While this horrific event helped to shape him into the person he is today, it didn’t break him and I don’t believe it defines him either. If a child can survive something so terrible, it seems like the rest of us will be ok too.
Read his books. Follow him on Facebook for daily essays. Listen to the podcast. Go see the show. You won’t be disappointed. Get started at his website.
The last live performance I attended was to see comedian Preacher Lawson at Ohio University on February 7.
The impact this pandemic has had on performers and venues is devastating. Personally, I look forward to the day I can sit in an auditorium or wander through a music festival again and can only hope that these places are still operational when it’s safe to do so again.
Walking down the street in Piqua, Ohio, I stumbled onto an old Episcopal Church made of stone and adorned with gorgeous stained glass. A pickup truck out front served as work space for two locals who had removed the church’s antique front doors for repair.
Normally I would say that churches are best enjoyed in solitude but having this space filled with extraordinary music made the experience so very special.
It was a good reminder to not judge a person or place, especially when you don’t know the entire story. The woman I spoke with said that she sees him around town but was amazed when he showed up one day and began playing song after song.
If you ever find yourself in Nashville and looking for something to do, take the tour of Studio B that is offered by the Country Music Hall Of Fame.
Music is one of the best things this life offers. Today I mostly listen to records and play around on the internet looking for old tunes time has forgotten.