From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star Podcast

We get to listen in on a full meeting of the Register Star Editorial Board.

It’s Saturday, February 8, 2020. The board has begun its considerations of who to endorse in the race for Winnebago County Board Chairman in the Republican primary contest to be held on March 17th.

On Friday, the board met with candidate Jim Webster, which we hear in this episode.

On Monday, the board met with candidate Joe Chiarelli. That podcast is already in your feed.

This show was made possible by the journalism of the Rockford Register Star.

The episode’s theme music is called “Funk Game Loop” by Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com and filmmusic.io. And is used under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.

For more “From the Newsroom of the Rockford Register Star,” go online at www.rrstar.com.

We get to listen in on a full meeting of the Register Star Editorial Board.

It’s Friday, February 7th. The board has begun its considerations of who to endorse in the race for Winnebago County Board Chairman in the Republican primary contest to be held on March 17th.

On Monday, February 3, 2020, the board met with candidate Joe Chiarelli. Today, the board is meeting with candidate Jim Webster. That podcast will air on Saturday.

This show was made possible through the journalism of the Rockford Register Star. The episode’s theme music is called “Funk Game Loop” by Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com and filmmusic.io. And is used under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.

For more “From the Newsroom of the Rockford Register Star,” go online at www.rrstar.com.

Today, we get to listen to a full meeting of the Register Star Editorial Board in conversation with Republican David Gill, a candidate for Winnebago County State’s Attorney in the primary elections to be held on March 17.

The board has begun its considerations of who to endorse in the race.

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, the board met with Republican candidate J. Hanley. That podcast is in your feed now.

Today, we get to listen in on a full meeting of the Register Star Editorial Board. The board has begun its considerations of who to endorse in the race for Winnebago County State’s Attorney in the Republican primary elections to be held on March 17. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, the board met with Republican candidate J. Hanley. On Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, the board is scheduled to meet with Republican David Gill. And that conversation, will also be recorded for a future podcast.

Reporter Shaquil Manigault shares insight behind his recent story for the Register Star about Rockford native Juan Antonio, who stars in BET Plus' first original film. Read the full story here: https://www.rrstar.com/news/20200114/rockford-native-stars-in-bet-original-movie

Shaquil Manigault; 815-987-1344; [email protected]; @RstarShaquil

Scott P. Yates; [email protected]; @scottpyates

On this episode of “Meet The Artist,” we play a bit of musical chairs, and turn the microphone on the show’s usual host and resident photojournalist for the Rockford Register Star, Scott Yates.

In his place, local artist, Xen Kingsley takes the reigns.

Like every hero, an origin story must be told, and in this episode, Scott tells us his - from his humble beginnings in Roanoke, Va., and aspirations as a musician, to world travel and telling stories through photographs. Most importantly, we discuss how Scott offers visibility to virtually every important artist in this city, resulting in what I believe to be a surge in networking as well as an increased reception to the art community that did not exist before. The result creates working relationships between artists and members of the community.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

-Xen Kingsley is a Rockford resident and prolific street and portrait photographer and singer. He guest hosted this episode of “Meet the Artist” reviewing nearly a year of this podcast series.

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More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Xen Kingsley on Instagram: @xentastic https://www.instagram.com/xentastic/

Xen Kingsley on the net: https://www.thexenaissance.com/

Episode cover photograph by Xen Kingsley

Music:

Music: “Writin’ Rhymes Ft. Xen” on the 2015 release of Arising EP by AutoMatic. https://automatic.bandcamp.com/track/writin-rhymes-ft-xen?fbclid=IwAR14OeefsZoTbWSp9FgIM0zAZ2Xl0hLkT64FaT31Ht4kR0sBwBOZxai1YAA

Sarah Stewart opened the Rockford's newest tattoo shop, Six Finger Tattoo, in early December.

She turned the vacant space on North First Street into an inviting storefront that adds to a downtown district growing with locally owned arts businesses.

Stewart has been a neo-traditional tattoo artist for nine years and spent the last seven of those years working at Delicious Ink.

She draws inspiration from several sources. Her mother got her drawing at an early age. Sarah continues a long tattoo tradition in Rockford.

