Sweet Sixteen Production Notes

The latest episode of Radio Free Charleston is online now for your viewing pleasure.   This episode is called "A Place Of Solace Shirt" in honor of the Huntington band who put on a killer show at the Sound Factory back on March 6.  We will be featuring the band, and not just the shirt, on a future episode of RFC.  Follow that link to find out how you can get your own shirt and sample their music. 

Our musical guests on this episode are John Radcliff and Al Carey.  Radcliff is an old buddy from way back in my radio days, and Al is a new friend with a striking political commentary. 

Longtime followers of the local music scene may remember John from his days as the ace guitar god for such bands as The Swivel Rockers, Feast Of Stephen, and The Mad Scientist Club.  John's relocated to Parkersburg, and has recently shifted his musical focus from just playing guitar to writing and singing his own songs.  And they are great songs.   Rad drove down from Parkersburg and graced the LiveMix Studio with seven great original tunes.  You can see and hear "Writing's Hard" here.  On RFC we are treated to the Andy Partridge-esque "Rainbows."   Radcliff will be the first person to appear on consecutive episodes of RFC, as he's back next time with another killer song.



Al Carey was in town visiting family and contacted the Gazette about possibly posting his song and video "Tears Fallin'." The video, a strong comment on the current political situation, made it's way to our grubby little hands, and we plugged it into a spot on this episode of RFC.  It's a great, soulful plea, with a guest shot by rapper, Life.  Don't be surprised if it reminds you of the work of the late Marvin Gaye.  We're lucky that Al allowed us to showcase this song before he left to go back to his career as a tunesmith in New York City.  "Tears Fallin'" is a great song, but it may not go over too well with 30% of the country. If you're already reading TheGazz.com, chances are that you'll love it.

Of course, we have more than music.  Stephen Beckner, who appeared on episodes two and nine of RFC as a solo artist, and episode fourteen as a member of Go Van Gogh, is also a talented animator.  His short rotoscoped cartoon "Can You Dig It?" is on the new RFC.  You can also visit his photography blog here.  A special triva note:  RFC Big Shot and drummer for Whistlepunk, Mother Nang, Three Bodies, and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Brian Young, was the live model that Stephen traced to make his cartoon.  It's a small world, and we're working to make it seem even smaller!

We also feature the short film "Negative Town" by me brudder, Frank, and a vintage commercial for Major Matt Mason.  There are also a couple of GI Joes popping around on the show. 

There is one other bit of production note trivia:  The recording session for John Radcliff was the most expensive in the history of Radio Free Charleston.  I got two parking tickets, and Rad got one while we were making artful music to enhance the reputation of the city of Charleston.  I would like to salute the meter maid who did their part in nickle-and-diming this city into oblivion.  I know it's given me a new purpose.  I've got ten dollars worth of whining to do about this. 

And they didn't even get the make of my car right.  My car doesn't look anything like a freaking Saturn! 

That's about three or four bucks worth there.

Please remember that if you, like Al Carey, have an already-produced video for a song that you wrote yourself, we will consider it for inclusion in the show.  It has to be up to our sound and video standards, and we can't promise that we'll use everything submitted to us, but if you don't try, we'll never know what you got.  Contact me at radiofreechas@suddenlink.net

Now go watch the show.  And leave lots of nice comments.