Frankie’s Birthday Dance Party

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Frankie Messina held his Birthday Dance Party at The Imperial Wine Bar and Beer Garden at Washburn Imports (1800 N Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida 32804). Each year Frankie has a sock drive where he collects new socks for the homeless. A $$$ donation of any amount at the DJ booth, would be
used to buy brand new pairs of socks for homeless citizens on our local
streets. No middle man. The new socks would be handed directly to those in need of fresh warm
clean socks. People could also donate a pack of men’s women’s or
children’s socks. This is the least
donated item to homeless shelters. At the base of his DJ mixing station a small mountain of new socks began to gather.

Friends gathered around Frankie talking to him as he mixed the tunes. Another goal for the nights was to bring everyone
together for a  good cause and help keep our individual DREAMS alive. Which is why we get up every morning. Frankie was grateful for another
year of good health, and he felt blessed to have such love around him from some
beautiful friends. 

The music flowed non-stop from 6pm till Midnight! Giving is easy to do, and it is our duty as
humans to help each other along the way when we can. No presents for no presents for Frankie, yet socks for them! The sign on the front of Frankie’s mixing station said it all, “All that is not given is lost.”

Frankie has started sharing tunes locally on 91.5FM WPRK. Stream it live wprk.org,
or load up the free TUNEIN app on your phone and smart devises. Search
for Rollins Radio WPRK 91.5. Live fun. Drive Time Wednesdays 5-7 pm!

An interview at the Enzian Theater.

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I interviewed Julie Norris Wilder at the Enzian Theater to find out what I could about the law suit she was in with her founding partner at Dandelion Commonitea Cafe. She and the partner had different ideas about how to run the business. When her daughter, Maya, was born, she asked the partner to step in and help run the business more. She felt that corners were cut and the cafe didn’t live up to the who is it idea she had mind. She tried to buy out her partner but couldn’t raise I needed funds to make that happen. The differences had to be settled in court an ultimately she surrendered her shares to the business she helped build. There were personal aspects to y conflict, but those details can be left behind as both parties move forward and grow independently. She is happy to know that Dandelion is still doing business and thriving.

I have collaborated with Jul. when we put out an Analog Artist Digital World calendar several years ago. She is a graphic designer on top of being an entrepreneur, an environmentalist and devoted mom. She has plans to build a business that helps empower women. She dreams big and goes for those dreams. She has been the host of Front Porch Radio for years. She show airs every Wednesday at 4pm on WPRK 91.5FM. She interviews people who make a different in the community, and sparks thought provoking conversations.

The Buck Stops Here

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I’ve been sketching performances by Gailanne Amundsen for years. She performs with her brothers, Roger and Jeffery , as Jubal’s Kin. These young performers harmonized beautifully. Gailanne met three other female performers at music festivals with the same passion for music. Together they formed, “The Buck Stops Here” which they describe as four does and a buck playing indie-soul-folk-pop-old time music. The idea of forming an all female group with one buck as backup is unique.

Julie Norris is the host of Front Porch Radio on WPRK, and she invited the girls in to perform their first live radio broadcast. The radio station has just renovated the music library and it now can be used for live performances. Rebecca Branson Jones, Julie Chiles and Shona Carr were driving in from North Carolina. Gailanne and Jeffery hail from Orlando. The band literally arrived minutes before going on the air, and there was a mad scramble to get ready. The studio buzzed with excitement.

From the other radio booth, the stage manager raised three fingers then two then one. Julie went live and introduced the group. This was her first time in the new recording studio and the microphone wasn’t on. The problem was fixed quickly and she interviewed the band. Gailanne is like a big sister to Julie’s daughter Maya, so there is plenty of love there. Of course the music speaks for itself. They performed some beautiful traditional folk songs and then some originals. The all female harmonies are pitch perfect. The group performed at a Cake Walk Party while they were in town. A cake walk is sort of like musical chairs, only home made cakes are the prizes. In most photos and videos of the group, it is funny to see Jeffery hidden in the background. He is fine with stepping back to let the ladies shine. It is exciting to see local talent as part of a group that shines so bright. I hope they come back soon.

WPRK Local Heros

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Daniel Pacchioni, the host of 91.5 WPRK Radio’s “Local Heroes“, suggested that I sketch the newly renovated radio studios, “Hey, by the way if you ever want to come and sketch at WPRK again let me know. We added a new studio, studio B in the CD library and also my show does all the live performances there. Just let me know, you are welcome to come any Wednesday at 5pm.”The station is located in the basement of a building in Rollins College in Winter Park. Julie Norris of “Front Porch Radio” was just getting off the air. Carolina Suarez-Garcia was in the studio with Julie probably offering plenty of information about the exciting Dia de los Muertos and Monster Factory Exhibit and Block Party coming up October 17th starting 6pm at the City Arts Factory (29 S Orange Ave  Orlando, FL). I rushed in to say hello to Julie as she was leaving.

