Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts

Friday, May 22, 2020

Nothing Stays The Same


NOTHING STAYS THE SAME
The Story Of the Saxon Pub
coming to VOD, EST, and DVD on July 14TH
 
Winner! Best Music Doc - 2019 SXSW


For songwriters, Nashville has The Bluebird Cafe, Los Angeles has the Troubadour, and Austin has The Saxon Pub... A home for the likes of Wille Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Rodney Crowell, 
Ray Wylie Hubbard, Stephen Bruton and many more.
Nothing Stays the Same celebrates the last 30 years of live music in Austin, Texas, while also examining the challenges faced by musicians and music venues in one of the fastest-growing and most popular cities in the country, all through the lens of the legendary Saxon Pub.

With iconic venues closing each year due to rising rents and property taxes in the Live Music Capital of the World, the writing is on the wall for the Saxon Pub, a mainstay in live music since 1990. Soon being forced to a new space - akin to closure for most clubs - its owner, its regulars and staff and its beloved musicians such as local luminaries Joe Ely, Bobby Whitlock, Bob Schneider, Patrice Pike, Guy Forsyth, Hector Ward, Carolyn Wonderland, The Resentments, Johnny Nicholas, W.C. Clark, Robynn Shayne and others, turn to face the music until they learn their fate might not be sealed after all.

Call it divine intervention or a stroke of good luck, the Saxon could live to see another day if it plays its cards right...

"...a really beautifully done doc...an outstanding film" - Louis Black, SXSW Co-Founder

Universal in its appeal...as noted in the Austin Chronicle, "There is still something universal about the challenges facing (Saxon) owner/manager Joe Ables and all the regulars - onstage and in the audience", mirroring a  situation found in cities across America (Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Brooklyn, etc) rising rents, property taxes and gentrification of arts districts and the downtown result in clubs closing and artists and musicians being forced to move out of town.

In 2019, Nothing Stays the Same made its world premiere at SXSW and was the "Audience Award Winner" in the 24 Beats Per Second categories. It also won "Best Texas Film" at the 2019 Hill Country Film Festival. That same year the film was nominated for "Best Texas Independent Film" by the Houston Film Critics Society and was an official selection of the Dallas International Film Festival and the Lost River Film Festival.

"...both an exceptional document of a unique Austin venue, anchored by remarkable live footage and artist interviews, and a treatise on maintaining a city's values and priorities amid rapid growth." - Doug Freeman, Austin Chronicle

"Jeff Sandmann's SXSW 2019 Audience Award-winning documentary is just as much a tribute to Austin's musicians as it is to the legendary live music venue established almost 30 years ago in the state capital of Texas." - Joe Friar, Houston Film Critics Society

Sunday, March 18, 2018

The Mania Continues: ONA

Smells Like ONA Spirit!

ONA gets N-A-K-E-D...!!!
Pop seductress ONA is treating fans to a visual feast with the launch of 20 scorching-hot music videos to promote her upcoming full-length album, ONAMANIA, out June 8th.
 
Capitalizing on her passionate fan base of over 1.5 million Instagram followers, ONA will stimulate support of ONAMANIA’s sultry songs by unveiling NSFW music videos throughout 2018 as upsells to her mainstream SFW videos.
 
The Brooklyn-based singer’s videos are similar - most of the NSFW videos were shot in the same location and with the same costuming as their partner SFW videos, but the NSFW versions include nudity.
 
While the regular SFW videos will be posted online to ONA’s exclusive YouTube channel OnaArtist, the star’s NSFW music videos will be available for purchase at her Video-on-Demand website, OnaPrime.com, launching mid-April.
 
ONA’s new fan site will also include her large archive of NSFW Snap stories and full live video recordings of each of her ten shows from her NSFW Undisclosed Location Tour, kicking off March 13 at the legendary SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.
 
In addition, fans can find the original nine videos from ONA’s debut five-song EP Sex Rock on her YouTube Channel as well. One of her racy videos, banned from YouTube for inappropriate content, can be found at OnaPrime.com.
 
The singer’s 10-song debut album, co-produced by ONA and KB2, a production team based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, will continue in the musical vein of Sex Rock - hard-driving rock, lush bedroom ballads, dirty grind funk, and epic orchestral pop.
 
ONA’s camgirl aesthetic and unique music monetization approach to performance videos and touring recently got her featured on Viceland’s Slutever, a show dedicated to profiling alt forms of American sexuality.
 
