From late September, 2011, we bring you this special episode of Radio Free Charleston which was a major departure from our normal format. This show is a documentary following the 2011 revival of the Dan Kehde/Mark Scarpelli musical, Jack The Ripper. Produced by The Contemporary Youth Arts Company, this daring and complex piece of musical theater was pulled together in less than six weeks. Included in the show are interviews with Dan and Mark, intercut with “fly-on-the-wall” footage from the rehearsals leading up to opening night. It’s a little bittersweet seeing Mark in his prime, co-creating an amazing piece of work.
We also dug into our archives and included footage of the original production from 2008, starring Ryan Hardiman. This is rare video that had never been seen by the general public before.
In this episode of RFC you will see the 2011 incarnation of the show come together from on-book readings at local churches to the building of the set to the final blocking and staging during tech week. I spent several weeks attending rehearsals with my camera, shooting loads of Cinéma vérité footage of the cast and crew preparing for their big night. It’s a look inside the creation of a unique original work in the Charleston, WV theater scene. Some of this show was recorded as late as one day before it was originally posted online. We managed to get this show finished and online in time to promote the opening of the show later in the week.
It’s been a bit wild these last few months, running the chronological presentation of the video version of RFC, and having them tie in with something currently happening. Coincidentally to this show coming up in our rotation on Saturday July 26, this is the same day that The Elk City Playhouse will celebrate 30 years of CYAC (and 30 years of CYAC “kids”). There will be an open-house type celebration in and around their “Elk City Playhouse”, at 218 Washington St W, Charleston, from 2 PM to 9 PM, with a buffet meal from 5:30 to 6. Expect to share lots of memories and LOTS of photos. This will be a fun reunion for the CYAC kids and folks who contributed to the success of one of Charleston’s most durable and original theatrical concerns. You can find more details HERE.
We have great new themed episodes of our Friday Music Specialty programs on The AIR Friday Afternoon, but after that we have some of those obituaries we can’t avoid mentioning, like we told you about a few weeks ago.
The AIR FRIDAY!
Friday afternoon both of our Friday music specialty shows devote themselves to special themes. Mel Larch’s MIRRORBALL and Sydney Fileen’s Sydney’s Big Electric Cat return with new episodes. The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear our shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.
Friday at 2 PM on The AIR, we have a new episode of MIRRORBALL where Mel Larch uncovers a batch of Disco classics that are cover tunes…originally performed by other artists. Some of them weren’t even originally Disco…even danceable…songs. Making it even sweeter, the show oepns and closes with Gloria Gaynor working her Disco magic on two Motown classics from the 1960s.
Don’t believe us? Check out the playlist. It’s covered with Disco…
MIRRORBALL 118
Gloria Gaynor “Walk On By”
Michael Zager Band “Shake Your Groove Thing”
Thelma Houston “Don’t Leave Me This Way”
Amii Stewart “Knock On Wood”
Edwin Starr “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”
Walter Murphy “A Fifth of Beethoven”
The Spinners “Working My Way Back To You”
Tavares “More Than A Woman”
Donna Summer “MacArthur Park Suite”
Gloria Gaynor “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays Sunday night at 11 PM and throughout the following week Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM plus there’s a mini-marathon that includes the latest episode Saturday nights at 9 PM
At 3 PM, Sydney Fileen graces us with a terrific new episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat that finally delivers a topic that she’s been talking about doing since the first year of this program. This week, instead of delivering two hours of New Wave’s greatest hits, Sydney serves up two hours of New Wave’s GREATEST MISSES! You will hear songs that aren’t familiar by musical artists that you’ve never heard of before.
Sydney dug deep into her slush pile of song submissions from aspiring hitmakers from the classic New Wave era, and what she comes up with is a fascinating alternate history of New Wave classics that never were.
it’s sort of like finding a “Best of New Wave” CD from an alternate dimension.
It turns out that Earth Two had some pretty cool sounds. Just for good measure, Sydney opens the show with FEX, the group who did “the most mysterious song on the internet,” which was finally discovered earlier this year after a long search by thousands of internet sleuths.
