King of the Hill

Returning Guest from Los Angles. Chuck Maiden

Have you ever seen the annimated TV show King of the Hill? If you haven't check it out, it's pretty funny. Anyways, This Sundays guest musician and songwriter Chuck Maiden is one of the set designers of the show. He's always a great guest on the show and also an outstanding singer songwriter. He has been key to bringing on several other outstanding artists from California. He has a brand new website worth a visit. Check him out, and make sure that you listen to the song, I found you! Keep the music playing Chuck Maiden. Visit Website

College of Fine Arts IUP

I enjoyed the chance to interview Michael Hood, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at IUP. on the Acoustic Hour Radio Show 9-17-06. I had been invited to attend his play, Othello, which I saw earlier in the summer in Pittsburgh.

I believe the most non-theatre going people have no idea how much time, effort and talents goes into producing and or directing shows. Theres' sponorship, planning, set design, crew, locations, utilities, actors, a script, practice, et al.... ! Just thinking of all of that can make one dizzy. But we don't have to think about that. All we have to do is support the arts!! Either through sponsorship, word of mouth, and most importantly... Go and see the show!

I'm not much of a theatre go-er, but I can tell you that I had a wonderful time watching(experiencing) the play. You are right there (up close and personal) and in some ways almost part of the play. A funny thing happened after the show, that I'd like to share.. I was standing in the parking lot in the back of the building and then the actors came out. Yep, they were right there..They looked like reqular people..lol... One minute they are characters in a powerful play and the next minute, they are hanging out in the parking lot chit-chatting! They seemed bigger than life on stage, and mere mortals afterwards...WOW!

I could feel the passion, and energy of the actors. And though I'm not versed in Shakespeare, I was able to follow what was going on ..

If you've always wanted to check a play out, check out IUP's offerings. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

Now back to the Acoustic Hour show, Dave Scerene helped with the interview. He's a great guitar player and loves the theatre as well. I got the chance to talk with Micheal and really get to know the (behind the scenes) stuff that goes into producing and/or directing plays. I found his information to be interesting. For example in some cases it can take a couple of years before the audience sees a curtian call. (Talk about Planning) But the bottomline is, theres's a story to tell that is generally almost always applicable to what's happening currently.

But I didn't ask him the most asked question regarding Theatre; and that is, "How do they remember all thouse lines?" Don't give me that training and concentration stuff! There has to be more to it than that? My thought is that they(actors) have a special memory chip implanted in their heads which allows them to remember bunches and bunches of lines. I guess, I'll never really ever know the true answer. Oh well!

If you listened to the show last Sunday, and would like to make a comment, feel free to do so..

Keep up the great work Mr. Hood.

Kamal Youssef

The Misson of the show, is the give voice to local and regional artists and musicians. If you are a regular listener to the show then you know that. If you tuned in this past Sunday you would also now know that name of Kamal Youseff. He is and Egyptian born painter living here in America. His works are going to be on display at IUP Find out more about him at his website

I had met Kamal through Chuck Olson a few years ago. I have learned so much about him, his work and thoughts after having him on the show. He was a delight to talk to and to share with our listeners. His works are will be on exhibit at IUP September 26th through December. Do try and stop by and check is work out for yourself.

Hat's off to IUP as well for also giving voice to this guiet gem of a man.

Folk Fest Team Predator and rain

The FolkFest Weekend is over. For me, it was a weekend of first. First I backed up Tim Dabbs on Drums on Friday evening. We had a nice show. He' really loved the "Ken doll" gift. The rain didn't keep the people away. We had a nice crowd and just like last year, it was a privilage to play great music for the Johnstown crowd. Oh and another cool thing was that we were able to get homecooked meals. It was part of the package for entertainers. I also got the chance to meet some new cool artists and musicians, many of which I invited to come on the show.

On Saturday, I played at the Cambria Community Center in Westmont for 3 hours. I invited my buddy Alex (young folk singer) to come along. Doug of (Crosswinds) even showed up and played a tune.
I had a wonderful time in Westmont. Again, the rain didn't stop people from coming out...
Then on Sunday I played at the Ethnic Festival in Johnstown. This was cool as well, but I have to say that when I arrived back to Johnstown, I didn't have my guitars. I had left them back at home. Don't you just hate that? Anways... the audience seemed to enjoy the music and I gave away a few CDs. I want to thank Tim for allowing me to use his guitar. Then back to Folkfest for some more music and food. Ryan(Tim Dabbs Son) and Mitch( Tim's nephew) also stopped by the CMT Van and got our pictures taken. All and all a great weekend, of Fun, Friends, Music and Food...

One last thing and probably most importantly.. I got back to Indiana in time to see "Team Preadtor" This was the film shown at the Indiana Theatre this weekend. I had heard about it but this was my first time seeing it. During my shows, I often say a few words of praise and sing a few songs to say thanks to our troops.
It was powerful and raw. I couldn't help seeing out young the solders looked. It really gave you in close up and real picture of what these brave solders deal with everyday. Pastor Randal Mccaully spoke afterwards and sang a tribute song for all veterans. It was tough to watch....but that's nothing compared to living it. Thanks to JD Varner for getting it to the big screen in Indiana County. I do hope that Shawn(the films producer) continues to let the world see this film.