Join Lisa D. Smith and special guest co-host travel writer Linda Kissam “Food, Wine & Shopping Diva” for a special Big Blend Radio Tourism Excellence Panel Discussion focusing on four exceptional leading ladies who are living out their dreams, leading their community and inspiring the next generation as they share their special gifts and talents. Each step they take moves Whidbey Island’s economic and tourism forward to what success looks like. Read Linda's artice on NationalParkTraveling.com.

Meet The Rock Stars of Whidbey Island:

- Sherrye Wyatt - PR & Marketing Manager at Whidbey and Camano Islands Tourism

- Karen Krug - Owner of Spoiled Dog Winery

- Judy Feldman- Executive Director of Organic Farm School

- Mona Newbauer - Owner  of Sweet Mona's Chocolate Boutique

Featured music on this episode is "Unstoppable" as featured on the album "Happily Ever After" by Billboard charting contemporary adult pop singer-songwriter Doreen Taylor.

Jazz vocalist Rebecca Angel joins Big Blend Radio to discuss her debut album “What We Had”, that was recorded with renowned jazz/R&B producer Jason Miles, and is out now on Timeless Grooves Records.

The emerging NYC based singer makes every emotionally compelling track an invitation – to dream, to love, to reminisce wistfully about beautiful times gone by which infuse every waking thought of today. With every swaying breeze of her distinctive voice, whether she’s singing romantic lyrics or sharing her artful sense of vocalese, Rebecca tempts us to explore her cool and edgy contemporary update on the deeply exotic vibe of classic artists like Sade and Brazilian greats Bebel Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto.

 

This episode was sponsored by the National Parks Arts Foundation who creates unique artist-in-residence programs in park units within the National Parks Service.

Join us for Big Blend Radio’s Eat, Drink & Be Merry Show focusing on the history of wine, vegan wines, and wine temperature.

Featured Guests:

- Journalist Kevin Begos discusses his new book “Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor & the Search for the Origins of Wine”

- Frances Gonzalez, founder of VeganWines.com, talks about the world of vegan wines.

- Sommelier Hilarie Larson, co-founder of Northwinds Wine Consulting, shares her tips on Wine Temperatures.

Featured Music includes: ‘Holy Water’ by Allison August, “Summer Wine” by Shelley King, and “Wine Headed” by Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys!

Thank you to this episode’s sponsors:

- International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association, a global network of journalists who cover the hospitality and lifestyle fields, and the people who promote them.

- Jeremy’s on the Hill California Style Bistro, serving farm-to-table food and local beers and wines, up in San Diego, California’s mountain and back-country region.

In the late 19th and early 20th century United States, many printmakers were attracted to architecture as subject matter. Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team and publishers of Big Blend Magazines, for Big Blend Radio’s Toast to The Arts show with artist Victoria Chick, who discusses how the dynamics of what was going on in the world of Architecture, largely represented characteristics of the American people and American life during an approximate 50 year period of printmaking. 

Based in Silver City, New Mexico, Victoria is a contemporary figurative artist and early 19th & 20th century print collector. Read her article on Printmakers & Architecture on BlendRadioandTV.com. 

Music on this episode is ‘Heart of the City by singer-songwriter Wally Lawder.

Sometimes it is hard to identify the consequences of our actions because people don’t always tell us. They fear our reaction. Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team and publishers of Big Blend Magazines, for Big Blend Radio with Sarah Elliston, who provides a profile of a difficult person, and tips on how to not be one.  Read her article on topic on BlendRadioandTV.com. 

Sarah is the author of the book “Lessons from a Difficult Person – How to Deal With People Like Us”, and is a faculty member of the William Glasser Institute and is a workshop leader and trainer who is certified in Values Realization, Parent Effectiveness Training and Reality Therapy.

Featured music is ‘Difficult Man’ from the album “Glorious, Glorious” by The Joiners.

Acclaimed author Lise Pearlman joins Big Blend Radio to discuss her comprehensive biography, “Call Me Phaedra: The Life and Times of Movement Lawyer Fay Stender.”