Check out the playlist of people you never heard of before…
BEC 130
FEX “Subways of Your Mind”
Tattoo Host “Civilised Make Up”
The Elektrics “Pretty Plastic”
Bunnydrums “TV Eye”
DeFilm “Bitter Surprise”
Elements “All My Best Friends”
European Toys “So Look At Me Now”
Idle Eyes “I’ll Wait”
Jon St. James “The Girl Who Seduced The World”
Trek W Quintronic “Zolan Space”
Glaxo Babies “Stay Awake”
Tirez Tirez “Vowels”
Paparazzi “Stop”
Big Dish “Swimmer”
Minimal Compact “Shouts and Kisses”
MC2 “Goin’ Crazy”
T.X.T. “What About You”
Red 7 “Big boys (Talk Tuff)”
Little Heroes “Seventh Heaven”
The Elevators “On The Wire”
The Victims “Tokyo Waits”
Threshold “2000 Light Years”
Alternative Radio “Strangers In Love”
RPM “Man Overboard”
Velvet Monkey “Future”
Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon, Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Classic episodes can be heard Sunday morning at 10 AM.
Could You People Quit Dying For A Minute So I Can Finish This?
Looks like The Grim Reaper decided to party like it’s 2016, as we had a raft of notable pop culture deaths this week. I was whining about this just a few weeks ago, so apologies if I somehow invoked the spirit of death to suddenly get busy.
First and foremost, we have Ozzy Osbourne. I’ve not mentioned this before, but the second rock album I ever owned had Black Sabbath on it.
It was a Warner Brothers Records sampler called “Heavy Metal” (back before that term meant what it does now) and it was a birthday gift from my brother, just a few week’s shy of fifty years ago I suspect there was no small element of Homer’s bowling ball at play here, since many of his favorite bands were on it, and I only had one rock album that I’d bought because it was funny (that would be Frank Zappa’s “Apostrophe”). Still, this is a pretty wild collection, and Sabbath’s “Iron Man” caught my attention because I was a comic book nerd.
Among the other artists on this “Heavy Metal” compilation were YES, Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and for reasons beyond my understanding, Dr. John, Van Morrison, The Eagles and Faces.
That record put Ozzy on my radar, and while I was not a rabid fan, and was pretty repulsed by the reality show (I am pretty repulsed by EVERY reality show), I did respect his importance in music history, his influence and his charitable contributions. He also wrote or co-wrote a ton of great songs. “War Pigs” would probably be in my top twenty if he didn’t rhyme “masses” with “masses” in the first verse.
Fifteen years ago I made a short film starring my buddy, Lee Harrah, and his band, HARRAH, doing a rather fun and credible impression of Ozzy. I think this was an attempt to get Lee on a TV show or movie or something. Anyway, it’s purely a loving tribute, and here it is again…
Malcolm Jamal Warner died in a swimming accident this week, and like almost everybody else who was alive at the time, I enjoyed his work on The Cosby Show…at least before that show’s star made it hard to watch again. MJW was the rare child star who avoided the pitfalls of fame and went on to have a successful adult career in front of and behind the camera and was a creative force in poetry and music. It’s a true tragedy because he clearly had much more to offer the world.
We also lost Chuck Mangione. Mangione was a virtuoso musician who learned at the feet of Dizzy Gillespie, and managed to find mainstream success at a time when instrumental soft Jazz was not even a musical catagory. His success with Easy Listening music obscures his substantial jazz cred, with stints playing with Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Art Blakey and Keith Jarrett. His music made millions of people feel good, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Hulk Hogan was, of course, an iconic professional wrestler. I offer my condolences to his family, friends and fans. Not being a fan of him as a wrestler or a human being, I will refrain from further comment.
That is this week’s PopCulteer. As your humble blogger looks forward to his first weekend without travel or illness in a couple of months. Still, we has the fresh content every dang day. Check back for our regular features every day too.
At the head of this post you see our lightning-quick PopCult music video for last weekend’s Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo in Louisville. This is about six minutes of scenes from the toy show set to music by Sausage (AKA the original line-up of Primus).
This is not the only video we’ll be doing. The plan is to work on at least two more videos and a few more photo essays in the next week or two, but I wanted to get this out so you could get a taste of the terrific toy action.
I’m going to share just a few photos below. There will be more next week. Your humble blogger has to juggle prior committments with doctor appointments and other surprises, so in this case, your patience will be rewarded.
At least it will be rewarded more than impatience will be.