A trailer for ONA’s Viceland segment, “Independent Cam Girl Ona Artist on Personal Success,” can be seen here: Viceland.com/slutever-independent-cam-girl-ona-artist-on-personal-success.
 
For more information on ONAMANIA, ONA’s new music videos and her upcoming Undisclosed Location Tour, visit OnaPrime.com. Find out more about ONA at onaartist.com.
 
Learn more about ONA at onaartist.com

Saturday, March 3, 2018

ONAMANIA

Never Fear ONA is Here!

Let the mania commence!
Sultry singing sensation ONA is set to kick off her ‘Undisclosed Location’ tour in support of her forthcoming debut album, ONAMANIA, launching March 13th in Austin, Texas at SXSW Music Festival.
 
The tour will spotlight the sizzling star in a very provocative stage show across the U.S., an innovative ‘virtual concert’ model that is just one part of ONA's overall revolutionary NSFW music monetization lifestyle. Her second tour date is scheduled for March 24 in Hawaii, with further dates to be added throughout 2018.
 
The singer’s debut album, co-produced by ONA and KB2, a production team based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, will be released on June 8 and continue to explore the various musical forms touched on in ONA’S 2016 EP Sex Rock - hard-driving rock, lush bedroom ballads, dirty grind funk, and epic orchestral pop.
 
ONA is quickly becoming a major media phenomenon, and she’ll be capitalizing on her momentum by spending the year traveling - a year-long road trip across America digitally broadcasting photos, videos and a live show to her 1.5 million+ fans via Snapchat, Instagram Live and her personal webcam.
 
On the night of each tour date ONA will perform songs from ONAMANIA via Instagram Live, and then she'll perform the rest of the album for ticket holders at a private (NSFW) webcam link - a night of chatting, dancing, stripping and a happy ending for ONA (and hopefully her fans).
 
Tickets are available for purchase at onamania.com.
 
Find out more about ONA at the following:

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Get To Know Zachary Webber

Zachary Webber
Actor Zachary Webber is one cool dude. How do I know? I have co-starred with him on stage in a two person play. Since then Zach has kept very busy in his chosen career. Delving into everything from voice over to comedy and of course film. I knew when I met Zach he was going places. He has not proved me wrong. He recently had a role in Meg Ryan's directorial debut Ithaca which starred her and Tom Hanks. Zach is here to answer ten random things I have thrown at him. I can't wait to say "I knew him when!"

MS: Ithaca
ZW: I did a scene with Sam Shepard, and I personally made him break while improvising. It is and may always be the greatest moment in my career. I could have died on the spot. I doubt he remembers my name.

MS: Texas

ZW: It's my home, and it's where my heart is, or at least pieces of it. There's nothing particular about Texas if you grew up there and weren't meant to stay. The cows and the food and the bigotry are the main components, and if you ascribe to them all, you stay. I had to go to the big cities. I had to challenge everything I knew, and I still am today.
Rhinestone Cowboy?!
MS: Sasquatch Comedy
ZW: My best friends. Sasquatch has become my rock. I don't know where I'd be today without them.
MS: Barbie Dream House
ZW: My sister had one. Even I, an 8 year old boy, was sort of mesmerized by the thing. I had my own version at the time, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sewer Lair. But the Dream House was so big. The allure of having a house with a beautiful woman must have started there.
MS: Meg Ryan

ZW: I was enamored with Meg my whole life. When Harry Met Sally is still my favorite movie. She's as kind and gorgeous as you'd expect. One of the nicest people I will ever meet.
MS: Romance Novels
ZW: I never knew they would be the launch pad for my career. Somehow it has become my day job to read these books. If you'd told me when I was 16 that having a sex voice would earn me money I would have scoffed, and my voice would have broke in the process.
MS: Singing

ZW: Always a passion, never a practice.
MS: Puppy Love
ZW: 😎 I have a hard time imagining this one right now. I've known love, but it's always indelibly tied to heartbreak. I'm waiting for puppy love that stays young, as love should. I've always been with people who were dead wrong for me, who I loved deeply. My recent breakup is a testament to that, at an insane level. I had feelings I never knew I could feel. It was such immense passion, but only that. I think of leaves falling and her face, and I just cry. But we were wrong for each other. It's a sad truth everyone must face at some point. Maybe not everyone. But I'm not the type to hide from love. I dive in, at times to my detriment.
MS: Burning Man
ZW: It didn't change my life, it served my life in the moment I needed it most. I needed to be away from the world and see what genuine goodness could be. That can't be taken away. Coming back to earth has been very hard though.
MS: Favorite Drink

Monday, January 19, 2015

Body Slamming For Jesus! "Wrestling With Satan"


Wrestling With Satan 
coming on January 20th

Body Slams and Sleeper Holds For Jesus....
Welcome to the World of Christian Wrestling!

