Sasha Colette, Trielement, Jordan Andrew Jefferson And More In The RFC Holiday Extravaganza!
December 12, 2011 by rudy panucci
Sasha Colette on RFC!
That’s Radio Free Charleston 149, “Shredd’s Pizzeria Shirt,” at the top of this post, and it’s an early Christmas present, loaded with special gifts for our fans.
We are proud to present a World Premiere music video by Sasha Colette,“Rock of Ages,” plus we have a music video by Jordan Andrew Jefferson, the RFC debut of a new band, Trielement, and we flashback to a special Christmas tune performed by RFC’s resident Diva, Melanie Larch and The Diablo Blues Band. We also have two trailers for special projects and we meet Hasbro!
At the head of this post, you will see “Red Popeye Shirt,” episode 148 of Radio Free Charleston. This edition of our show is hosted from a very soggy Veteran’s Memorial in Nitro, and presents music from the rock opera, “MARY” and Frenchy and the Punk.
RFC 147 With Giants, Nerds, Volts, And Superheroes
November 7, 2011 by rudy panucci
Floating at the top of this post you will find Radio Free Charleston 147, “Mighty Avengers Shirt.” This installment of our webshow features music by Miniature Giant,Dual Core,Volt 9000 and Disturbing The Peace. We also have animation from Frank Panucci and other weirdness.
I like me gum!
Host segments were shot at a random parking lot in Kanawha City along MacCorkle Avenue. Sometimes we do things on the show for no reason. Like opening with a vintage commercial for Teaberry Gum, for instance.
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.
Dan Kehde, the writer/director of "Jack The Ripper"
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.
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.
Frenchy and the Punk, Lippizzaner Stallions and DEVO Hats Highlight RFC 143
August 21, 2011 by rudy panucci
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?
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.”
Radio Free Charleston’s Gigantic Fifth Anniversary Show!
July 6, 2011 by rudy panucci
At the head of this post, you see our bloated and self-indulgent fifth anniversary episode of Radio Free Charleston. When we first started doing Radio Free Charleston as a video web show, there was no guarantee that we would even make it to the end of our first year. So it’s gratifying to have hit this milestone, because on the Internet, five years is an eternity.
Mother Nang
However, I have to level with you. I almost didn’t see this milestone coming. The previous three weeks have seen me consumed with recording and producing our special FestivALL episodes of RFC. This didn’t leave me any time at all to plan an anniversary show. I really wanted to take July off.
Radio Free Charleston has not always observed our anniversary. The first anniversary of the show fell in the middle of a hiatus we took due to a family health crisis. I don’t think we really paid any attention until episode 75, which coincided with our third anniversary in 2009.
One Last Look At FestivALL 2011, Plus Two Great Outdoor Shows This Weekend
July 1, 2011 by rudy panucci
Larry Groce, the Pope of FestivALL
FestivALL 2011, That’s A Wrap!
Up at the top of today’s PopCulteer you will find the eighth and final episode of Radio Free Charleston’s video rewind of FestivALL 2011. FestivALl is such a wonderful part of Charleston that we felt it deserved extensive coverage. And extensive it was, with just under three hours of FestivALL crammed into our eight-episode trip through the art.
I hope our loyal RFC viewers can appreciate what a ridiculous undertaking this was. Your PopCulteer has been slaving away at the editing computer for the last two weeks, getting by with only a couple of hours of sleep a night, just so we could bring you our take on FestivALL 2011 as quickly as possible.
“Anything can happen day” on Radio Free Charleston includes music from Holy Cow, The Boatmen and Miss Behavin’; with wrestling from XMCW and a Swoard Dance by Jenna Brooke Swanson. This part seven of our everlasting gobstopper of a series of shows devoted to FestivALL 2011.
Tomorrow we wrap up our FestivALL coverage…or do we?
Dreaming Of Saint Stephen, Texting and Sasha Colette on RFC 138
June 28, 2011 by rudy panucci
"Helio McFadden" in the Space Opera
FestivALL may be over in the streets of Charleston, but it still lives on here in the PopCult blog. Today we’re going to revisit “Saint Stephen’s Dream: A Space Opera,” which was staged by WestVirginiaVille.com at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation last weekend.
We bring you a bit of the beginning of Douglas Imbrogno’s magnum opus, and we mix in Austin Susman’s entry in the Silent Film Competition. The show wraps up with Kentucky chanteuse Sasha Colette, performing in Davis Park, just two days ago.
Trillium Performance Arts Collective (photo by Lee Harrah)
We are driving into the second week of Radio Free Charleston’s ridiculously extensive coverage of FestivALL 2011. The clip you see up there is Radio Free Charleston 137, Part Five of our FestivALL 2011 coverage. Today’s show takes music recorded at the Derick Kirk Memorial Concert last Wednesday and combines it with dance recorded all over town during FestivALL.