Over the next week or two we’ll have short videos devoted to a few special events and items tied to the show, pluse we’ll do the big “raw footage” video for you completists who want to see everything we shot. You can expect photo essays devoted to some awesome dioramas and the Defenders of Bulletman 25th anniversary display. I’ll also bring you photos of the people of the KYGIJoe show, and of course…the toys.
Here’s a quick sample….
The quiet before the storm at the ticket area.
Brian Becker representing the Defenders of Bulletman.
You will learn more about the D.O.B. next week.
Cindy Scott’s spectacular Bob Hope USO stage. Next week will also bring a photo essay of Cindy’s incredible work.
Cindy with her diorama. She built the stage herself and assembled a historically accurate scene.
Greg Brown of Cotswold Collectibles, intently organizing and reorganizing little, wonderfully-crafted, pieces of plastic.
The show exclusives for Adventure Command and 12″ GI Joes.
A gigantic and impressive Cobra Viper vehicle of some sort. This cardboard creation was HUGE!
A quick look at The Marauders.
We wrap up this brief photo essay with a shot of some really cool 3D printed RAH GI Joe pieces. A couple of these came home with me.
We will continue our coverage of The 2025 Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo over the next two weeks here in PopCult.
Charleston is going Retro this weekend so let’s look forward and back at the same time and tell you about STUFF TO DO all over the State of Mountainaity.
The fourth annual RetroFest happens Saturday in Slack Plaza. Vendors, food trucks and Deejays will celebrate nostalgia, and the headlining live music act is the beloved Hair Supply. You can read more about the event HERE.
Also on Saturday, a related sort of event a few blocks away at the Beni Kedem Temple on Quarrier Street, is VintageFest, which will have dozens of vendors selling tons of cool old stuff. See the details right here…
And in another nostalgic happening on Saturday July 26, The Elk City Playhouse will celebrate 30 years of CYAC (and 30 years of CYAC “kids”). There will be an open-house type celebration in and around their “Elk City Playhouse”, at 218 Washington St W, Charleston, from 2 PM to 9 PM, with a buffet meal from 5:30 to 6. Expect to share lots of memories and LOTS of photos. This will be a fun reunion for the CYAC kids and folks who contributed to the success of one of Charleston’s most durable and original theatrical concerns. You can find more details HERE.
As always, you should remember that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS. It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments. Also, if you have a show that you’d like to plug in the future, contact me via Social Media at Facebook, BlueSky , Spoutible, Instagram or possibly Elon’s beast, if it should ever choose to forgive me. I dont charge for this, so you might as well send me something if you have an event to promote. Note that some links look like they shouldn’t work because they have lines through them, but that’s just a WordPress glitch, so click on them anyway. They should still work.
We are also very happy to remind you that Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.
City Center Live at Slack Plaza in Charleston has announced their schedule for the summer. You can find it HERE.
You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look.
Most Fridays and Saturdays you can find live music at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. This weekend they have James Romano on Friday, and 2 Roommates on Saturday.
You can find live music every night at The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe. Mondays feature open mic night. The first Tuesday of every month sees the legendary Spurgie Hankins Band perform. There’s both Happy Hour music and local or touring bands on Thursday and Friday, and live bands Saturday nights. This Saturday, The East End Ghouls hold their monthly Drag/Burlesque showcase at 10 PM. On Sundays when there’s a new Mountain Stage, musicians from the legendary WV Public Radio show migrate to The Glass for the Post-Mountain Stage jam.
Live at The Shop in Dunbar hosts local and touring bands on most weekends, and is a nice break away from the downtown bar scene.
In Huntington, local institution, The Loud (formerly The V Club), brings in great touring and local acts three or four nights a week.
The Wandering Wind Meadery holds several events each week, from live piano karaoke to bands to comedy to burlesque.
The multitude of breweries and distilleries that have popped up in Charleston of late bring in live musical acts as well. I tend to miss a lot of these because, being a non-drinker, they fly under my radar.
Roger Rablais hosts Songwriter’s stage at different venues around the area, often at 813 Penn, next door to Fret ‘n’ Fiddle in Saint Albans and also at The Empty Glass many Tuesday evenings. You might also find cool musical events at Route 60 Music in Barboursville and Folklore Music Exchange in Charleston.
To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at Pumzi’s, on Charleston’s West Side. Pumzi’s looks to be beefing up their offerings in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to check that link in case we miss something.