The title says it all, and this falls under the category of: just when you thought you've heard and seen it all, you thought wrong!


"The Christian Wrestling Federation bodyslams for Jesus-literally. On the surface, the CWF looks like a normal WWE wrestling event, with costumed characters jumping from the ropes and wrestlers being hit in the back of the head with chairs. Sometimes there's blood. Sometimes there's an elbow to the thorax. Except, these violent wrestling moves are all done for the love of Jesus Christ and to save souls." - Harmon Leon, AlterNet (September 25, 2014)

Wrestling With Satan follows the Christian Wrestling Federation as they travel across the US with an arsenal of hope, faith and professional wrestling action. From humble beginnings deep in the heart of Texas, follow this band of evangelical warriors as they pack up their ring and preach the message of Jesus Christ to hundreds of wrestling fans in small towns across the nation, savings souls with both head-smashing and Bible thumping. This is their incredible story of determination helping others grapple with Satan.



Bonus Materials:
Seven Bonus Matches From Ministry Tours Around The USA

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

"Lolley" Bop

Electronic music's best-kept secret, Sophia Lolley, set the international dance floor ablaze two years ago with the release of "Da Bop”, her English language interpretation of WTF!’s  cover of Irena Santor's 1968 novelty hit "Piosenka O SÄ…siedzie". EDM fans from all around the world began clamoring for more from the spirited British singer and this month, the wait is finally over!  Sophia Lolley's self-titled EP, featuring “Da Bop” 

Sophia describes her sound as theatrical disco pop, however the album is sprinkled with colorful music of varying styles including an undeniable cabaret influence born out of her love for 1940's artists like Doris Day and Glenn Miller
 She admits to having multiple personalities, running the gamut from serious to loving, reserved to gregarious, feral to gracious, and fun loving to drama queen.  "I’m a falconer. I go fly-fishing. It took me nine times to pass my driving test. I hate vegetables. I have lots of animals including a pet magpie, sparrow hawks, tortoises, hens, cattle and the occasional badger. I also smoke big cigars." 
All of her personas are reflected in the EP that was born from a series of collaborations over the last five years between Peace Bisquit and Count De Money, the production team that produced and mixed "Da Bop”. 
The EP begins with "Live That Day”, a song Sophia wrote as a tribute to her grandmother who died four years ago. "Grandmama was a huge inspiration to me,” she says. “Her motto was ‘everything will always be ok' and she was right. The song is about looking on the bright side of life because it is there."Sophia’s magical musings are also captured in “Everybody Loves It”, a song that encourages all to appreciate the lovely gloriousness of life. 
“The idea for the EP was to create a collection of Sophia Lolley songs that fans could dance to at a bar or pop on during a cocktail party or at fashion runway show,” says Bill  Coleman of Peace Biscuit. 
Sophia Lolley is thrilled the EP and future projects will take her out of England.  Though she loves her hometown of rural Devon – she calls it the best county in Britain – there are no musical influences or excitement there.  She’s anxious to come to the states, particularly Texas.  “I’ve always wanted to go to Texas to see if there are still cowboys," she says.
Get a "Lolley" Bop this Halloween:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sophia-lolley/id905676083

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sophia-lolleyI-Like-it-Electric/180702801992972

Friday, January 17, 2014

Shop Till You Drop! "Dallas Buyers Club"


Last night I saw one of the best films ever "Dallas Buyers Club!"  In case you are not familiar with this amazing movie that stars Matthew McConaughey , Jared Leto & Jennifer Garner here's what it's about:

Matthew McConaughey stars in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB as real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. These were the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and the U.S. was divided over how to combat the virus. Ron, now shunned and ostracized by many of his old friends, and bereft of government-approved effective medicines, decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, the entrepreneurial Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and outcasts - who he once would have shunned - and established a hugely successful "buyers' club." Their shared struggle for dignity and acceptance is a uniquely American story of the transformative power of resilience. 

Garner, McConaughey & Leto Sitting In A Tree
The transformative power of resilience, dignity and acceptance are very powerful things and because they are, so is this film.

For me this is one the best I have seen this year. It was such a testament to what we all can do as human beings in adverse circumstances and the power of loving your fellow man.

