Thursday night, a mixed crowd of Lipscomb students and those from around the Nashville community got a taste of a locally-spun variety show hosted by campus’ own Dr. Lee C. Camp.
Tokens, described by Camp as a “theological variety show,” brought its newest broadcast to Alumni Auditorium, taking on a potentially uncomfortable-yet-always eye-opening subject with “The Birds and the Bees and Loving Thee”.
The new recording was a bold, high-spirited celebration one of Christianity’s most ‘hush-hush’ topics.
Unafraid to reach deep into the Bible to share some of the “post-Sunday School” offerings (i.e. Song of Solomon), Camp used the show to take an awkward subject and make it light, funny and most importantly, discussable. Not only did this episode of Tokens offer some of Nashville’s finest musicians and storytellers a platform to share their talent, but the audience was given enlightening insight into the true meaning behind a few noted passages and their true intent: to shed a light on our longing for God’s love.
Camp kicked off the show and appeared periodically as the event’s emcee. The host and his sidekick and leader of the house band (The Most Outstanding Horeb Mountain Boys) Jeff Taylor, provided snarky and well-supported banter throughout the program. Some of Camp’s ‘fact-sharing’ segments had audience members gleefully cringing. The great harmonica player Buddy Greene joined the band for the evening’s show.
Starting the night off right was the duo of Sugar + the Hi-Lows, a folk rock team. Their peppy “Two Day High” brought a finger-snapping energy into the auditorium, with the house band backing up in fine fashion. They also performed a uniquely refreshing version of The Lumineers’ hit “Ho Hey.”
Lipscomb student Lincoln Mick performed an original piece in “Blue Eyed Girl,” a cheerful ballad dedicated to his special someone (aided by fellow student Everett Davis), while violinist Grace Kimbrough stunned the audience with a stirring performance during the show’s “Grass and Class” segment. Alongside the house band’s subtle assistance and the skilled Dr. Marcia Hughes on the keys, Kimbrough received some of the loudest applause of the night for her work.
A unique addition to the evening’s lineup came with storyteller Minton Sparks. Her at times humorous, at times chilling, at times powerful yarns, supported by a soft acoustic set, went down like a glass of hot cider in January. Sparks’ gifted presentation helped offer an effective change of pace between the musical acts.
Another fun break came with the inclusion of the Tokens Radio Players. Camp, David Fleer, Merri Collins and Nashville Public Radio’s Blake Farmer performed two different sketches – one focusing on a ‘Delilah’ spoof with Farmer as the soft-voiced advice-giver, another featuring Collins as a wise church secretary dealing with a few antsy co-workers dealing with a potentially-controversial topic. Both were unapologetically humorous – at times, guffawing.
Pledging My Time, a folk trio, performed two soothing sets that left my foot tapping throughout.
Noted Christian author Karen Kingsbury also stopped by the show for a brief Q-&-A with Camp, offering her view on the evenings topic. Kingsbury also shared a few humorous tales with the crowd, showing her range as a storyteller.
At the show’s halfway point, couples who were married for twenty plus years were invited down front to participate in the ‘lovers waltz,’ a moving portion of the program that allowed for marriage vets to share in an intimate moment set to a beautiful piece played by the house band.
Odessa Settles and the Settles Connection also joined the stage in the second act, blowing away the crowd with their gripping performance.
To close out the show, Camp invited all of the acts to the stage to perform in an “all-together-now” version of the classic hymn “Love Lifted Me.”
This new edition of the Tokens show solidifies that future installments can’t be referred to by any other title than can’t-miss Nashville events. The show mixed the down-home charm and wit of A Prairie Home Companion with what I imagine a table conversation would be like between Garrison Keillor, C.S. Lewis and Bob Hope. The humor is sharp, the message is genuine and thought-provoking and the atmosphere is fireside comfy. Camp and company have put on a show that I truly hope becomes Music City’s “next big thing.”
And, as someone pointed out to me last night, I haven’t even met Brother Preacher yet. Now, that’s something that I look forward to.
All in all, Tokens is a fully vibrant, often hilarious, always insightful marvel that I don’t anticipate missing in the future.