Our music performed live at Capitol Roasters is provided by the Velvet Nomads, Comparsa, and The Voodoo Katz.
Professor Danger (photo by Lee Harrah)
Our featured dancers include the Capitol High School Dance Company, Mandy Petry, Brian Roller, Kevin Pauley, and Jeff Bukovinsky of the No Pants Players, Jenna Brooke Swanson and Raqs Shakti, Professor Danger, Kathleen Coffee, the Trillium Performance Art Company, and That Guy In Davis Park. Apologies go out to the Capitol High Dance Company for getting their name wrong in the show. We will correct that later in the week when they return.
This whole show was a lot of fun to edit, so you might see another dance montage later in the week. In the coming days, you will see episodes of Radio Free Charleston loaded with footage from “Saint Stephen’s Dream: A Space Opera,” the after-hours cafe’, the Silent Film Competition, the 72 Hour Film Challenge, the Capitol Street Art Fair, the Hale Street Antique Fair, XMCW’s LuchaFest, plus music from Sasha Collette, WATT4, Kathleen Coffee, Miss Behavin, and stuff we can’t remember at the moment.
Part four of Radio Free Charleston’s FestivALL 2011 coverage comibnes The East End Main Street Streetworks Art Auction with The Music Works/Songwriternight.com Songwriter Invitational. You’ll see plenty of the Streetworks brick art, plus MC Ted Brightwell, along with music from Sierra Ferrell, Don Baker, John Radcliff and John Lilly.
Today’s special FestivALL 2011 episode of Radio Free Charleston features music from The Kingfish Five, Joseph Hale, 600 lbs of SIn and Uncle Eddy and Robyn. There are also scenes from Sunday Funday at The Clay Center and Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art Show.
We’re going to do one more of these this week, then return Monday with even more FestivALL madness!
Above you see our second episode of Radio Free Charleston’s FestivALL 2011 coverage. Though delayed by a storm, we are still attempting to go daily. This episode of RFC shines a spotlight on FestivALL’s theatrical offerings, with clips from “St. Stephen’s Dream,” CYAC’s “Easier Than The Truth,” The No Pants Players and CLOG’s “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” We also have music from WATT 4 and Bare Bones.
Check back Wednesday for yet another episode of RFC, with scenes from Sunday Funday at The Clay Center, plus music from The Kingfish Five and 600 Lbs of Sin and more!
At the top of this post you see Radio Free Charleston number 133, the first of our shows devoted to FestivALL 2011. We don’t know how many episodes we will devote to FestivALL this year.Last year, we did six episodes during FestivALL, with anadditional episode of leftover material in September. We also don’t know how fast and furious these will come at you, so you’ll want to check PopCult every five or ten minutes for the next two weeks.
This episode includes footage of the FestivALL Art Parade. This is just a fraction of the parade footage we have. Don’t fret, you’ll be seeing much more of the parade in the coming days.
At the top of the post you will find Radio Free Charleston number 132, “Ren and Stimpy Shirt.” This special pre-FestivALL episode includes music from Wiley Sonic, The Voodoo Katz, and The Poor Taters, plus belly dancing from Jennifer Brooke Swanson, and animation by yours truly.
Host segments were shot on a sunny Sunday morning on Charleston’s historic East End in front of Glen Brogan’s brand new mural on the side of the Bluegrass Kitchen. We’ve been fans of Glen’s for some time, even wearing one of his shirts back on episode 95and it’s a kick to see his wonderful art in such a large format outdoors in front of God and everybody.
Joe and Wiley Sonic are coming to town this weekend!
At the top of this post, you see the embedded video of Radio Free Charleston 131, “Thenewno2 Shirt.” This special episode of RFC is devoted to promoting a great triple bill of live, original music. Saturday, June 4, local favorites Tofujitsu and Mother Nang will be opening for Washington DC’s, Wiley Sonic.
Wiley Sonic is a new band fronted by Joe Vallina, who was last seen on RFC back on The Feast of Stephen Reunion Episode 23, four years ago.
Host segments were shot at The East End Yard Sale last Saturday. See, that way we could shoot the host segments and shop at the same time. We didn’t buy much, but we did facilitate the transfer of a vintage MAC SE computer from Mark Scarpelli to Mark Wolfe, and that alone was worth the trip.
Blue Million, Ryan Hardiman, HARRAH, “Airwaves,” Animation And More On RFC 129
May 2, 2011 by rudy panucci
Radio Free Charleston episode 129, “Adventure Wars Shirt” is in the books, and in this blog, right up there. See?And we’re still in Hi-Def!
