Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

RFC 27: Production Notes For A Music-packed Show

Episode 27 of Radio Free Charleston is online now! This installment, titled “Trust Me I’m A Doctor Shirt,” is crammed full of a diverse assortment of excellent music, plus just a dash of animation and mind-hurting weirdness. We’re all over town in this show, at LiveMix Studio, The Sound Factory, The La Belle Theater, and on the South Side Bridge!

We have great songs from Stephanie Deskins, Doctor Senator, and Comparsa, plus a cartoon by Stephen Beckner and a really creepy toy commercial (about which we will not speak again). Hosted by yours truly from the South Side Bridge, the iconic gateway that leads from downtown Charleston to up where all the user fee money goes to pave roads.

Stephanie Deskins contacted me through MySpace, and that’s just one more reason for me to like MySpace so much. It’s a great way to discover new musicians. She’s a songwriter, working primarily in country music, and her work struck me as being pretty darned impressive. You can read an interview with Stephanie elsewhere here in PopCult, and on Thursday she’ll be profiled in the print Gazz.

We recorded her last week at LiveMix Studio, and if you listen closely you’ll hear an uncredited guest musician near the end of her song. An Amtrak train blew its horn across the river, and it can be heard, just faintly, in the recording. The performance was so good that the train didn’t take anything away from the song, so we left it in. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from Stephanie in the future. In fact, tomorrow I’ll be posting a bonus video by Stephanie here in PopCult. This is for a song that will be featured on a future episode of RFC.

I became a huge fan of Doctor Senator the first time I saw them open for Seven Minutes Till Midnight back in June. After months of scheduling glitches we decided to record them on location at The Sound Factory downtown. At some point in the future we’ll be bringing the band into LiveMix, but for now check out the rockin’ performance of their song “Jesus Fish” in this episode. Alan, Andy, Travis and Annie put on one of the best shows in town and I know they’ll be playing more and building a growing fan base.

Stephen Beckner is no stranger to Radio Free Charleston, having been a regular on the show going all the way back to the radio days as a member of Go Van Gogh. We’ve had Stephen on the show as a solo performer, a member of Go Van Gogh, and as an animator before, and here he is again with the SuperBastard cartoon, “Banditry.” I can promise that this is just the beginning of a wave of superhero and science fiction shorts that will be turning up on RFC in the coming months.

A few weeks ago, Sean Richardson staged a benefit concert for his cousin, Leigh Ann Bowlin, who has been fighting lung cancer. RFC cameras were on hand to tape a couple of the bands, and we’re going to be showing you some of those performances along with information on how you can contribute to the Leigh Ann Bowlin Support Fund. If you would like to contribute, call 553-4610 OR 546-1764.

Comparsa is West Virginia’s premiere Latin music band, and I’ve been trying to get them on the show since their leader, Eduardo Canelon, appeared on our third video episode. They graciously donated their time to perform at the Leigh Ann Bowlin benefit concert, and I was able to get them on tape. I only had one camera that night, so this video is not as slick as our usual RFC productions, but the music is wonderful and the audio was shockingly good. One of these days we’ll get Eduardo, Beth, Mark, Deron and Al to come into LiveMix, but for now sit back and enjoy this performance, recorded live at the La Belle Theater in South Charleston on September 9.

We shot host segments for the show on the South Side Bridge, which has some terrific views of Charleston. It also has some ridiculously loud traffic. If the host bits seem a tad choppy to you, it’s because they are. When the traffic noise wasn’t loud enough to drown me out, it was loud enough to distract me so I couldn’t remember the script. Still, it looked good. The shirt I’m wearing in this episode, “Trust Me, I’m A Doctor” was two bucks at Steve and Barry’s, and worked well with Doctor Senator appearing on the show.

Well, that’s the behind-the-scenes dirt on what is easily our most musically diverse show yet. We’ve got Country, Rock, Salsa and Bastards. What more could you want?

10 Comments

  1. Mexican Romeo

    Damn, dude! When you take an extra week off, you sure seem determined to make it up by knocking one out of the park.

    Great music this time. I’m not much for country, but Stephanie Deskin’s song worked for me. I would like to officially declare my intent to marry the lead singer of Doctor Senator when I grow up. And Comparsa was just amazing.

    I hope the newspaper sees fit to give this show some kind of promotion for a change. This is the best music show produced in this state (sorry Mountain Stage, but you spend too much time out of town) and it’s a crime that nobody knows about it.

  2. Mountain Woman Phd.

    Wow! Just “wow.”

    I think this is your best show yet. I love how you mix different musical styles together on RFC, and this is your best “mixtape” so far. Stephanie’s song was lovely. It was country in a good way, without sounding too “Nashville.”

    Doctor Senator looks like a lot of fun. That singer is cute as a button, but she sure can belt out a tune.

    Comparsa! What can I say about Comparsa? Thank you. Thank you for finally having them on the show. I don’t think I’m going to get any work done at all this afternoon. “La Buena Comparsa” will have me dancing all over the office.

    It was fun seeing you on the bridge I take to work each day. Nice hat. How many hats do you own now, anyway?

    Radio Free Charleston is getting so much better with each show that I can’t believe that we get to watch it for free. Please keep up the good work. This city needs something like this to help the music scene reach a wider audience.

  3. Annie Pasel

    Hey, now, just wanted to say thanks for the compliments! (This is Annie, the lead for Doctor Senator). Please visit our myspace: http://www.myspace.com/doctorsenator and give us a friend request. By the way, I am meaner than I look (haha)and married to the guitar player. Rudy has done an awesome job on this show and the other ones that I’ve watched. The exposure for local musicians really means a lot to us and I can’t give enough thanks to Rudy and all of our friends/family/fans that have come out to the shows.
    Peace out—Annie Pasel

  4. Teenaged Lesbian Spitfire

    Woohoo! Finally some wimmins on the show! Cute ones, too! Now you’re talkin’!

  5. Matt Salazar

    At this point, you have to know how good the show is. Now you’re just taunting the rest of us. How the hell are you planning to top this one?

  6. Popess Cookie Monster

    Good stuff. Love the location footage. That Latin band is amazing. All the music is great.

    Keep it up!

  7. Fred Martin

    Jumpin’ Jesus! Your shows are even better in the daytime! Either that, or this is just a really good one.

    Major hottie singing with Doctor Senator. That cowgirl pretty cute, too!

    And the girl playing flute! HOT!

    Dude, this RFC is at a whole new level of babedom.Sort of makes me wish I was back on the night shift, if you know what I mean.

    Music kicks major butt, too!

  8. Charleston Marley

    read about this show in the gazz over the weekend

    it was sheer torture having to wait until today so i could watch this show

    sucks having dial up at home

    glad to see my beloved Comparsa

    Stephanie Deskins song was very moving

    Dr Senator had a lot of energy

    i see i have lots to look forward to in your archive

    lets read more about radio free in the gazz

  9. Chris Tic

    Okay, that was worth the fuss. You have quite the lively music scene over there.

    Who would have thought West Virginia would have such a cool Latin band? Great rock and country stuff, too.

    And this is episode 27, eh? Good stuff. Any chance of a DVD release?

  10. Bella Donna

    Even though I’m not really a country music fan, Stephanie’s song was wonderful! I think bigger things are definitely in her future.

    Great to see the full component of Comparsa on RFC! How about an encore appearance?

    Oh yeah–more Super Bastard! 🙂

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