Tons Of Music And Leaves On RFC 146

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Episode 146 of Radio Free Charleston, "Pepper Fandango Shirt," finds us driving around the state looking at the fall colors. We have great music this week with songs from Born of Conviction, John Lancaster, Gabriel, and the cast of Jack The Ripper, plus we have animation from Frank Panucci and an art film by yours truly.

Our host segments were filmed all over West Virginia as Melanie Larch and I made the Charleston-to-Clarksburg-to-Parkersburg-to-Charleston loop so we could check out the changing foilage and basically just take a day away from everything. The trip was a load of fun, and it's still a couple of weeks away from the peak colors, so you might just want to consider making the trip yourself. There are tons of places to stop and linger along the way. It was also nice to show off some of the other areas of the Mountain State in RFC.

Monday Morning Art: Crestfallen

Today's art is one of my exercises in pattern creation, which, in a different hue, was used in the short art film, "Blues no. 1" which you can find in this week's episode of Radio Free Charleston.

Speaking of RFC, our latest show, "Pepper Fandango Shirt" will be posted here, along with full production notes, later tonight. This week we have music from John Lancaster, Born of Conviction, Gabriel and the cast of "Jack The Ripper," plus my art film, animation from Frank Panucci, and a short promo film for HallwEast 3 Freak Out.

You can click the image above to see it larger, and if you can't wait until this evening to see the new show, head over to the RFC Facebook Page, where it just might turn up sooner.

Sunday Evening Video: HallowEast 3 Freak Out

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Check out the HallowEast website for more details.

Randomosity (And Guitars) Abounds

The PopCulteer
October 7, 2011

Your PopCulteer has been swamped a bit this week, and has not had time to finish reading the first month's worth of DC's "New 52." The plan is to wrap this up with a long column next week, two weeks into the second month for some of these books. This week we're going to fire off some random items, including a photo essay on last Monday's Taylor Guitar Roadshow at Route 60 Music in Barboursville.

Just One More

Around a hundred guitar aficianados made a pilgrimage to Route 60 Music in Barboursville last Monday evening for a Taylor Guitars Roadshow. Dozens of the latest Taylor Guitars--a high-end company manufacturng some of the finest instrements on the market--were on display, as Taylor rep, Zacher Arntz and master musician Wayne Johnson (The Manhattan Transfer, Bette Midler) showed off and demonstrated the latest in Taylor Guitar wizardry. It was an informatie and educational night, as Johnson explained in great detail the advantages and uses of each model of Taylor's guitars.

Monday Morning Art: Blue #5

Today's art is an element from "Blues no.1," the short art and music film I posted here a few days ago. It's a detail piece. Detail of what depends on the viewer. Click to see it beigger.

Sunday Evening Video: Time Flies

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Today I began working on episode number 150 of Radio Free Charleston. Don't panic. You haven't missed any. I'm also working on episode 146, which I have delayed until October 10 to take advantage of a great host location, but with a milestone show coming up, I want to be prepared. Anyway, it seems like just yesterday that we hit episode 100. Actually it was less than a year-and-a-half ago.  That means we will have produced almost fifty episodes in the last eighteeen months.  Time flies when you're having fun.

Let's take a look at that previous milestone show, featuring Hellblinki, Eva Elution, The Nanker Phelge, Kitty Killton, Top O' Rock, David Synn and Jeff Ellis, shall we?

Bad Comics

The PopCulteer
September 30, 2011

You may have noticed that your PopCulteer is way behind schedule with his promised reviews of DC Comics New 52. There is a reason for that. Reading and reviewing comics is not quite as much the fun job that I thought it would be.

Let me explain.

I love reading comics, and I love rambling on about comic books. However when I took on the duty of reviewing DC's new 52, that meant that I'd be reviewing comic books that I would not normally waste my time reading. Frankly, some of the new DC Comics first issues are really bad, for a variety of reasons. We have 22 of DC's New 52 left to examine, and today we're going to go all negative and focus on three of the stinkers.

Virtually Porn

Note that this is not "virtual" porn, but virtually porn. DC has released a few titles that might as well be porno comics. There has been a pretty huge outcry on the internet about two of last week's titles, Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws, but there's a candidate for the worst sexploitation comic of the New 52 in this week's releases, too. So let's take a good look at some of the more twisted bits of chaff, shall we?

