David Massengill to return to the Minstrel

David Massengill’s specialty is spinning a yarn, sometimes in prose, sometimes in song, and sometimes both.

Take, for example, the story he is currently writing: An apple tree is in danger of being torn down after the property on which it stands is sold. A group of children turn to the fairy of the forest to help them preserve the tree, on which they love to play.

“It’s a story, but at the end of every chapter is a song,” says Massengill.

He adds that the story has a touch of wish-fulfillment. Growing up in Tennessee, he played on an apple tree that was torn down. “This story is my way of doing what I perhaps could have done to save that tree,” he says.

In some ways, Massengill’s tale illustrates his goal as a storyteller: Combine autobiography with a bit of fantasy but make it universally understood.

He will read an excerpt from his story at the Minstrel at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship tonight. It marks his return to a venue he enjoys. “I guess (the people who run it) like me, because every couple of years, they ask me back,” he says.

The story-song combination is one that Massengill used in “Morgana’s Sleepover and the Witch’s Hand,” released in 2003. A little girl has a slumber party interrupted by the arrival of an evil witch who kidnaps the children and takes them underground.

The protagonist is named for Morgana Herold, daughter of Jordi Herold, who founded the Iron Horse Coffeehouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. Massengill cites the Iron Horse as one of the venues that helped him find an audience and hone his craft.

“Jordi had the idea of having this club,” Massengill says. “He hired a bunch of people like me, Bill Morrissey, Suzanne Vega, and others.”

The key to writing children’s stories is not to talk down to his audience, according to Massengill. “I’m not lecturing to them,” he says.

Massengill sees himself following in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie, another folk-influenced artist who wrote story-songs for various ages. “I write songs that don’t have a narrative,” he says. “But my favorite songs to write are the ones that tell a story.”

Massengill’s interest in storytelling actually predates his interest in writing music. “Before I got into songs, I’d write stories that didn’t make too much sense,” he says.

“There were people like James Joyce and T.S. Eliot and e. e. cummings who seemed to just be playing around with language,” he continues. “It wasn’t until I got to college that realized the structure behind their work.”

In a similar way, Guthrie, along with the likes Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, showed Massengill that such structure could be applied to music. “They made me realize I had to be more serious about my writing,” he recalls.

After graduating from college, Massengill eventually made his way to Greenwich Village. He counts himself fortunate to arrive in that fabled neighborhood when he did. “In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Greenwich Village was still a great place for songwriters,” he says. “Gerde’s Folk City, where Bob Dylan made his (New York) debut was still here. People like Dave Van Ronk were still here.”

Massengill also credits the influence of Jack Hardy, the prolific songwriter and founding editor of “Fast Folk Musical Magazine.” Until Hardy’s death in 2011, he and Massengill would perform as the Folk Brothers.

“Jack taught me the seriousness it takes to write songs,” Massengill says. “He saw it as a lifelong career.” For decades, Hardy ran a songwriters’ circle in which he demanded that participants write new songs regularly.

Massengill and a group of friends have kept that songwriters group going.

He is also working on an ambitious tribute album that will include previously unreleased Hardy recordings, as well as covers of as many as 100 Hardy songs.

For his own part, Massengill continues to write and perform. Concerts have become a challenge since he developed arthritis about eight years ago. To compensate, he has taught himself to use his ring finger, not his index finger for picking the guitar.

“I’ve seen videos of people playing the guitar with their feet,” he says. “I figure if they can do that, the least I can do is figure out how to use my other fingers.”

DAVID MASSENGILL

WHEN: 8 p.m. tonight

WHERE: Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown

TICKETS: $9, plus a free-will

offering after the performance

INFORMATION: 973-335-9489 or www.folkproject.org