Meet Sean from the South: Dietrich Weaves Stories Big and Small About Our Vanishing Region

It will take you about 143.2 nanoseconds of talking to Sean Dietrich to realize that he would be a great guy to have a beer with.

The funny thing about that line is that it’s exactly the kind of thing he would write in one of his frequent online and newspaper columns if he were writing someone’s profile else.
Or you would discover his passion for Waffle Houses, a blind dog, a blind goddaughter and veterans. You’ll also feel the pain of his father’s suicide, the fact that he was a chubby child, and the way his soul drips with empathy for people who have a little trouble here or there.

Florida panhandle native Sean Dietrich plays guitar, banjo, violin, accordion and piano | Photo provided

And almost every time you read one of his sometimes self-deprecating comments, you’re guaranteed to feel a deep emotion — sometimes a belly laugh, other times a tear or a sniffle.

Dietrich, a good ol’ boy of 41 who grew up poor in the Florida panhandle, will be at the Charleston Music Hall on June 20 to perform for the first time locally, despite periodic visits here through the years. (Including his honeymoon with his wife Jamie.)

He is a humorist and storyteller in the vein of Will Rogers, Mark Twain and Jeff Foxworthy. Once here, he’ll play banjo, guitar, piano and maybe a few other instruments while weaving stories about his childhood in a disappearing American South.

And it will be 90 minutes of pure, unadulterated pleasure.

Performing across the United States

Dietrich and his wife travel the country about 200 nights a year, performing at venues that hold up to 950 people, like the Charleston Music Hall or the small social club stuck in the woods of rural Georgia. (He also once took the stage at the Grand Ole Opry.)

“We’ve played South Carolina a few times, and every time we go, people say, ‘Why don’t you ever come to Charleston?’ Dietrich said in a recent telephone interview. “We are like 99 percent of Americans in the sense that Charleston is special to us. We honeymooned in Charleston in 2003.”

Here’s what he wrote about the cold December honeymoon, which included a meal at the Slightly North of Broad that he remembers he really couldn’t afford at the time:

“For small-town residents, the city can almost seem intimidating. This is especially true if you’re like me and the most cultured city you know is, say, Dothan.

“People kept telling us that Charleston is the second most historic city in the world (Rome, Italy is first). They said that everywhere we went. Even at the Waffle House where our waitress was a tired woman with the personality of a boiled ham.

There, in just two paragraphs, he sneaked in class, culture, history, Waffle Houses and ham, the staple of a Southern plate. Pretty good for a guy from Florida who now lives in Birmingham.

“Charleston has a unique vibe,” he said in the interview. “It’s the South – and yet it’s the South in a way all its own. You have people in Alabama wearing Roper boots and Wrangler jeans, and it’s the South, and then you go to Birmingham, and they’re dressed in a very metropolitan Atlanta way.

“But in Charleston, it’s bow ties and pink plaid shirts for the guys. It has its own look, its own feel, its own dialect. I love it.”

During his latest post-pandemic visit, he said the city seemed burdened with a few too many visitors. (Of course he was one of them!)

“I’m from Northwest Florida. It’s my house. So when it comes to developmental heartbreak, I’m with you. I can’t even go home now without feeling this sad feeling of loss, because my hometown is technically still there. And yet he’s buried under a crappy cruise ship.

About feeling a little better

Dietrich says the main goal of his shows — as in the columns and books — is to help people feel a little better during the hour or two he’s on stage, telling stories and playing music .
“If they leave feeling better than before they arrived, then I’m happy I accomplished my job. I can’t do much, but maybe in these 90 minutes I can do someone some good.

Comedian and author Sean Dietrich will perform at 7 p.m. June 20 at Charleston Music Hall | Photo provided

He says many of the stories he tells are about a disappearing South — where today’s Southern children don’t know about Sunday church dinners where tables are filled with the best fried chicken, mac and cheese, potato salad and green beans. , fresh tomatoes, peas and some kind of intergalactic frozen salad. And, of course, there are desserts that run the gamut, from blueberry, chocolate, and pecan pies to mighty nine-layer caramel cake or coconut cake or a simple pound cake that melts in the mouth.

“These stories are mostly about growing up in this interesting and diverse home that we call the South and there are so many shared experiences that we have growing up in this part of the world,” he said. “And I fear that the way of life that we knew when we came – at least my generation – has come to the end of that way of life and it’s collapsing.

“Everyone learns to talk like sports announcers in the Midwest. Everyone is learning to be this global community instead of this rich, strong region we knew before.

He said today’s children have a very different experience growing up in the air-conditioned South, due to the prevalence of the Internet and cell phones, among other things.

“I feel like it’s my turn to pick up the torch and remind people what it used to be like,” he said. “If we have a lot of kids at the shows, I want them to know where they come from.

“All this is done with a light heart. It’s all been very humorous, but ultimately I’d like to remember simpler times.

He stressed that he was not making any political statements or references – he was simply longing for a time when people talked to each other, rather than to each other, and when they sat in front yards and greeted neighbors during their walks after dinner.

“I talk about the good things. I mean, it can be small. It doesn’t have to be a big part of our culture. It may be the way we ate at church potlucks. …Now you go to a religious function at a small church and they have chicken from Chick-fil-A.

Can’t you imagine the horror on Dietrich’s face just thinking about this specific fowl sin?

IF YOU WANT TO GO: Comedian and author Sean Dietrich will perform at 7 p.m. June 20 at the Charleston Music Hall. Tickets range from $25 to $75 and are available at charlestonmusichall.com. Doors open at 6 p.m. You can read Dietrich’s columns each month at charlestoncitypaper.com.