Radio Free Charleston: La Belle Production Notes

Episode 31 of Radio Free Charleston, “GI Joe Shirt,” is online now! This episode, hosted from the La Belle Theater, features music from Raymond Wallace and Doctor Senator, plus animation from Frank Panucci and news about upcoming events in South Charleston.

The Host segments were shot in and around the Historic La Belle Theater on D Street in South Charleston, as they were putting up the marquee promoting Radio Free Charleston night at the La Belle, coming up on December 8. This was very lucky, since we hadn’t planned it this way, but the timing was perfect, and we got to shoot most of the host segments inside the La Belle, which is one of the finest performance halls in the area. We are thrilled to be able to hold our Radio Free Charleston “best of” night and jam session there.

In the new show, we tell you more about that night (you can see the promo video right here), and we also plug this Saturday’s IWA East Coast day of Double Tournaments, with the “Zero G High Flyer’s Cup” in the afternoon, and the “Masters Of Pain Invitational” in the evening. We also bring you news of The No Pants Players and their annual “Joytacular,” coming up at the end of the month. South Charleston’s a pretty hopping place right now.

In addition to the news about the cool events, we also have great music. Raymond Wallace performs his instrumental 12-string arrangement of “It’s A Long Way To Tipperary.” This World War One marching song was written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams in 1912, a fact which was accidentally omitted in the end credits. We shot Raymond in the Lobby at LiveMix Studio, and we’ll have more from that session in a few weeks on our upcoming “Show Without Words.” This is Raymond’s triumphant return after his star turn on episode four of Radio Free Charleston last year. Just a few weeks ago, Raymond reunited with his old band, The Leon Waters Blues Band, at the Empty Glass.

We caught up with Doctor Senator performing live in downtown Charleston. They’re doing their song “He Was At The Revival” here, in a performance where I reached into my video effect bag of tricks. This is one of the most fun bands in town, and we’re planning on having them come into LiveMix Studio next year to tape more performances for the show so we can do full justice to their sound.

Annie, Alan, Andy and Travis really do put on one of the best shows in town, and we’ll be bringing you news of their upcoming shows right here in PopCult as details become available. “He Was At The Revival” was recorded the same night that we captured their song “Jesus Fish” for episode 27.

We also have some fresh animation from Frank. “Perky Dang: An Existential Journey” is the first of at least five parts of mind-expanding animated alternative spirituality, with the occasional bus crash. Our animation intro this episode is by RFC’s official Barista, Chelsea Cook, returning to the job after handling it so well in our Halloween episode.

That’s the behind-the-scenes dirt on episode 31. The GI Joe shirt I’m wearing is available cheap from Steve and Barry’s in the mall, just in case you want to run around dressed the way I am in the show. As we start the Thanksgiving holiday, please remember to take a few moments to abandon your family so you can go online to check PopCult this weekend, as we bring you news on upcoming events, surprise bonus videos and we also begin our holiday cool toy coverage.