Catwoman #1
by Judd Winnick and Guillem March

This book is written by Judd Winnick, so we know right off the bat that it's going to be garbage, but cracking it open still reveals a pretty awful experience. The first three pages of the book are nothing more than close-ups of a half-dressed Catwoman running. The close-ups are of her boobs and butt. We don't see her face until page three. It's easy to figure out why the artist took a character who is already wearing a costume that is essentially latex bondage gear, and decided to have the top unzipped so that her bra is exposed during a chase scene, but it's still so blatant that it catches you off guard.

To be fair, the artist does a competent job of copying poses from porn and swimsuit mags, and then drawing what little there is of Catwoman's outfit on them.

Ripper At The Glass

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Tuesday night Mark Scarpelli and Dan Kehde took the orchestra from "Jack The Ripper," along with members of the cast, to The Empty Glass for an unusual and spectacular night of sophisticated and complex music.  Here's a selection from the night the string quartet played the Glass. You have three more chances to see the show, tonight and Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM at The WVSU Capitol Center Theater. Don't miss the show of the year!

Monday Morning Art: Brawley On Cough Medicine

Today's piece is a digitally-assaulted photograph, an as-yet-unseen still from the "Stark Charleston" project, that shows what it's like to walk through Brawley Walkway while under the influence of cold medicine.  Click the image to see it bigger.

Sunday Evening Videos: Sunday Evening Art

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Tonight's videos are two short art films by your truly.  I had some rare downtime this weekend and cranked out a couple of rather useless little films where I take some music I composed and use it as the background for some pointless zooming around and semi-animation using my digital art. There's a remote possibility that you might enjoy them. At least they're short.

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Two Great Local CDs, Funding Porkchops And Artists, Taking A Stab At Things Plus More Comics

The PopCulteer
September 23, 2011

Great Local Music

One of the challenges I've faced writing this column is reviewing CDs by local artists while trying to maintain a sense of objectivity. Since I know so many musicians through Radio Free Charleston, to present an honest review, I feel the need to explain any connections I might have with the band. In today's PopCulteer, we're going to look at two excellent CDs by two bands that have long histories with me and the show.

InFormation is a band that I first saw over four years ago at the LaBelle Theater in South Charleston. We had them on RFC, and when the band experienced some growing pains and line-up changes, I introduced Curtis Chittenden and Shane Durham to bass player, Roy Graley. The trio has gelled into a major creative force in the area, making music that really stands out, even in a vibrant and diverse music scene such as Charleston's. I'm honored to have played a small part in this band's story.

Cool Comics Covers More Of DC's "New 52"

We are in week three (or four, depending on how you're counting) of the big DC Comics relaunch, and your loyal reviewer is way behind schedule. I still have ten comics from last week to go over, and now we have twelve more this week. The reviews are going to be shorter and a little less detailed, but I'm still going to try and get them all in.

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First there is some news to report on this endeavor. Thus far the gamble has been a huge success, with every book released so far going into at least a second printing, and some of them going into third or fourth printings. This may not be as impressive as it sounds, since some of the more marginal titles had initial print runs below 30,000, but it's still a vast improvement over DC recent sales figures. So in that regard, this has paid off. Whether the new readers stick around has yet to be determined.

Jack The Ripper Does RFC 145

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This episode of Radio Free Charleston is a major departure: It's a documentary following the 2011 revival of the Dan Kehde/Mark Scarpelli musical, "Jack The Ripper." Produced by The Contemporary Youth Arts Company, this daring and complex piece of musical theater was pulled together in less than six weeks. Included in the show are interviews with Dan and Mark, intercut with "fly-on-the-wall" footage from the rehearsals leading up to opening night.You will also see footage of the original production from 2008, starring Ryan Hardiman. This is rare video that has never been seen by the gneral public before.

Monday Morning Art: Come On Grab Your Friends--Adventure Time At Dr. Sketchy's

Last night Dr. Sketchy's celebrated the coolest show on TV, Adventure Time. Molly Tilly, Cait Cool and Sarah Lane brought Finn the Human, Princess Bubblegum Hair and Marcelene the Vampire to life for a loyal gang of artists who didn't stay home to watch the Emmys or go to the Clay center to see Colbie Callat. It was great fun, and you'll be seeing more from this night when I'm not quite so swamped. Click to see it larger. To see it even larger, put your nose right up to your computer monitor.