You can also visit Coal River Coffee in Saint Albans for live music in an alcohol-free environment. This Friday at 7 PM Coal River Coffee features Minor SwingI am looking to expand this list, so please contact me through the social media sites above if you know about more alcohol-free performance venues. The Huntington Music Collective has recently started hosting all ages shows at Event Horizon.
For cutting-edge independent art films, downstairs from Taylor Books you’ll find the Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF. Each week they program several amazing movies in their intimate viewing room that you aren’t likely to see anywhere else.
Please remember that viral illlnesses are still a going concern and many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding while you’re out. And if you’re at an outdoor event, please remember that it’s awfully inconsiderate to smoke or vape around people who become ill when exposed to that stuff. If somebody asks you to refrain, don’t be a jerk about it.
Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.
Here we go, roughly in order, it’s graphics for local events that I was able to scrounge up online…
There are three new hours of Radio Free Charleston that you can hear today on The AIR. To listen to The AIR, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here, and listen to the cool embedded player found elsewhere on this page.
You can hear Radio Free Charleston Tuesdays at 10 AM and 10 PM, with boatloads of replays throughout the week.
It’s a free-format extravaganza with a gimmick we haven’t used for a while this week. We’re doing double-shots, playing two songs in a row from every artist this week. We have our usual mix of local, independent and cult-favorite artists, only this time the fun is doubled.
We open the show with a brand-new tune from Sasha Colette & The Magnolias, then follow that with a song from deep in the RFC Archives.
In the course of our show you’ll hear new music from Byzantine, The Settlement, Styx, M (Robin Scott) and more. Plus we dig into the archives for great stuff from Peter Gabriel, Hello June, Saycouth June Swoon and more.
It’s a great show, and it’ll have you hearing double.
hour two The Settlement “Midnight Train” “Recognize (live)” Peter Gabriel “Family Snapshop (live)” “Shock The Monkey (live)” Styx “Build and Destroy” “The Things That You Said” The M.F.B. “Big Booty Judy” “Funkle Sam Needs You” The Heavy Hitters Band “Voicemail (Tiny Desk Version)” “Operations”
You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM, Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, Sunday at 8 PM and Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different classic episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.
I’m also going to embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.
After RFC, stick around for encores of the most recent episodes of MIRRORBALL at 1 PM and Curtain Call at 2 PM.
At 3 PM we give you an encore of two classic episodes of The Swing Shift. I know I’ve been neglecting my Swing Music showcase lately, but I play to rectify that situation with a stretch of new episodes coming every week beginning in August.
You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM and 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.
I have regained enough use of my fingers this week to produce the small, funky pastel crayon illustration of the Chicago Skyline, as seen from a cab going up Lakeshore Drive. It’s based on some blurry phone photos.
I used a few straight edges and flexible curves, but was mainly just trying to regain some control over the digits.
This was drawn on a new (to me) type of ragweed paper that was a little more off-white than I’m used to, so the colors aren’t exactly what I’d planned for. Still, it sort of works for what it is.
Over in radioland, Monday beginning at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a new episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM an also new edition of Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis. You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.
Because I am writing this last Thurday before Mel and I head out of town for The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo, we don’t have playlists for either show. Nigel Pye tells me that Psychedelic Shack is another one of his favorite episodes ever, but he didn’t give me a hint of what to expect in it. As I write this, Herman Linte had not yet recorded his mixtape tribute to the late Dave Cousins, of the folk/prog band, The Strawbs, but it’ll be waiting on me to schedule on The AIR once I get home.
PsychedelicShack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM, and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM.
At 8 PM you can hear another collection of the music of Spike Jones on a classic episode of TheComedy Vault.
Tonight at 9 PM for the Monday Marathon we bring you ten more hours of The Comedy Vault, as we go all British on you.
Did you know that not all McDonald’s restaurants are created equal?
Some, in fact, are weird as hell.
If you watch the documentary, “Nonstandard,” as seen above, you will know of the strange and unusual McDonald’s that are hidden in offbeat nooks and crannies all over the world.
And if you still want to find out about the weirdest McDonald’s…in Florida, of course…check out this bonus feature…
This week we go back to September, 2011 for Radio Free Charleston 144, “Mission Coalition Shirt.” This special episode of the show was a preview for a big two-day metal fest, which was held at late, lamented The Sound Factory on the weekend of September 9 and 10, 2011. This was a really big deal that we covered heavily hear in PopCult leading up to the event.