Fay Stender was an extraordinary personality and giant in her field. A middle class child prodigy, she abandoned the concert piano to become a zealous advocate for society’s most scorned and vilified defendants, from the Rosenberg espionage case in the early ’50s to Black Panther leader Huey Newton and revolutionary prisoner George Jackson, in the late ‘60s and early ’70s. Call Me Phaedra examines Stender’s life, from her childhood to her amazing legal successes in a hostile environment, her pioneering work for prison reform, and her bitter falling out with the infamous radicals whom she molded into Movement icons.

Lise Pearlman is a retired judge and the prize-winning author of “The Sky’s the Limit: People v. Newton, The Real Trial of the 20th Century” and “American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton” as well as a critically-acclaimed third history book “With Justice for Some: Politically Charged Criminal Trials of the Early 20th Century That Helped Shape Today’s America”.

Featured music is “Freedom Has a Way” by South African musician, James Saunders.

Martin Reese is a man of unusual interests. The devoted father and husband retired from his job after selling his tech company for a hefty profit, and he now fills his free time with camping trips.  But those trips are only a cover for Martin’s true passion – tracking down the undiscovered graves of serial killers’ victims and uncovering their bodies.

Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team and publishers of Big Blend Magazines, for a Big Blend Radio conversation with author Nathan Ripley, who discusses his twisty, haunting new thriller FIND YOU IN THE DARK, that delves into the sinister darkness buried in obsession!  

Music featured on this episode is “Obsessive Love” from the album ‘Fine State of Affairs’ by Gunboat Diplomats!

From kayaking and hiking, to rooftop cocktails and festivals, Anacortes delivers small town star power! Known locally as “A-Town,” this Washington town is located on the edge of America’s Northwest region, about 1.5 hours from the Canadian border, and boasts all the charms of a rustic yet refined locale without the crowds and high price tags of its larger neighbor 2 hours to the south, Seattle.

Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team and publishers of Big Blend Magazines, for a Big Blend Radio's Vacation Station travel show and get the inside scoop on this northwest paradise with travel writer Linda Kissam ‘Food, Wine & Shopping Diva’, Erik Schorr - Anacortes Kayak Tours, and Amanda Hubik - Anacortes Chamber of Commerce.

Read about Linda’s Anacortes adventures on NationalParkTraveling.com.

Featured music on this episode is “Seafaring” by The Madisons.

Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team and publishers of Big Blend Magazines, for Big Blend Radio’s Vacation Station Travel Show! On this episode, adventure traveler, writer, photographer and anthropologist Rick Quinn talks southwest road trips and discusses his latest book, RoadTrip America's “Arizona and New Mexico: 25 Scenic Side Trips”.

This outstanding new guidebook adds extraordinary two-lane adventure to straight-line Interstate road trips. Full-color maps and photographs illustrate easy-to-follow scenic routes through breathtaking landscapes and iconic towns in Arizona and New Mexico. Discover the surreal beauty of White Sands, watch the sun set over Monument Valley, or explore the subterranean marvels of Carlsbad Caverns. Find out why Jerome was "the Wickedest Town in the West" or walk in the footsteps of Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. Pamper yourself at a spa in Taos or soak up the vibes at an "energy vortex" in the red rocks of Sedona.

Music on this episode is “Sunset Steps” from the Please Remember Me by featuring music by artist Ted DeGrazia and guitarist Domingo DeGrazia.

Join Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, the mother-daughter travel team and publishers of Big Blend Magazines, for Big Blend Radio with multi-instrumentalist and progressive rock composer Neal Morse who discusses his triumphant and epic new double-album, “The Similitude Of A Dream”.

The 2017 “Road Called Home” tour was the Neal Morse Band’s most extensive yet, including new continents for the band. At the 013 in Tilburg, Holland, the stars aligned for the most commanding performance of the run, captured for live release in stunning quality. Now the Neal Morse Band has released “The Similitude Of A Dream” Live in Tilburg, Netherlands 2017 2CD/2DVD Set. Released from Radiant/SONY/Metal Blade, it will be available on Blu-Ray and 2CD/2DVD. Join Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer, and Randy George for over two hours of musical magic, as they play the album in its entirety, as well as a four song encore that will leave you breathless!

This episode was sponsored by the National Parks Arts Foundation who creates unique artist-in-residence programs in park units within the National Parks Service.