This week we feature music by Blue Million, HARRAH and Ryan Hardiman. We also have a preview of the new CYAC show, “Airwaves.” There’s animation by Frank Panucci, too, but the less said about that, the better. This episode of the show includes some harsher language than usual, but it’s all tasteful and in context and we’re on the web so there’s really no way to get in trouble anyway.
Host segments were shot on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Five Corners on Charleston’s West Side. To give you some insight into the RFC guerilla filmmaking process, each show starts with a minimal script. Usually one page of large print. It basically exists to remind me of the band’s name, the song title and any upcoming gigs that we might be plugging for them. I ad-lib around this rough outline.
Host segments were shot at the green space across from the Clay Center, and our shirt comes from TeeFury.com.
Our first musical guest is Prank Monkey, the house band for the Wednesday night jam at The Blue Parrot. Prank Monkey is Johnny “Hurricane” Compton, Jamie Skeens and Mike Vandergriff, and they kick off the jam session with a quick set before sitting in with other musicians as the night progresses.
It’s a great mid-week blast of wide-awake rock music, and you get a taste of what they can do with their cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, “Voodoo Child” on this week’s show. The Wednesday jam kicks off around 10 PM at the Blue Parrot on Capitol Street, and there’s no cover.
Our animation this week is “Turkey Wang,” yet another bit of classic, mind-altering Frank Panucci animation, re-mastered into Hi-Definition by a crack team of Korean re-tracing artistes. Chai-Keseck-twan Studios is one of the leading CGI effects and restoration houses in the world. They’re currently at work on a special anniversary edition of “Forrest Gump,” where they’re using computer graphics to re-attach Lt. Dan’s legs.
Our next musical guest comes to us courtesy of Doug Imbrogno and WestVirginiaVille.com. Doug shot and edited a music video for Jay Oakes and Paul Callicoat’s musical tribute to The Mystery Hole. This is the second song about The Mystery Hole that we’ve had on the show. The first was by The Feast Of Stephen, who reunited on RFC 105 episodes ago.
Paul is an old friend of Radio Free Charleston, first appearing way back on episode ten, teamed up with Doug as “The HeyDays.” Paul is also a co-owner of Route 60 Music, in Barboursville, who were our partners in The Great Guitar Giveaway a couple of years ago. Jay is a veteran area musician and songwriter who’s been highly-regarded for 30 years.
As I said, the video comes to us from Doug Imbrogno. If we can twist his arm, he might let us feature a preview of his top-secret FestivAll project on the show.
Wrapping up the show is an early incarnation of Short of Cash.This band, lead by Roger Simms, formed at one of the Charleston United meetings, and they’re rapidly gaining a following. They’re going to be headlining a show this Saturday at the rec center in Marmet. We’ll have full details on this show in Friday’s PopCulteer.
That’s the notes on this week’s show. Next week we’re going to shine the RFC spotlight on Ryan Hardiman and Blue Million, with a bunch of other timely suprises thrown in just to keep things interesting.
We started trying something new last week. Here at the bottom of the post, we’re including an EXTRA HUGE version of the show!
RFC 127 With Mother Nang, The Nanker Phelge, Jonathan Tucker, The Big Yard Sale And Animation!
April 19, 2011 by rudy panucci
That video you see in the box above this text is Radio Free Charleston’s 127th episode, “Fever Strength Shirt.” It’s our second big fancy High Definition installment of the show.
Music this time comes from Mother Nang, The Nanker Phelgeand Jonathan Tucker. We also have a promo spot for The 21st Annual East End Yard Sale, and remastered animation fromFrank Panucci.
WhiteChapel District, Chad & Sean and Zombie Babies Shine On RFC 126
April 11, 2011 by rudy panucci
Up above you see Radio Free Charleston 126, “Purple Batman shirt.” This episode features music from WhiteChapel District, the duo of Chad Foss and Sean Sydnor, and a trailer for “Zombie Babies,” Eamon Hardiman’s latest motion picture. This is our first show uploaded in Hi-Def, so you can sit real close to your computer monitor and pretend that you’re watching it on the big screen.
At the head of this post, you see the most expensive episode of Radio Free Charleston ever produced. Hosted from a very special place on the West Side, our 125th installment, “Robot Bhudda Shirt”, features a very special motion capture video forMother Nang, with a seven figure budget, directed by a big name Hollywood talent whom we cannot name (but it rhymes with Smemeckis). We also have a very provocative video starring Pepper Fandango and a pricey Trans-Atlantic location shoot with Adrian DeQuiros. Also in this episode, Kitty Killton returns and our animation is the most family friendly we’ve ever featured on the show.
Rudy standing in Roger Bartfast's "World Of Washington" on Charleston's West Side
Host segments for this episode were shot at Roger Bartfast’s backyard on the West Side of Charleston.
