Sunday, August 01, 2010

Stories From a Delta Bridal Room: southern songwriting and Eudora Welty

 

Desk at the Welty House The "bridal room" at Savannah's historic Trinity Methodist Church offers a glimpse into the clichéd world of the Southern belle. Overstuffed sofas, heavy drapery, straight-backed chairs, and an ornate full-length mirror with golden trim dominate the main room, while shelves loaded with hairspray, lotions, gels, pins, nets, and formulas used to tame the wild manes of brides and debutantes clutter two adjoining rooms. This old-world spell was shattered when three of folk music's most well-regarded steel magnolias breezed into the stuffy room oozing confidence, quiet determination, and good humor. In this literary atmosphere, songwriters Caroline Herring, Claire Holley, and Kate Campbell sat down with Georgianne Nienaber to talk about the writer's life, their musical tribute to the author and photographer Eudora Welty and tell Stories From a Delta Bridal Room.