Nashville, TN – One of the best kept secrets in Nashville is this Sunday, November 20th, at the Ryman Auditorium. “Tokens, The Welcome Table” returns to the historic Ryman with an all star line-up of music, comedy, performance and theology.
Tokens is part great music, part theology lecture, part cultural analysis, and part good conversation. The name Tokens is from activist and writer and lay-theologian William Stringfellow “Discerning signs has to do with comprehending the remarkable in common happenings, with perceiving the saga of salvation within the era of the Fall. It has to do with the ability to interpret ordinary events in both apocalyptic and eschatological connotations, to see portents of death where others find progress or success but, simultaneously, to behold tokens of the reality of the Resurrection or hope where others are consigned to confusion or despair.”
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Tokens is a delight better experienced than described. Fans of the show appreciate the amazing music, engaging discussion, hilarious comedy, all in a “Prairie Home Companion” presentation, and leave each show feeling enlightened and entertained, and not “preached” to. Tokens is enjoyed by all ages, in a historic setting, and is well worth the price of admission.
The brainchild of Lee Camp, Professor of Theology and Ethics at Lipscomb University. Lee and his wife Laura went to Garrison Keillor’s show at the Ryman on New Year’s Eve 2006 and the idea of Tokens would not leave him alone.
His concept was to take the old-time radio format and combine it with an under-stated but explicit and coherent theological agenda. So after many conversations, the support and mentoring of people like Randy Goodman at Lyric Street Records, and brainstorming sessions with writer David Dark, English professor Matt Hearn and author and historian Richard Goode, Tokens made its way into the world, with it’s first show on February 27th, 2008.
This marks the sixteenth performance of Tokens, and will benefit Nashville’s Room in the Inn. Some of the best musicians in Nashville are set to perform, including Buddy Greene, the Nashville Choir, Ketch Secor, Mike Farris and the Roseland Rythym Revue, Odessa Settles and more. Tickets are on sale at all Ticketmaster Outlets, the Ryman Box office of Lipscomb University Allen Arena Box office, and are $27.50 to $34.50. Groups of 15 or more and students get a 10% discount. Call 615.966.7075 for information, or visit www.tokensshow.com.
Tokens will be broadcast live on Clarksville’s 1400Wjzm radio beginning at 7:30pm, and will also stream live at the stations website, www.wjzm.com. Vince Gill, Michael McDonald, Amy Grant, Keb Mo among other great artists have all performed at Tokens. If you’re looking for a wonderful night of entertainment, “Tokens, The Welcome Table” is perfect.
