It’s a new month and we have plenty of STUFF TO DO in Charleston and the surrounding area this weekend. This week I’m going to start off with stuff you can listen to on Wednesday, and also point you to another cool Kickstarter project.

STUFF TO HEAR ON THE AIR

Wednesday afternoon The AIR brings you a special new episodes of Curtain Call and Beatles Blast, both of which are the second halves of two-part specials!  You can tune in at the website, or if you’re on a laptop or desktop, you could just stay right here and  listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking elsewhere on this page.

At 2 PM Beatles Blast presents the second part of a themed show that, when I first thought of it, I thought was a dumb idea and there wouldn’t be enough songs to fill out an hour. I had the silly idea of doing an hour of Beatles songs (group and solo) about animals, or at least that mention an animal in the title.  Check out the playlist here…

Beatles Blast 088

The Beatles “I Am The Walrus”
Paul McCartney & Wings “Morse Moose & The Grey Goose”
George Harrison “Pisces Fish”
Ringo Starr “Monkey See, Monkey Do”
The Beatles “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey”
John Lennon “The Wumberlog (or The Magic Dog)”
John Lennon “Free As A Bird”
The Beatles “Blue Jay Way”
The Beatles “Dig A Pony”
Paul McCartney “Ode To A Koala Bear”
Ringo Starr “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”
George Harrison “Dark Horse”
The Beatles “And Your Bird Can Sing”
John Lennon “Too Much Monkey Business”
The Beatles “Rocky Raccoon”
Ringo Starr “Scouse The Mouse”
The Beatles “Octopus’s Garden”
The Beatles “The Palace of the King of the Birds”

Beatles Blast can be heard every Wednesday at 2 PM, with replays Thursday at 11 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday afternoon.

At 3 PM on Curtain Call, Mel Larch brings you the second half of her salute to the 25th anniversary of the Broadway debut of the musical based on E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime. Mel also wanted to pay her respects to Frank Galati, who directed the show, and who passed away on January 2.

Ragtime featured music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally.

Set in the late-period gilded age of the early 20th century, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. The show also incorporates historical figures such as Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall Thaw, and Admiral Peary, an weaves its narrative around some of the true-life scandals and events of the day.

Curtain Call can be heard on The AIR Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM, Saturday at 8 PM and Monday at 9 AM. A six-hour marathon of classic episodes can be heard Sunday evening starting at 6 PM, and an all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.

Also on The AIR, Wednesday at 11 PM,  The Comedy Vault fires up another new episode.  This time you get a sixty-minute sampling of The National Lampoon Comedy HourThe Comedy Vault can be heard every Wednesday at 11 PM, with the featured episodes replayed the following Monday at 8 PM.

STUFF TO FUND ON KICKSTARTER

Last year I told you about a new graphic novel campaign from local boy made good, Jason Pell.  I’ve been a fan of Jason’s for some time, and I’ve told you about his Pinpricks illustrated books and graphic novel, all of which easily met their goals and were funded and delivered promptly. Last year Jason gave us  Bear Skin, a graphic novel about a small West Virginia town that gets wiped out by a serial killer and the man in the bear suit who might be the killer…or the town’s defender.

Jason is back with a one-shot comic book sequel that also pays homage to Larry Hama’s famous “Silent Interlude” issue of the GI Joe comic book. Bear Skin- The Silent Issue: The Echoes Left by Chains picks up the story after the events in Granstville WV, where the man in the bear suit confronted a town full of blood-thirsty creatures, as his hunt for monsters continues!

With a local creator, localish setting, a murderous guy in a bear suit and a tribute to Larry Hama, how can you go wrong?

You can find out how to support Bear Skin- The Silent Issue: The Echoes Left by Chains and get this intriguing wordless comic book in your hands in July at this link. There you will also find info on how to get Jason’s earlier works as add-ons, so you can catch up with Bear Skin and check out Jason’s other works.

I also want to remind you about Intrusive Thoughts, the first chapter of a six-part comic book series written by Anthony D. Stokes.  Last year I told you about his mini-series, Decay (which is three parts into its five-part story), and I am enjoying Decay so much that I’ve already kicked in on this campaign and made the decision not to learn too much about it until I have it in my hands. I don’t want t ruin any elements of the story.  Here’s what Stokes says on the Kickstarter campaign page: “Intrusive Thoughts Issue 1 is the start of a six-issue horror mystery comic book series that’s a combination of The Sandman and Where The Wild Things Are. The first issue is 28 full color pages.” So if you want to get in early on the career of a storyteller who I predict will be a major talent in the next few years, visit the Kickstarter page for Intrusive Thoughts.

Just wanted to give you guys a reminder about that one. It looks to be a real gem.

And now on with STUFF TO DO

Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. Friday it’s Aaron Fisher. Saturday Ken Kruger and Anne McConnell serenades the crowd at Charleston’s beloved Bookstore/Coffee Shop/Art Gallery.

The Empty Glass has some great stuff through the week to tell you about.   Thursday from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, Swingstein and Robin play fiddle and piano and sing swing and early jazz standards. Each week they donate their tips to a local nonprofit.   Friday from 5 PM to 8 PM Timmy “Courts and Friends hold down the fort at the Glass. Next week they’ll have an open mic Monday night, and Songwriter Showcase on Tuesday. Weekend shows that have graphics are listed among the images below.

Please remember that the pandemic is not over yet. In fact, it’s surging again. 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.

If you’re up for going out, here are a few suggestions for the rest of this week, roughly in order…