A Hot Weekend, A Brisk ArtWalk And Cool Comics

The PopCulteer
September 16, 2011

We've got a pretty packed week behind the scenes at PopCult, so your PopCulteer will rely on the true-tested trick of the photo essay. Last night, ArtWalk snuck up on unsuspectimg Charlestonians. Your PopCulteer had a committment to a top-secret project (we'll let you know more about that as soon as we can) so this month's photos were taken a few hours before the official start of ArtWalk, which is why there are fewer of them and not so many with people.

Before we do the ArtWalk, though, there are some very cool things happening in twon this weekend.

On Sunday, The Empty Glass is holding a benefit for Hospice House.  This is a show that Melanie Larch had a hand in planning, and with the aide of Richard Abdalla and The Empty Glass, it's come together. Starting at 8PM Sunday, a killer line up of musicians, including Pepper Fandango, InFormation, The Diablo Blues Band, Oliver Dawgs, The Scrap Iron Pickers and Hobo & Moe will donate their time and music to a great cause. There will also be raffles throughout the night. 100 % of the proceeds go to Hospice House, and 100% of that goes directly to patient care.

Monday Morning Art: Warpscape

This week's Monday Morning Art is yet another study in texture and color composition called "Warpscape." It's meant to depict the struggle of the downtrodden against the oppressive forces of gravity and moisture.  Click the image to see a bigger version.

Don't forget to go back and watch last night's Sunday Evening Video, a PopCult Instant Video™ featuring highlights from Mission Coalition 2011.

Sunday Evening Video: Mission Coalition Highlights

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Above you see highlights from this weekend's inagural edition of Mission Coalition.  Eleven bands over two nights brought firey heavy metal thunder to the Capitol City. Concert-goers were treated to performances by HarraH, The Suede Brothers, Linework, The Scrap Iron Pickers, The Number Six, Karma To Burn,  John Lancaster,Tomorrow Burns, Dead Face Down, Nuns On Fire,  and Saprogen with hysterical introductions by Chris Ojeda and Skip Cromer of Byzantine.

This is raw video and audio. Fully-produced version of entire songs will be seen in future episodes of Radio Free Charleston.

You can still get your hands on the Mission Coalition 2011 CD Sampler, along with T Shirts and stickers by visiting their website.

Metal On A Mission, Pepper In The Apple And More Comic Book Reviews

The PopCulteer
September 9, 2011

The Mission Begins Tonight!

Mission Coalition kicks off tonight. For all the details check out the following links:

Nick Harrah's great interview with Roadblock in The Gazz this week.

My rundown of the metal festival from The PopCulteer last month.

The Mission Coalition website.

The production notes for this week's episode of Radio Free Charleston.

And for good measure, this week's RFC itself.

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Now go see it.

Cool Comics: The New 52, Week One

Due to the level of interest in last week's PopCulteer, I've decided to do capsule reviews of all of the "New 52" DC Comics. Some of these, I'm really looking forward to reading, and some of them, well, I'm taking one for the team. I'm going to get through as many of these as I can today, with the remainder coming in tomorrow's PopCulteer.

OMAC #1
by Keith Giffen and Dan Didio with Scott Koblish

All right, I'm starting out with a guilty pleasure. I loved Jack Kirby's original OMAC (One Man Army Corps), and I've been a fan of Keith Giffen, despite his tendency to borrow heavily from the work of other artists. Over the years Giffen has done some remarkable swipes from artists as varied as Neal Adams, José Antonio Muñoz, and the King Himself, Jack Kirby. It's been confounding because Giffen is a gifted storyteller in his own right, and after going through his swipe phases, he's managed to distill his influences into his work, usually improving with each foray into another artist's work.

Mission Coalition On RFC

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At the head of this post you will find RFC 144, "Mission Coalition Shirt."  This special episode of the show is devoted to this weekend's big metal fest, to be held at The Sound Factory this weekend, September 9 and 10. You may remember that we wrote extensively about this show in the PopCulteer a couple of weeks ago.