In this podcast episode we talk about her early years, and we create a left-handed secret hand shake. And we talk about Milton Zeis, one of the industry’s local legends, who set up a tattoo shop, supply store and accredited school on Leslie Avenue in Rockford.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

6 Finger Tattoo: https://www.facebook.com/6-Finger-Tattoo-105759744156302/

Sarah Stewart on Instagram: @shewasamonster 

Music:

Music from https://filmmusic.io

"Shades of Spring" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Sierra Goddard’s latest challenge as an actress is to portray a man in the 1800s.

Goddard, 23, of Freeport, is the latest guest on the Register Star’s “Meet the Artist” podcast where we meet the artists who make our community a more beautiful place. 

During the podcast discussion, Goddard explains how she gets into character as Powell, the lead protagonist in the West Side Show Room’s newest stage production of “Men On Boats” - a production written by Jacklyn Backhaus and directed by Rockford’s own Mike Werckle.

In real life, John Wesley Powell led the first government-sanctioned expedition through the Grand Canyon, called the Powell Geographic Expedition in the 1860s. It was a 3-month river paddle down the Green and Colorado Rivers. In the play, the all-female cast helps to highlight the ridiculousness of male bravado and questions male values. Hilarity and tragedy ensues.

Goddard attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles and in New York City. She tells the story of how she ended up living in Freeport to attend Highland Community and Kishwuakee Colleges.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Sierra Goddard: https://www.backstage.com/u/sierragoddard/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9919314/ 

Instagram: @thewritersierra

West Side Show Room: www.thewssr.org

Music:

The episode’s theme music was recorded live during the “Men on Boats” performance at the West Side Show Room in Rockford on November 21, and replayed here with the director’s permission.

The artist known as Buddah Barrios grew up on the city’s south side and became known for his style of urban boudoir and street photography and for producing art shows.

Buddah is the latest guest on the Register Star’s “Meet the Artist” podcast where we meet the artists who make our community a more beautiful place. 

Buddah’s photography subjects are more often Latinas and women of color. He’s equally comfortable working with natural light outside city buildings as he is shooting in the privacy of a bedroom or an empty living room.

One of Buddah’s early artistic influences was his grandmother’s cooking for family meals. Later, Buddah drew inspiration from his older brother’s custom painting on cars.

The latter influenced Buddah’s curation of local art shows in which he included colorful low riders and custom motorcycles as well as two dimensional art works in the gallery.

Buddah’s latest project was the Dia de los Muertos Art Gallery, which took over an unused floor of a south side building on November 9th.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Buddah Barrios Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b_easy_photos89/

Dia De Los Muertos Art Gallery: https://www.facebook.com/DayoftheDead815/

Music:

Music from https://filmmusic.io

"Sancho Panza gets a Latte" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Manny Tang will show you that “cuteness has a dark side, too.”

Tang, a Taiwanese-American whose artist alias is China Cat 663, has lived and worked in Rockford since 2002.

Her art is omnipresent in the city and around the Midwest. Merchandise of her designs are for sale in the gift shop of Rockford Art Museum. Her latest group show, called “Rapture 2019. Muse” opened at the Aeon Gallery in Richmond, Illinois, on Oct. 26th.

The figures in Manny’s paintings take physical cues from the “Big Eyes” work of Margaret Keane. The humanoid figures have the strong feminine and fairy tale qualities of Manga and the classic sailor-girl tattoos. The sexuality is drawn for the female gaze as a rebuttal to pop-culture’s dominant, male-centric point of view.

The themes of bondage and domination create an ominous thread throughout her work that inspired her motto: “Cuteness has a dark side, too.”

Her acrylics and watercolors are masterful combinations of color that are pleasing to stare at. And her mostly monochromatic linoleum block prints equally reward lingering eye balls.

In this show, Manny talks about her artwork and reminisces about the unique and much-talked-about “Black Rabbit Masquerade Hoedown” at 317 Art Collective in early September.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Manny Chinacat: http://chinacat663.com

Instagram: @chinacat663

Music:

Music from https://filmmusic.io

"Darkness is Coming" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)