Episode 198 of RFC

An Alarmingly Activist Episode of RFC

May 26, 2014 by rudy panucci

Details on how you can buy your own Top O Rock shirt are coming soon

Radio Free Charleston 198, “Save Top O Rock Shirt” is one of our most politically active episodes. We have music from Time & Distance, Little Nomad, The Living Deads and a special music video by The Laser Beams, plus there’s ten epic minutes of animation by Jake Fertig. But first, in this episode I actually talk about the shirt that gives this show its name.

Top O Rock is an architectural marvel in Charleston. It was the home and office of the late architect, Henry Elden. We shot our host segments for Episode 100 there four years ago, a couple of years after he passed away. Since then, the building has fallen on hard times. Recently vandals have struck and we were in danger of seeing this landmark demolished.

A foundation is being established to assist in the resuce and restoration of Henry Elden’s dream home, and you can help out by buying this shirt, and visiting the Save Top O Rock Facebook page, plus you can visit this blog and sign this petition. We will keep you posted on future fundraising activities.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 24

Johnny Compton on The RFC MINI SHOW

May 19, 2014 by rudy panucci

This edition of The RFC MINI SHOW stars Johnny “Hurricane” Compton, a legend in the Charleston music scene, performing two solo acoustic numbers at The Thirteenth Lane Taproom at Dunbar Lanes. Johnny takes on the Marshall Tucker Band classic, “Fire on the Mountain” before debuting the title track of his upcoming solo acoustic album, “These Roads.”

The recording session for this show was a tremendous amount of fun. Dunbar Lanes has really fixed up a great, intimate performance space and it’s a wonderful place to hear live music if you don’t feel like making the trek all the way to Charleston and fighting to find parking. We really need to get the word out to music lovers and performers about this gem of a venue, tucked away in a peaceful corner of Dunbar.

After years of begging and pleading from his fans, Johnny is currently working on a solo acoustic album. “These Roads” is slated to be the title track and in this video you will witness the first public performance of this powerful new song. You may also notice the ice machine deciding to join in near the end. We’re posting this recording due to the historical significance, but you can be sure that “These Roads” will turn up again, in a more pristine form, on Radio Free Charleston in the future.

If you are a fan of Mr. Compton, you should be aware that his band, another RFC favorite, Diablo Blues Band, is recording a live album on Sunday, May 25, at The Empty Glass, with their new horn section along for the ride. The music fires up at 9 PM and the cover is just five dollars.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 23

The RFC MINI SHOW with The Living Deads

May 11, 2014 by rudy panucci

Randee and Symphony

The Living Deads are Randee and Symphony and whichever guitarist that they have most recently kidnapped. They tour the country in their RV, spreading the gospel of Punkabilly where ever they go. They live full time in their RV (Irv) and tour the world, printing T-Shirts and burning CDs while on the road. They have been known to kidnap guitar players from time to time, drag them on stage in a Burlap sack and force them to perform.

When we caught up with the band at The Empty Glass last month in Charleston, they had Wyatt Mundy on guitar, having just abducted him from his job at an adult bookstore.

The Living Deads (Randee Mcknight and Symphony Tidwell) have featured guest artists such as Danny B Harvey, Chuck Hughes, Lance Romance. Hank Hays, James Hunnicutt, Steven R Trent, Mondo Cortez, Chad Hasty, JD Holopter, Scotty Spears, Mr. Conrad, Matt Allen, Dr. Void, Sean K. Preston, Tony Burlingame, Trevor Rogers, Craig Gory along with several more.

They describe themselves thusly, “A Rhythm section born of Hate, Hellfire and Brimstone. With a book of matches, can of gas, and a Louisville slugger we’ll have a party.”

You can expect to see them again on Radio Free Charleston 198 in a week or two.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 22

The RFC MINI SHOW starring Mark Cline Bates

May 5, 2014 by rudy panucci

Mark Cline Bates hadn’t been on RFC since episode 58,in 2009, until we caught up with him again and featured his music on RFC 196. From that same recording session at The Empty Glass, we bring you two songs from Mark, “Bigger Things” and “Closer.” Mark’s next album is due out in October, and you can check out his website for news of his tour dates and you can also buy his previous CD.

In May, you can catch Mark in Man, at Keith’s Bar on the 9th at 9 PM , and in Sutton at Cafe Cimino on The 25th at 8 PM as part of the WV Hall Of Fame Garden fundraiser. In June Mark will perform as such exotic locations as Los Angeles and Venice Beach California, Columbia South Caroline, Chicago and Barboursville. You can also check out his recent Gazette interview for more news.

You may notice that this episode of the RFC MINI SHOW is number twenty-one, while our previous show was number nineteen. It recently came to our attention that, almost six months ago, we numbered two of our RFC MINI SHOWs as “seven.” We didn’t catch it, and nobody pointed it out to us, so we didn’t discover it until we were working on the RFC Archives. Rather than go back and re-number the previous thirteen shows, we’re just going to skip a number to get back on track. 

And of course, after we rendered the show as number twenty-one, we discovered that we also had two shows numbered “fifteen.” So expect next week’s RFC MINI SHOW to be number twenty-three.