‘Oxford Unchained’ Jan. 15 at Powerhouse

Raconteurs ramble into town with unscripted tales

By Tad Wilkes, Nightlife & Lifestyles Editor

tad.wilkes@hottytoddy.com

The Unchained Tour—an 11-show, nine-bus journey of storytelling and music—pulls into the Powerhouse Community Arts Center this Wednesday, January 15, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available here.

The tour’s mission statement is as follows:

“Unchained believes that the art of the raconteur—the telling of unscripted, personal, porch-style stories—is one of the great arts, and that nights of storytelling are vital to any vibrant and healthy community. Our mission is to bring brilliant raconteurs, along with musicians and writers and other artists, to towns large and small across the South—and eventually across the continent. We’ll champion the local and home-grown: independent bookstores, community gardens, performing cafes. We’ll advocate getting offline and off the grid, and wherever we go we’ll celebrate the pleasure and inspiration of raconteuring.”

Confirmed storytellers will include Annie Duke, a poker champion and the author of Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker, among other books; Tim Manley, a writer of fiction, drawer of comics, and a mentor with PEN American’s Writers In Prison Program; Michaela Blei, a storyteller, writer, educator, and PhD candidate who coaches storytelling in the NYCarea; Peter Aguero, a multi-talented artist currently hosting The Moth and leading NYC’s improvised storytelling rock band, The BTK Band. Christopher Paul Stelling is the musician for the tour. Stelling, a Brooklyn-based songwriter, has released Songs of Praise and Scorn to excellent reviews and has another album False Cities slated for a fall 2013 release.

The Powerhouse Community Arts Center is at 413 South 14th Street.