Episode 22 of Radio Free Charleston is online now!  At the head of this post you can see a wild music video from Voices Of Anatole, a breezy acoustic duet from Aurora, brand-new computer animation from my brother Frank Panucci, and The No Pants Players eat a watermelon.

RFC 22 is called “Shark Boy Shirt,” named after the shirt I bought from Shark Boy himself at the IWA East Coast show, “Skate Or Die” a few months ago. It’s a cool-looking tie-dye job, and it doesn’t make me look too fat (not as fat as the stomach does, anyway).  The host segments were shot on the banks of the mighty Kanawha River, near the Dunbar bridge.

The No Pants Players are old friends of RFC, dating back to our very first video episode last year.  They’re back with a short film they shot at Kanawha State Forest, “The No Pants Players Eat A Watermelon.”  I’d like to report that no watermelons were harmed during the production of this film, but, sad to say, that just wasn’t the case.  Poor little guy.  He never stood a chance.

I first heard Aurora at a recent show at the Labelle Theater, and you can catch them there again Friday night, opening for the No Pants Players.  I thought it would be a kick to snap up these promising young talents for the show before they go on to become world famous.  Jonathon and Laura, also known as “Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars” came in on a hectic Friday, and nailed the song in one-and-a-half takes (the half-take was due to microphone placement issues).  Aurora, aside from sharing their name with one of my favorite toy companies from the 1960s, are the youngest performers we’ve had on the show so far.  I think you’ll get a kick out of the breezy, delicate tune, “Hazel Eyes.”

Frank’s cartoon is “No Running,” the tender tale of youthful robot exuberance and parental rebellion.  And falling down the stairs….for a very long time

In the headlining spot for this episode is Voices Of Anatolewith the video for their song “Se7en.”  They’re great guys, plus I got to meet Holly Siders, who directed the video for Screaming Butterfly Productions.  We hope to feature more of her very impressive work in future shows.  I can not praise her work loudly enough. She’s doing some really incredible stuff, and like RFC, she’s doing it with a limited budget.

At some point we also want to bring Voices Of Anatole into LiveMix Studio for an RFC shoot.  They have an amazing sound, which is sort of obvious if you’ve been following the local music scene.  It was a coup to get them for the show right after they opened for Godsmack. The video for “Se7en” is an amazing piece of work, very imaginative with a great song and way cool visuals married into a perfect whole.  We’re lucky to have it for the show.

That’s the story of the show.  Go to the Radio Free Charleston MySpace page for more inside information.