On this edition of RFC you will find music videos by the Friday and Saturday night headliners, Karma To Burn and The Suede Brothers, plus a great video from Tomorrow Burns, and live performances from HarraH and The Scrap Iron Pickers.

Mission Coalition, Charleston's first two-day metal fest will hold their first sonic onslaught with twelve bands spread over two nights. You will hear major acts like Karma to Brun and The Suede Brothers, plus local legends The Scrap Iron Pickers, Linework, HarraH, Saprogen, Tower of the Elephant, John Lancaster, Tomorrow Burns, The Number Six, Deadface Down and Nuns on Fire. Each night the show will start at 7:30 and last until well into the wee hours.

Monday Morning Art: Untitled

I found this piece of art buried in a file folder that I rescued from my impaired laptop. I'm not sure what it was to be called or when I did it, but I like the way it looks, so now you get to see it. Click to see it even bigger. Back away from your computer to see it smaller.

Sunday Evening Video: A Lovely Bunch

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Tonight's video is a special birthday treat for my brother, Frank. It's his favorite disco tune. For more info on this video and others by the folks who made it, follow this link. Please note, for coconuts, that is not the prescribed use.

Crisis On Earths Colliding At The End Of Time

The PopCulteer
September 2, 2011

Not So Cool Comics

You'll have to indulge your PopCulteer this week as I put on my nerd helmet. I've kept quiet on the "big comic book story" this summer because I wanted to see how it played out. This week it has, and now I'm going to take a look at the hows and whys of the great DC Comics reboot.

For those of you who don't follow comic books, DC Comics, one of the "big two" publishers, the home of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, decided to start over. They ended all their books, some of which had been running for more than 75 years, and are starting their core line over with 52 first issues, which will take all their heroes back to square one...sort of. Readers of books that are doing okay, like Batman and Green Lantern, will barely notice the change. Superman and Wonder Woman are getting drastic make-overs. Most of the heroes are getting redesigned costumes, ranging from minor tweaks to major changes.

Monday Morning Art: Mirthquake

This devestating scene of destruction is a digitally-assaulted photo of....the Huntington Mall undergoing renovations. It's the floor that was ripped up in front of Gamestop a few weeks ago. I messed with it a bit. Click to stare at a bigger version for hours on end until you see the pirate ship and the bumble bee.

Sunday Evening Video: Sure, It's A Lame Pun, But At Least It's Not Funny, Either.

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It's A Madhouse!

The PopCulteer
August 26, 2011

Cool Comics

Cool Comics returns to The PopCulteer this week as we look at the latest really nifty historical collection assembled by Craig Yoe, "Archie's Madhouse." This book is a real nostalgic treat for me because, as a very young kid, this comic book, one of many sort-of-imitators of "Mad Magazine" was one of the comics that would entertain and confound me to no end.

See, back in those days it was hard to keep up with comic books. There were no comic book stores, we had to seek out our books at newsstands, drug stores, grocery stores, any place that might carry a magazine usually had a comic book rack, but you couldn't find all the comic books from the various publishers in a single place. Finding consecutive issues of a comic was nearly impossible, especially if you were under six years old.

Radio Free Charleston 143 Is Online Now

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This episode includes three songs by Frenchy and the Punk, plus a short film by K.D. Lett and animation by Frank Panucci. You can read the full production notes at this post. Don't forget to "Like" our Facebook page for special previews and other top secret stuff.

Monday Morning Art: Plan 9 From Dr. Sketchy's

Last night, Dr. Sketchy's Charleston held their latest event, a tribute to the Ed Wood classic, "Plan 9 From Outer Space."  Shelia Jordan brought Vampira back to life, and Chase Henderson stood in as a Detective and Bela Lugosi's chiropractor. Above you see a high-contrast title card for the night. Below you see a digital painting of Sheila posing with a Gargoyle (on loan from Magic Makers) and below that another digital painting of a Vampire showdown.  Click the images to see them larger.

Frenchy and the Punk, Lippizzaner Stallions and DEVO Hats Highlight RFC 143

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At the head of this post you will find the one-hundred forty-third installment of Radio Free Charleston, "Naked Gumby Shirt."  This episode departs from our usual formula by featuring three songs by the same band, Frenchy and the Punk.  We also have animation by Frank Panucci, and a short film by K.D. Lett.

