Sunday Evening Video: Directed By Brian Young

Brian Young was one of my best friends, and I was pretty shaken to the core when he suddenly passed away last December. Without Brian, Radio Free Charleston never would have been revived, and there’s a good chance that PopCult might not even be a thing anymore. We probably wouldn’t have The AIR as our internet radio station.

That’s just part of how Brian affected my life. The truth is, he touched so many other people’s lives, and in such a positive and supportive way, with competence, good cheer and great humor, and I still miss him every day.

Friday, July 24, at Short Story Brewing, Brian’s friends and family will gather to remember him with music and stories and a bittersweet good time.

Above you see episode 65 of Radio Free Charleston, from April, 2009. In this episode, Brian did not perform as a musician. He did, however, direct the segments featuring the band, Bare Bones, and, ironically, he’d asked me to include a short film he’d made featuring the late Joe McComas, who’d just died a few weeks before.

Joe was loved by many friends in the Charleston music and film community and we decided to pay tribute by presenting the film “FOOTLUCY.” which was directed by Brian, based on a story by George Gloucester, in 1993.  Joe’s voice is the only one you’ll hear in this film, and you can tell that he was a hell of an actor. You can also see that Brian was a hell of a director.

I was the assistant director on this film. Most of my duties involved holding the reflector so we could get enough light on Joe’s face, as he sat in the doorway of the Empty Glass. I can also be seen as the guy walking into the alley.  I also ran camera on one shot, because Brian was in it as the angry motorist. Jon Steele shows up as Bottle Bill, and Kristi Matthews is Footlucy.

I thought sharing this episode of the show might be a nice nod to Brian’s work as a filmmaker.

As for Brian as a musician, I am going to move heaven and Earth to have a new video episode of RFC ready to premiere in this blog on Wednesday.  This will feature Brian playing drums with several different bands, as well as goofing around with me in front of the camera.  I had planned to premiere this show back in January, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it then. It’s going to be the third video episode of RFC in a row devoted to a friend who left us too soon, and I’m hoping to produce at least two more new episodes this year that aren’t special memorials.

That will make 2026 the first year since 2015 that I’ve managed more than one video edition of my show. I think I owe it to Brian to keep RFC going.

I also plan to encore the hour of Brian’s music that I originally put together last December in this week’s new RFC radio show. I will have more details and graphics for the memorial show as the week progresses.