An it turned out,  the Wednesday I went to the radio station was the one day that there wasn’t a band playing live in the new studio. Instead, I crowded into the old studio to sketch Daniel conducting interviews. Nick Palmer and Shea O’Rourke from Real Feel Recording got behind the mics. The recording studio, located at 182 Oxford Rd. Casselberry, FL is one of the finest most affordable recording studios in Central Florida. They were having an open house to show off their studios to the public.

I was called up to the mic for a quick interview as well.  never hurts to introduce a new audience to the site. Daniel threw me for a second by asking what my favorite sketch subject has been. With well over a thousand events sketched and documented it is close to impossible to pick any one, but I recovered and simply talked about my mission and passions. I have a book being published called Urban Sketching in several months, why on earth didn’t I think to promote that? I suppose it doesn’t help to second guess the interview. It was what it was.

Next up behind the Mics were Alex Lenhoff and Andi Perez from The Orlandoan, which is a local events blog. They came up with a great T-shirt that simply says “Orlando Doesn’t Suck.” Their blog offers plenty of ideas about what to do in Orlando under a $20 budget. They spoke briefly about Page 15, which is committed to providing supplemental reading and writing education
for all students living and attending public schools in Orlando,
Florida. Their FREE after-school tutoring and creative writing workshops
are dedicated to enhancing communication skills, encouraging personal
creativity, and inspiring a lifelong passion for the language arts. Phil Zoshak has started a new program that inspires kids to be creative using his passion, video games.

WPRK 91.5FM – Out and About

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Via Facebook Mark Baratelli contacted me and asked if he could borrow my printer so he could print photos for an upcoming show. Every third Thursday of each month Mark puts on a “Mobile Art Show” in a U-Haul truck parked outside City Arts Factory. This month he plans to showcase all the photos that have been take for thedailycity.com. We bounced ideas back and forth on where we could meet and we decided to meet at WPRK a radio station located on the Rollins College campus. Mark would be there to showcase upcoming arts and culture events as listed on thedailycity.com. I arrived early so I would have a full hour to sketch. Jeremy Seghers, the Out and About host, greeted me and then got his guest situated for his on air interview. Seated in the guest chair was Jesse Nager who is now appearing in Xanadu at the Bob Carr Theater. Jesse also discussed a cabaret show he organized with friends of his. An album is being released called “The Broadway Boys” that features hits from this group of talented singers. He wanted to stress that that even people who don’t usually listen to show tunes would like these performances. He expressed how fun it was to collaborate with so many of his friends.
Jesse and Jeremy discussed the plot line of Xanadu at some length and now I am really curious to see this Broadway musical. It seems the play pokes fun at itself and it’s 1970’s culture and should be very campy and fun. The music to this show I have heard many times many times on the radio, not realizing it was from a Broadway show.
Zac Alfson was also on hand to promote the Cabaret House Party at Mad Cow Theater featuring K. T. Sullivan. I will be going to this Cabaret performance tonight and I hope to get a good sketch of K.T. Zac pointed out that there will be cabaret performances every night through May 16th. The Mad Cow offers an intimate setting in which to experience these one of a kind acts.

WPRK 91.5 Front Porch Radio

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I had met Jeremy Seghers at several events around town. I finally asked him if it would be alright to come in sometime and sketch the radio station he works at. WPRK is located in the basement of a Rollins College building. When I walked in there was no secretary, I just walked towards the conversation I heard in the next room. Jeremy was behind the mic. He and Julie Norris were talking to John Rife about Community and the Media. The topic of discussion is one that is fresh on my mind after covering IZEA Fest a few weeks ago. I started talking about how I, as a blogger, have a responsibility to support the artist community and through discussion, influence and improve the public’s view of the arts. I stressed that a blogger’s responsibility is to bring others into the spotlight. The discussion, which I am passionate about, was so natural that I didn’t even realize I was on the radio.
Also in the room were a photographer and writer from Winter Park Magazine who were doing a piece about the show. The photographer was everywhere getting shots of everyone from every angle. I sat back and relaxed into my sketch. I had to work fast since I had arrived late and was worried I might not finish. As it turns out I ended up having plenty of time to sketch since the next show’s host didn’t show. Jeremy had to head off to another job and Julie suggested that I sit in the hot seat and we started to talk. She was so gracious that I immediately felt at ease. She held her new born the whole time we talked which also had a soothing affect, like I was in her home. If you listen to the audio podcast I come in around 43 minutes and 40 seconds into the show. At first I was nowhere near a mic and later on Julie sat me down in front of the guests mic. I had no idea Analog Artist Digital World would become the topic of discussion but regardless I had a fun. I discovered it is possible to sketch and be interviewed at the same time. Oh and it looks like Jeremy and Julie cornered me into doing a show at Dandelion Communitea Cafe. I will certainly let you know when that happens.