I just got great news from the Folklife festival. Seven of the eight tellers booked to perform at their storyslam are from FGS! Some of the best tellers in the PNW come through our doors, and I’m always happy to see them shining on different stages in front of bigger audiences. I’ll send out a link for tickets when I get that info.

Folklife
Friday, May 22^nd – 6pm-8pm  –  StorySlam in Center Theater
Theme: Ubuntu/Belonging
Paul Barach
Jeff Birsall
Robert McPhail
Saloni Singh
Tracey Croisier
Mike Lockhart
Tom Rawson
Joanna Demarest
MC – Paul Currington

Our next show is coming up this Thursday. I hope a bunch of you bring stories to share. The theme is, “Better late than never.” 

https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories/events/313577252

Earlier today, I drove up to Tacoma to have coffee with a friend and regular teller at our show. I told her I had a story that would fit perfectly with this month’s theme, but couldn’t get a handle on what it was about. It’s close to being done, but there’s something about this story that I can’t get a handle on. We weren’t able to figure that out over coffee, but she asked some good questions, and I think I’m on the right track now. 

Never waste an opportunity to try out a story on a friend. Stories aren’t stories until they’re told, and it’s in the telling that we find ways to make them better. With a little luck and a lot of work, I’ll have this new story ready for the April show.

In the meantime, here’s a story I love from the Seattle Moth. When I saw it a few years ago, I asked the woman to tell it at our show. She did, and I loved it even more when I heard it live. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing it one more time with us.

See you Thursday! Write me directly if you want help on a story.

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

One of our regular tellers just confirmed that she’s holding a five-session, in-person storytelling workshop at Hugo House. Joanna Demarest has been telling stories and holding workshops for over 30 years, so she has a lot of experience to pull from. 

She’s also the Northwest Folklife Festival’s Storytelling Community Coordinator and was 100% responsible for getting them to do a personal storytelling show this year where you’re going to see some familiar faces performing.

So if you want to learn from one of the most experienced storytellers in the PNW, get yourself to the registration page!

The Art of Oral Storytelling Workshop at Hugo House at 1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122.  Only 20 spots are available.

The Art of Oral Storytelling

Day of Week: Thursdays

Start Date: 5/7/2026

End Date: 6/4/2026  

Time: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Pacific Time 

Number of Sessions: 5

Format: In Person 

The next FGS show is March 19. The theme is “Better late than never.”

Hope to see you there 🙂

Paul

Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

I’m embarrassed to say that this month’s theme is a little ironic since it took me so long to get it out. But a little late is better than a lotta late, so I take comfort in that.

Now that I’ve shared my better-late-than-never story, it’s time for you to start working on yours. Have you ever worked at something, given up on getting it, and then gotten it unexpectedly years later? Did your dad wait until you were 50 to say he was proud of you? Did you apologize to someone 20 years after you should have? Did you work the clubs as a musician for a decade until you got a sweet job at Microsoft writing notification sounds? 

Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it. Remember that a story isn’t just a series of things that happened. There needs to be something at stake that you overcome by the end. 

Practice the story out loud to as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.

All stories have to be under eight minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but no longer than eight minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.

FGS themes are just suggestions, so you can come out and tell a story about anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback on your story. 

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Email me, and we can set up a phone call.

See you Thursday, March 19, at 7 pm on the top floor of the Seattle Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Paul
Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

What a show we had last Thursday! It was a magical night all around. Thanks to everyone who told a story and all the people who cheered them on. I hope you can make it to our next show on March 19. The theme is “Better late than never.” I’ll get the meetup invite out in a couple of days.

In the meantime, I’d love to give away two more Swedish Club memberships to Mae and Kate, the last two names in the Folger’s can. Mae and Kate, if you’re reading this, write me directly at freshgroundstories@gmail.com so I can get your applications in.

If I don’t hear from M and K in a few days, I’ll put out a call for anyone else who would like a membership to the club with the best view in Seattle 🙂

See you next month!

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

I’ve been having a great weekend since I saw one of our FGS tellers on The Moth video channel. Some of the best tellers in the PNW come through FGS, and I’m always happy to see them get a wider audience. 

The last time I saw Harjas was when he flew back from NYC to be in a grand slam in Seattle a couple years ago. I’m thrilled he’s still going into the city to get onstage at The Moth. Congratulations Harjas!!

I hope a bunch of you are bringing stories to our show this coming Thursday. This month’s theme is “Doing the right thing (or not).”

https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories/events/312967731

Themes are just suggestions, so you can tell a story on any theme as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines. 

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Write me at freshgroundstories@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like help on a story. See you Thursday!

Paul