Frenchy and the Punk, who used to go by the name, "The Gypsy Nomads," returned to The Empty Glass a couple of weeks ago for their third visit (the first with the new name). We were on hand with our cameras, and the band was on fire, so we ended up recording over half an hour of their music. Since we had so much fresh music from the band I decided to devote the entire episode to them this time. This is something I'm thinking about doing more often, so why don't you use the comments section below to let me know what you think of the idea?

Metal In Charleston, Cartoons From Charleston, ArtWalking Through Charleston, And Tons Of Other Items All Crammed Into One Long Blog Post

The PopCulteer
August 19, 2011

Random Acts Of PopCult

It's been a while since we took the PopCult blunderbuss off the wall and fired wildly into the crowd. In the spirit of the 7 11 Machine Gunner, we're going to fire this week's PopCulteer in as many directions as possible--probably without hitting anything!

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It

September 9 and 10 a new Heavy Metal Showcase debuts in the Capitol City.  Mission Coalition 2011 is a two-day celebration of all things metal, to be held at The Sound Factory, on Kanawha Boulevard in Charleston.

Monday Morning Art: Cold Sunset

Here's a digital painting of a winter scene, to help you cool down during these dog days. Click to enlarge.

Steely Dang It, Let's Just Hang It!

The PopCulteer
August 12, 2011

"Hey 50"

I don't hate Steely Dan.

I think they're fine musicians who make well-crafted music with clever lyrics. And I think they put on a show at the Clay Center Tuesday night that should have pleased their loyal fans. I do not wish the members of the band any ill will.

I just hate their music.

I don't really understand why I hate their music. It's intelligent, witty and very well played, and it contains many individual elements that I normally find quite appealing.

Perhaps it's some sort of Pavlovian response that makes me hate their music. Their formula harmonies kick in and I get a little gag reflex. I associate their music with the morning drive to high school. Except for my brief disastrous marriage, my high school years were the most miserable period of my life. Music that transports me back to that time is basically transporting me back to hell.

InFormation, The Renfields and CLOG Rock RFC 142

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Positioned strategically at the head of this post, you should see the latest episode of Radio Free Charleston. Our 142nd installment is called "It's Just A Flesh Wound Shirt." Our music this week is by InFormation, The Renfields, and the Charleston Light Opera Guild cast of "Hairspray". In addition, this episode features a quick look at Dan Kehde's new play "Cupid Falling/Cupid Rising," a short film by K.D. Lett, and new animation by Frank Panucci.

Host segments were shot in downtown Charleston Monday afternoon during lunch, which is why we ended up at Slyce Pizza Company.

This is our first show back after our month long summer hiatus and we were sort of hoping that the heat would have ended by now. It didn't. Our title shirt this episode is a mash-up of the classic electric board game "Operation" with "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." It's designed by John Sprengelmeyer, who is better known in graphic design circles as Captain RibMan.

We got the shirt from our friends at Tee Fury.com, but the design is available from a few other online sources as well.

Monday Morning Art: Sunny Day On The River

Above you see a digital painting over a digitally-assaulted photograph that I took about five years ago out of the Union Building, looking East over the Kanawha River.

That's pretty much all you need to know about it.  Click to see it bigger.

Sunday Evening Videos: Weird, Funny Shorts

I'm not talking about pants here. This week we're bringing you some short, weird little films, designed to amuse and astound you.  Well, amuse, at least.

First up, courtesy of Mark Evanier and his NewsFromME blog, here's a Diabnetes Awareness clip starring Bill Kirchenbauer...

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More mind-hurting weirdness after the jump...

John Waters At The Clay Center (sort of)

The PopCulteer
August 5, 2011

Once again, Charleston's theatre scene is blessed with two high-quality shows running at the same time. You can see a video clip of CYAC's production of Dan Kehde's "Cupid Falling/Cupid Rising" right here. That original comedy is running at The WVSU Capitol Center Theater. Meanwhile, across tiown at The Clay Center, Charleston Light Opera Guild, in conjunction with the Clay Center, will bring you "Hairspray," the broadway musical based on the 1988 John Waters movie.