The direction, cinematography and performances were all top notch.

My prediction is Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto who recently won Golden Globes for their roles, will be making speeches at the Academy Awards.

Matthew McConaughey is great, however my in my opinion Jared Leto's performance was brilliant and riveting and I can't wait for him to grab the ultimate gold.

Kudos to Ms. Jennifer Garner as well.

Sprint don't run to catch this one!

"Dallas Buyers Club" : https://www.facebook.com/DallasBuyersClub

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

TV Watch: Jennifer Love Hewitt Proves How Handy She Is On "The Client List"


"Riley is a single mother living in a small Texas town and leading a shocking double life. Her secret would send shockwaves through the community and possibly land her in jail if it was ever exposed. Riley's taken a job at a seemingly traditional day spa, but soon realizes that the parlor offers a little more than just massage therapy. It's not the happy ending she was expecting but it does open her eyes to a world she's never seen before" - 

So goes the synopsis for the Lifetime series "The Client List" starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. While bored with everything on TV one night and having pretty much exhausted all of the things on my On Demand feature, I saw this listed on Lifetime and decided to give it a shot.

Now I know I am coming into season two (I was aware of the show, just never saw it before) and may have missed a lot of set-up from the first season, but as it turns out "The Client List" is much like tuning into a daytime soap you have not been following, not that hard to fill in the blanks and fit the pieces together as so you know what is going on. 

What can I say about this show, it is one of those things that is a guilty pleasure, like a plateful of cheese smothered nachos, you know it's bad for you, but damn it's fun!


Cybill Shepherd on The Client List
I happened upon the second episode of season two. The opening scene proves just how handy Jennifer Love Hewitt can be, literally. As Riley Parks the now owner of the abovementioned spa we see Ms. Hewitt giving a client a half hour long hand job and having having issues with wrist and shoulder fatigue in the process, that scene alone would have made the episode worth watching. 

Grudgingly I admit to being a fan of JLH, there is something very appealing about her, she is a good actress, but let's face it she's got a nice pair of assets and she is adorable even while giving a hand job. Thus her casting, I am sure, in the lead role, after all who is going to get offended by JLH being bad? No one, you actually sympathize and root for her, even while she is pressing high heels into the back of a public official. JLH brings humor, sexy and likability with her to every role she plays. 

BTW, can we talk about Cybill Shepherd as Riley's Mom "Linette Montgomery" who is blissfully unaware (although I'm not so sure) of Riley's double life.

Loretta Devine with Jennifer Love Hewitt "The Client List"
And the great Loretta Devine as "Georgia Cummings" Riley's best friend and former owner of the spa that Riley started at and now owns....

PS - there are plenty of hot guys on the show, but the female characters are definitely in charge!

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive" - Sir Walter Scott

Get your guilty pleasure on, and tune in to "The Client List" on Lifetime...

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/the-client-list

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

John LePage, Debby Holiday & Del Shores Unite 2 Stop The Hate


Debby & Skyy Moore "Key To Your Soul"
Award winning singer/songwriter/actress Debby Holiday, who has had 10 top 25 Billboard dance hits (Dive, Half  Mile Away, Joyful Sound, Heaven, Never Give Up), and award--‐winning writer/director Del Shores (Sordid Lives, Queer as Folk)  have teamed up to produce the anti-bullying music video for the song:

KEY TO YOUR SOUL by John LePage featuring Debby Holiday.

The video addresses a topic close to both Holiday’s and Shores’ heart -­ bullying.

Told in an uplifting manner, the video speaks to anybody who ever felt different…and rose above!

Filmed in Dallas,, TX at the iconic Rose Room Ms. Holiday has this to say about the song:


"The fact that young people are out there being attacked for who they are, simply because they may not fit into some ridiculous mold someone has determined to be "normal", well ... it breaks my heart. They deserve our support. Since I make music for a living, it has just always made sense to send a positive message while you're rockin' out or shakin your booty. Might as well feel good about you - while you're doin it!" 


Agreed, this buoyant anthem is sure to become a huge hit this summer, and put an optimistic spin on a serious issue that is all too commonplace.


"I am truly grateful to John LePage for bringing Jeff Fedak & I on board to help write the song & to Del Shores for working tirelessly on the video & coming up with the whole storyboard. I am blessed to know so many talented souls."


Here, here Debby!


Debby Rules! https://www.facebook.com/debbyholidayfanclub


So does Del: http://www.facebook.com/delshoresfanclub