Publisher’s note: Dispatch reader and Barn Concert Series co-founder Steve Ellis forwarded me an online post from singer-songwriter Anna La Mare. La Mare was touched by her visits to Columbus, and wrote a piece titled Ode to Columbus. This slightly abbreviated version of La Mare’s online post is reprinted here with her permission. The full version can be read on La Mare’s Substack.
All along this road, you pick up pieces of magic.
You get hints of it from those waxing poetic within the broader community of music, but this life is full of hints you acknowledge but can’t absorb without the experience.
I met Steve Ellis at Folk Alliance International. We’d connected regarding carpooling and continued to stay in touch. I happened to be driving through Columbus, MS soon afterwards, and Steve, his wife Kay, and his family went above and beyond to help me dig my feet into the town. I secured an incredible gig at the local Columbus Arts Council (my first arts center gig!). Steve walked me through the town’s weekend fair, introducing me to every table, restaurant, and bar owner; talking me up, getting everyone excited about the show. I spent time with his wonderful family, watched a Jimmy Buffet themed concert, and chatted with many wonderful local Columbians (?) Columbistas (?) Colum b’dors (?).
The Barn Concert Series is an incredible outdoor series that the Ellis family hosts in a gorgeous barn where a couple hundred local true music fans show up unfailingly to support independent musicians, performers I admire such as Ordinary Elephant, Andrew Duhon, Abby Posner, Jeff Plankenhorn, and Pat Byrne. Steve invited me play a song to help promote my gig at the Omnova Theatre, and I had a blast. They even printed my first ever “picture on a wall” to put up at The Barn. I knew then that I would continue to return to Columbus and grow my connections with the wonderful people there. I have been back again since (I even had a chance to record an episode of Porch Talk with Alan Aldridge!).
This town, Possum Town, The Friendly City, the birthplace of Tennessee Williams, with its link to blues and jazz and a wonderful literary history is calm, quaint, and doesn’t boast. It would be unfair of me to not call out all the truths that exist, including its part within the Jim Crow South – something most southern towns very unfortunately hold on their sleeve – but for now I’m focusing on the experiences I have had. One of my now traditions is going to Friendly City Books, a wonderful local bookstore where I met Rachel and the kind owners. I walk in with the firm intention of purchasing ONE local poetry book. We talk about what I like (darkness, more or less), and the ladies all excitedly fuss over their favorite writer until I sit with a pile of 10 poetry books to choose from. Themes focus on everything from local history to music, trans-conversations to women’s rights, and the LGBTQ+ experience. It’s a great problem to have, and I walk out with 3-5 of these delicious handheld worlds. Maybe it’s not as well known as Oxford’s Square Books, but it very well should be.
Magic is quiet, most of the time. A dark windy gale still counts, but no more than a kind subtle smile from a connected stranger (who I argue is no longer strange), soft changes of light, or a single falling leaf. And though I’m able to touch on these fine, perhaps seemingly trivial kindnesses I’ve experienced in this town, I cannot begin to explain the contentedness it conceives. If we all have one word that encapsulates our burdens, our antagonist, then mine is belonging. And Columbus without expectation, probing, or hesitation has invited me to belong.
I promised Steve I’d write a song about Columbus and I need to be held to it. Possum Town deserves a sweet, proud, and humble anthem. I promise I will work on it. Maybe I’ll have something by the time I return.
I’m really excited to announce I’ll be returning on Sept. 17 on tour with A Different Thread. You can RSVP online. We will be performing at Munson and Brothers from 6-8 p.m. and plan to stay an extra day, joining the good folks Thursday at Catfish Alley Studio to teach a kids workshop. Of course, we’ll be sticking around to hang out with everyone at The Barn on Thursday to support Doug Macleod and Rachel Maxann perform!
Can’t wait Columbus <3
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
