Franklin Theatre’s ‘The Second Story’ Reimagines Traditional Songwriter Rounds

Pictured (L-R): Ruby Amanfu, Peter Cooper, Bob DiPiero, Dennis Matkosky

A musical event at the Franklin Theatre will put a new spin on the traditional songwriter rounds popular in Nashville. New series “The Second Story”  will showcase not only songwriters’ creative works, but incorporate the works of other types of writers, including poets, authors and playwrights, into the show. The evening opens in a more traditional “songwriter round” style.

“The Second Story is a writer’s night ‘reimagined,'” says Franklin Theatre executive director Dan Hays. “We invite an author to take at least one song from the three featured songwriters that evening and to reimagine the music and words and weave the song from each of them into an entirely new short story. In short, they come up with a ‘second’ story inspired by the songs. The author then tells that story – on stage – and the selected songs are performed and woven into the presentation for the audience.”

The third presentation in this series will take place Friday, July 21, with Ruby Amanfu, Bob DiPiero, Dennis Matkosky and Peter Cooper. Cooper, who has spent time as an author, journalist, songwriter and musician throughout his career, will be the storyteller for the evening, presenting an original story inspired by songs performed by the songwriters.

“Our first two presentations of this concept have been magical evenings. The music has been stellar from the songwriters and the stories created by the authors have mesmerized audiences with wonderful tales and laughter and some wonderful unexpected twists,” says Hays.