RFC 124 Stars Slate Dump, Electro Biscuit, Red Audio and Frank Panucci
March 21, 2011 by rudy panucci
At the head of this post you see the 124th installment of Radio Free Charleston. “Double Trouble Shirt” is named after a King Kerosin shirt from The Salvage Yard in the Charleston Town Center, and features music from Slate Dump, Electro Biscuitand Red Audio.
We have a double dose of RFC Big Shot, Frank Panucci, with a previously unseen compilation of public domain footage and a classic bit of computer animation.
Andy Park, QIET, Roger Simms, MURFMEEF Plus ArtWalk, Green Lantern And Animation In RFC 123
March 14, 2011 by rudy panucci
The latest episode of Radio Free Charleston is online now. That’s it right above this text!
“Green Lantern Shirt,” with a namesake shirt chosen in honor of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday this week, sports host segments from Studio 1031, one of the newest participants in ArtWalk, which resumes its monthly schedule this week after taking a couple of very cold months off. 1031 is the home of several artists who used to be part of 1033 Quarrier, the old LiveMix/Gallery Eleven building. With a bright new space and lots of great art, it’s going to be one of the top locations in Charleston’s ArtWalk.
RFC 122 With Roger Simms, Drop Ded Phred, Sasha Colette Animation and Theater!
March 7, 2011 by rudy panucci
At the head of this post, you see Radio Free Charleston 122, “Fistful Of Mercy Shirt.” This episode of the show features new music from Roger Simms (from the band Short of Cash), punk sensation Drop Ded Phred, and a return visit from Sasha Colette. We also have a preview clip of the Contemporary Youth Arts Company production, “A Service For Jeremy Wong” (opening this week), and brand new animation from Frank Panucci.
Host segments were shot in the friendly confines of Taylor Books Annex Gallery, prominently featuring the art of our old friend, Charles Jupiter Hamilton in the background. Taylor Books is one of the class acts here in town and it’s always fun to pop inside for a quick visit, specially when the springlike weather takes an unexpected turn for the worse. Also, one of our guests, Sasha Colette, will be performing at Taylor’s next Saturday night.
RFC 121 with Beaver Knievel, Dennis Hopper’s Army, Robot Commando and The Mugger!
February 28, 2011 by rudy panucci
Episode 121 of Radio Free Charleston, “Thrilling Detective Shirt,” is online now, right at the top of this post. This installment of RFC features a double-dose of Beaver Knievel, a quick blast of folk/punk stomp from Dennis Hopper’s Army, plus vintage animation from Frank Panucci and a visit from Robot Commando.
Host segments were shot at Haddad Riverfront Park, and the show’s title shirt comes to us courtesy of Retro A Go Go. Soon you should be able to find their cool shirts and other items at The Salvage Yard in The Charleston Town Center.
Before we jump into the show proper, just know this: Robot Commando wants to help you. He really does.
Radio Free Charelston 120, “Zombie Babies Shirt” is online now, and posted right above this text. This show is designed to promote Friday’s benefit show for Dave Russell at The Empty Glass.
We feature music from The ButtonFlies, Sierra Ferrell and The Diablo Blues Band, all of whom will be performing Friday. We also have a trailer for “Porkchop,” the Eamon Hardiman-directed movie on which Dave worked as cinematographer. As an added bonus we have a look at the soundcheck version of “Get Loose” by Beaver Knievel.
Sasha Colette, CYAC, Ryan Hardiman and Lovey-Dovey DEVO Hats Fill Up RFC 119
February 14, 2011 by rudy panucci
Radio Free Charleston returns, as seen above, with episode 119, “Transformer Shirt.” This episode features the RFC debut of Sasha Colette, a song from “Norman Rockwell’s An American Love Story,” a special surprise song from Symphony Idol winner Ryan Hardiman and DEVO/Valentine’s animation by Frank Panucci.
Radio free Charleston jumps back into the swing of things with episode 118, “Not Kool Shirt,” featuring music from Fox Elipsus and White Chapel District, plus a preview of the latest show from the Contemporary Youth Arts Company. That’s it right up there at the top of this post!
“Norman Rockwell’s An American Love Story” opens Thursday at 8 PM at The WVSU Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers St., in Charleston. This is a brand new original work with words by Dan Kehde and music by Mark Scarpelli.
A follow up to a previous CYAC show, “Norman Rockwell’s American Paradise,” this new show tells a sweet love story (just in time for Valentine’s Day) with scenes based on different Norman Rockwell paintings. You can see a song from “American Paradise” on RFC 66.
The song we feature this week is a solo performance by Sarah Schleiss, accompanied on piano by Mark Scarpelli.
This weekend’s shows are benefit performances for Ronald McDonald House, and will take place at The Alban Arts and Conference Center at 65 Olde Main in St. Albans. Show time is 8 PM, and tickets are ten dollars.
