Beezy Listening

Today, my guests are Amanda Nyx, a painter, teacher, and installation artist, along with former guest of the show, musician Michael McFarland. I’m such a huge fan of the work Amanda and Michael do in the Cleveland area, especially their work on the McFarland Manor shows, so I wanted to have them on to help spread the word about their new project for Ingenuity Cleveland, entitled “Zen Soundscapes”

In our chat, we go over the purpose of Ingenuity Cleveland and how getting involved with that space took Amanda and Michael in new directions as artists. Amanda goes deep on the history and purpose of zen gardens, and Michael explains how their project will be taking the traditional zen garden and enhancing it with technology.

Most importantly, the reason I recorded and am releasing this today is to help Amanda and MIchael spread the word about their fundraiser for this project. 

All donations made before August 1st will be 100% matched by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Match Fund through a partnership with a new crowdfunding platform, ioby, which worked with Michael and Amanda to secure these matching funds.

Zen Soundscapes Fundraiser on ioby

Today, my guest is Killy Dwyer, who bears a lot more labels than simply musician. Killy is an actor, comedian, performance artist, MC, and ultimately deserving of her invented label of “mockstar”. 

I met Killy about ten years ago at Penny’s Open Mic (now the Open Mic Under St. Marks), just as I was starting to play music. It was because of the love and support from people like Killy, that I found the confidence and ambition to go further into this music thing I discovered so late in life. 

Killy is the host of “Mock-u-Mental”, a bi-weekly show on RadioFreeBrooklyn.com that airs every other Friday from 8-10pm. Mock-u-mental is a tasty comedy music treat for your ear holes, served up with a healthy dose of live jams and interviews with comedic musicians AND their moms, topped with listener questions, comments, requests and hate mail and paired with a feel good Friday drinking game.

Killy's Official Website

Mock-U-Mental on RadioFreeBrooklyn.com

Today’s episode is the first with a prerequisite. Usually I have musicians on this show, and if you haven’t heard them before, no big deal. Today, however, I’m talking with Roger Hill, director of the film “Huckleberry”, and if you haven’t seen it, then you should save this episode for after you have, because we gonna spoiler.

You can buy or rent Huckleberry on Amazon, or it’s free with Prime, or if you want the full movie experience, you can catch an upcoming screening of Huckleberry followed by another Q&A at the Cleveland Cinema in Shaker Square on Thursday July 18th at 7pm. 

Please do take the time to rate and review the film on Amazon, it really does a lot to help the visibility of smaller indie films like these. If you’re so inclined, do the same for this podcast as well, though not on Amazon. I don’t think Bezos has his filthy mitts in podcasting yet.

Follow Huckleberry:

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure to attend and privilege to produce a portion of the first ever ManorFest at the McFarland Manor. The manor is a house venue in Gordon Square that puts on shows the last Friday or Saturday of every month, usually. The fest was an incredibly successful and heroic effort on the part of its producers, Michael McFarland, Amanda Nyx, Cassie Bishop, and Mikey Silas. Apologies to Blindside Avenue for recording diffculties, and to Noon and Daniel J two performers who I didn't get the recorder set up in time for on Saturday.

Apologies to Blindside Avenue for recording difficulties, and to Noon and Daniel J two performers who I didn't get the recorder set up in time for on Saturday.

Happy Almost-Birthday America!

Now I know you’re excited to light off your fireworks, to bbq in the backyard, and to see all the people waving your flag and wearing it as a swimsuit, BUT first we gotta talk about some serious problems with your election systems.

My guest today is Lulu Friesdat, Communications Director of SMART Elections, a new non-partisan project dedicated to elevating the issue of election reform to an urgent national priority.

Lulu is an Emmy award-winning journalist and filmmaker whose election security investigations have received over 4 million views on Now This. They’ve also resulted in a top Florida election official’s conduct being declared illegal, and voting machines in Wisconsin being decertified. Her work has been featured on Politico, MSN.com, the Young Turks, The Hollywood Reporter, The Christian Science Monitor, Salon, and Truthout. She has worked as an editor and producer in broadcast television for over 10 years, including assignments with NBC, CBS and ABC News/Nightline. Her first documentary Holler Back – [not] Voting in an American Town was featured in The Hollywood Reporter as part of a group of “thoughtful and provocative” films being made by women. It received a Best Documentary award and aired on public television.

Follow Lulu on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/lulufriesdat

Visit https://smartelections.us/ to see all the reporting we discuss in this episode, and learn about how you can take action to make America a democracy worth celebrating on the fourth of July.

Corry and I discuss his musical and performance roots, how he has used YouTube and remote collaboration to learn, his growth from a solo artist to leading a full and vibrant band, and how he is working toward his dream of being a professional musician.

Links: 

Today my guest is Matt Pless, a punk/folk/protest musician that I first encountered at Occupy Wall St, which we reflect on a bit, in addition to the standard questions I get into with every musician. Like many other artists I've interviewed, it's a goddamned national tragedy that Matt isn't more widely known.

https://www.mattpless.com/

From his bio:

Combining elements of folk, punk, pop and rock, Matt Pless can lyrically turn a phrase with the best of them and has been compared to some of the preeminent songwriters of our time.

A consummate performer with a high-energy stage presence, Matt Pless travels the road continuously entertaining and astounding his audiences. With guitar and harmonica as his tools of choice and words as his main characters, he has shared the stage with the likes of Maroon 5, Rilo Kiley, Alkaline Trio, Arlo Guthrie, Bad Brains, Fallout Boy, All Time Low and others.

Matt’s extensive touring schedule has taken him to Europe, and across the U.S. multiple times playing venues from bars to boxcars and basements and everything in between...wherever there are people to hear his music. 

And almost anyone can relate to a Matt Pless song. His unique gift for writing lyrics and melodies that appeal to the core of the human condition is, like Matt himself, an experience.

Brent Kirby’s been called by many of his peers one of Cleveland’s hardest working musicians and his actions prove that. In 2013, Brent Kirby was voted “Best Singer” and also “Best Male Vocal” by the Cleveland Scene, and 2012, he was voted “Best Musician”. When he is not playing solo or with his band, called His Luck, he writes the tunes and fronts the Jack Fords (2007, 2009 Best Rock Band Cleveland Scene), leads the monthly revival of Gram Parsons with his band The New Soft Shoe, and plays drums for the talented Cleveland holiday band, the Ohio City Singers. His 10 x 3 Songwriter showcase weekly series at Brothers Lounge has created an encouraging, vibrant original music scene. 

If you haven’t listened to part one yet, I would definitely recommend it, because that’s weird, but it’s your life. 

Next Monday my musical guest will be Brent Kirby, and the following Thursday I’ll be releasing my interview with a local director, Roger Hill, to talk about his new film Huckleberry. So if you want a spoiler free experience, I highly recommend you watch the film, which is available to rent or buy on Amazon, or free with Prime.