On this edition of RFC you will find music videos by the Friday and Saturday night headliners, Karma To Burn and The Suede Brothers, plus a great video from Tomorrow Burns, and live performances from HARRAH and The Scrap Iron Pickers.
Mission Coalition, Charleston’s first two-day metal fest, featured twelve bands spread over two nights. Fans heard major acts like Karma to Brun and The Suede Brothers, plus local legends The Scrap Iron Pickers, Linework, HARRAH, Saprogen, Tower of the Elephant, John Lancaster, Tomorrow Burns, The Number Six, Deadface Down and Nuns on Fire. It was hoped that this would be the first of many Mission Coalition shows, but to date, it was the only one.
As a bonus this week, down below you’ll find our 14-minute PopCult Instant Video, showing off raw video and audio highlights from the Mission Coalition show.
It’s time for another random PopCulteer, presented as a stream of concsiousness ramble because your humble blogger is headed out of town for a quick, fun, trip…again.
This weekend we are heading back down to Louisville for the Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo, which you can read about HERE. I will be taking plenty of photos and Mel will be shooting video and I’ll bring you all that after we get back.
Last weekend we went to the first (but definitely not last) KrugerFest Toy Show in Wheeling, and I essentially went as a civilian. So I don’t have photos or video. This was a smaller, more intimate show, and yours truly was still suffering the effects of some painful and invasive medical tests, so I decided to just keep the camera in me pocket and enjoy the show. Next year you can expect photos and video, but this year I was not up for it.
The plan for Kentuckiana is to strike a balance between socializing with friends and documenting the event for my readers. We’re going to stay a little longer and avoid putting too much pressure on ourselves while still getting plenty of video and photos to share with you folks.
For those of you who have been asking how I’m doing…I’m almost back to normal. The pain in my arms and hands has mostly let up, save for the odd tinge in my left hand. I should be completely recovered by the end of the month.
The play we went to see, “You Will Get Sick” was amazing, and prophetic!
This summer has been a bit of a blur. From the end of May, in quick order, I saw Ann Magnuson as part of “Three Things” in Charleston, saw old friends and met the guy who built the shark in JAWS in Louisville two days later at WonderFest, hopped on a train to Chicago the next day where we saw a great play (and got to sit in on part of a tech rehearsal) and had other fun adventures, went to the Marx Toy Show in Wheeling the weekend after we got back from Chicago, visited The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, picked up a summer cold at some point, had electrified needles plunged into my arms and neck fourteen times, whined repeatedly about that here in the blog, took Lee Harrrah with us to KrugerFest, and now I’m off to Louisville again.
We’ve been to The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling twice in the last five weeks!
And technically, we’re not quite one-third of the way through summer yet. There was a quick overnight trip to Parkersburg/Marietta in there somewhere, too.
I think we’ve gone out of town five of the last six weekends.
We don’t have plans for August yet…However, it is a bit of a minefield of significant dates. I’ve got a birthday. Mel and I have our anniversary. And near the end of the month, this blog celebrates 20 years of whatever the hell it is that I do here.
I’ll have to do something for that. I’m also sure that another trip or two might materialize. In the meantime, I still have some photos to share, videos to edit and other adventures to tell you about.
But those will have to wait because I got places to go, people to meet and toys to buy.
That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back every day for fresh content (somehow) and all our regular features.
Once again this week STUFF TO DO is attempting to tell you about cool things happening all over this mountainous state. I won’t be here for any of this cool stuff because I’m headed to Louisvile for different cool stuff which I will be doing at The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo. If you want to know about a fantastic action figure-based toy show that’s in easy driving distance from Charleston, you can read about it HERE. While I intend to pursue the serious work of being a grown man playing with toys, you have your choice of cool things you can do closer to home.
Foremost among those things would be Charleston’s ArtWalk. Even in the tropical heat of July, ArtWalk happens again in Charleston Thursday from 5 PM to 8 PM. This free event is open to the public as art lovers can walk to all the usual suspects and take in the majesty of the art. Some galleries will have music and/or munchies as well. It’s a really cheap way to support the local scene and get out and mingle a bit…if you are so inclined. Several Art Walk-related events are listed below if I can find graphics for them.