Big Hair = Big Fun

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"Hairspray" opens tonight at 7:30 PM at The Clay Center, and it's a fun musical set in Baltimore in 1962. While it tells the story of how young Tracy Turnblad helped break down the walls of racial integration on a local "American Bandstand" style dance show, the deeper message is how Tracy stands up against the rampant sizism, which is still a problem today.

This is a fun production. Nina Denton Pasinetti has mastered the science of distilling hit Broadway productions into the perfect works for the local stage, and the young cast shines brightly as they rip into a score that is a pure valentine to the pre-Beatles era of American music. You'll hear echoes of Motown, Phil Spector's "Wall Of Sound" and classic girl groups, all performed with gusto by the cast and recreated faithfully by the orchestra, under the direction of Bobby Hodges.

Jessica Cooper captures the spirit of Rikki Lake, who made her mark as Tracy in the original movie, and Alan Pennington is overwhelming as her mother, Edna, a role created by the late iconic transvestie star, Divine.

Check out the video preview below...

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CD Review: Marcie “Spent”

The debut CD by Huntington singer Marcie Bullock is a powerful collection of original songs anchored by her dynamic vocals and arrangements that defy simple labels.  "Spent" straddles the worlds of blues, jazz, and rock, with a hint of country in the mix.  Bullock's versatility as a singer is on full display, as she alternately belts out blues/rock jams and tenderly delivers jazzy ballads.

"Spent" is nearly a concept album, with many of the tunes chronicalling a relationship from its beginning to its decay. The songs are striking, with sharp lyrics and killer musical backing.

Colan

Word came over the weekend that Gene Colan, the artist most associated with the Howard The Duck comic book, is hospitalized with liver failure. This is just a couple of months after the death of Howard's creator and writer, Steve Gerber (a major influence on your humble PopCult blogger).

While Colan made a huge mark with Howard, he had a long career in comics before and after. Most notably a lenghty run on Marvel Comic's "Tomb Of Dracula" in the 1970s. Colan also served stints as the main artist on Daredevil, Iron Man, and Dr. Strange, among many other Marvel stalwarts. Jumping to DC Comics in the 1980s, Colan lent his talents to Batman and Wonder Woman. It was around this time that he crafted two creator-owned series with writer Don McGregor: Nathaniel Dusk, a Private Eye comic, and Ragamuffins, about a group of children. These series were reproduced directly from Colan's pencilled pages, skipping the industry standard of employing other artists to "finish" the artwork in ink. Colan was legendary for the quality of his pencilled pages, which often were obliterated by less talented inkers.

For more information on Gene Colan and his current health crisis, check out Mark Evanier's blog. He reports that a benefit project is in the works. PopCult sends best wishes to Gene and his family.

Akon wasn't there.

Monday Morning Art will go up Tuesday Afternoon this week. I’m working on a project related to the Emily Gunter-Haynes benefit from yesterday, but the details won’t be finalized until tomorrow, so to tide you over, here’s a photo essay featuring some of the sights from yesterday’s show at the Blue Parrot. The show was rousing success and the vibes were amazing and positive all day long. We got to see friends like Sean Richardson and Karen Allen and local bloggers Jackie Lantern and Scarlett Tanager. Filmmaker Eamon Hardiman was there, and promised to contribute a short film to a future RFC. We even saw a few members of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and “Symphony Idol” winner Ryan Hardiman.

Above you see The Spurgie Hankins Band. We recorded a few tunes by Spurgie that you’ll get to see on future episodes of Radio Free Charleston. Below is a shot of The Synergy Collective, who you can see on the most recent RFC.

More pics following the jump:

Here's some of the artwork and other cool things that were up for auction.

The VooDoo Katz turned in a great set, as usual.

Kai Haynes, from the Katz, delivered an astounding vocal during their finale.

The Tom Batchelor Band, from Morgantown, laid down a wonderful Reggae vibe, complete with steel drum.

Past RFC guest Mark Bates peformed with his band, The Vacancies.

Here’s another shot of Spurgie and the boys.

And we’ll leave you with another photo of The Synergy Collective, who used electric guitars for the first time that we heard them, and sounded great. Check PopCult tomorrow for art and more info on how to help Emily.