As always, you should remember that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS. It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments. Also, if you have a show that you’d like to plug in the future, contact me via Social Media at Facebook, BlueSky , Spoutible, Instagram or possibly Elon’s beast, if it should ever choose to forgive me. I dont charge for this, so you might as well send me something if you have an event to promote. Note that some links look like they shouldn’t work because they have lines through them, but that’s just a WordPress glitch, so click on them anyway. They should still work.
We are also very happy to remind you that Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.
City Center Live at Slack Plaza in Charleston has announced their schedule for the summer. You can find it HERE.
You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look.
Most Fridays and Saturdays you can find live music at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. This weekend they have yet to announce who’s playing, but it’s sure to be well worth the ticket price!
You can find live music every night at The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe. Mondays feature open mic night. The first Tuesday of every month sees the legendary Spurgie Hankins Band perform. There’s both Happy Hour music and local or touring bands on Thursday and Friday, and live bands Saturday nights. This Saturday, The East End Ghouls hold their monthly Drag/Burlesque showcase at 10 PM. On Sundays when there’s a new Mountain Stage, musicians from the legendary WV Public Radio show migrate to The Glass for the Post-Mountain Stage jam.
Live at The Shop in Dunbar hosts local and touring bands on most weekends, and is a nice break away from the downtown bar scene.
In Huntington, local institution, The Loud (formerly The V Club), brings in great touring and local acts three or four nights a week.
The Wandering Wind Meadery holds several events each week, from live piano karaoke to bands to comedy to burlesque.
The multitude of breweries and distilleries that have popped up in Charleston of late bring in live musical acts as well. I tend to miss a lot of these because, being a non-drinker, they fly under my radar.
Clendenin Brewing Co is a microbrewery with 4 themed lodging rooms in a 1920s bank building on Main St Clendenin, WV. They’ve been host a lot of musical acts lately.
Roger Rablais hosts Songwriter’s stage at different venues around the area, often at 813 Penn, next door to Fret ‘n’ Fiddle in Saint Albans and also at The Empty Glass many Tuesday evenings. You might also find cool musical events at Route 60 Music in Barboursville and Folklore Music Exchange in Charleston.
To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at Pumzi’s, on Charleston’s West Side. Pumzi’s looks to be beefing up their offerings in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to check that link in case we miss something. This week DJ Tom Sloand and The ARK Band (from Columbus) take their stage at 7 PM, Saturday. See the graphic at right for more upcoming shows.
You can also visit Coal River Coffee in Saint Albans for live music in an alcohol-free environment. This Friday at 7 PM Coal River Coffee features Minor SwingI am looking to expand this list, so please contact me through the social media sites above if you know about more alcohol-free performance venues. The Huntington Music Collective has recently started hosting all ages shows at Event Horizon.
For cutting-edge independent art films, downstairs from Taylor Books you’ll find the Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF. Each week they program several amazing movies in their intimate viewing room that you aren’t likely to see anywhere else.
Please remember that viral illlnesses are still a going concern and many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding while you’re out. And if you’re at an outdoor event, please remember that it’s awfully inconsiderate to smoke or vape around people who become ill when exposed to that stuff. If somebody asks you to refrain, don’t be a jerk about it.
Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.
Here we go, roughly in order, it’s graphics for local events that I was able to scrounge up online with a few bonus events for early next week…
It’s been a bit wild these last few months, running the chronological presentation of the video version of RFC, and having them tie in with something currently happening. Coincidentally to this show coming up in our rotation on Saturday July 26, this is the same day that The Elk City Playhouse will celebrate 30 years of CYAC (and 30 years of CYAC “kids”). There will be an open-house type celebration in and around their “Elk City Playhouse”, at 218 Washington St W, Charleston, from 2 PM to 9 PM, with a buffet meal from 5:30 to 6. Expect to share lots of memories and LOTS of photos. This will be a fun reunion for the CYAC kids and folks who contributed to the success of one of Charleston’s most durable and original theatrical concerns. You can find more details HERE.
At the head of this post you see our lightning-quick PopCult music video for last weekend’s Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo in Louisville. This is about six minutes of scenes from the toy show set to music by Sausage (AKA the original line-up of Primus).
Charleston is going Retro this weekend so let’s look forward and back at the same time and tell you about STUFF TO DO all over the State of Mountainaity.
Once again this week STUFF TO DO is attempting to tell you about cool things happening all over this mountainous state. I won’t be here for any of this cool stuff because I’m headed to Louisvile for different cool stuff which I will be doing at 
To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at 
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