PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

RFC 120 Remembers Dave Russell

Radio Free Charelston 120, “Zombie Babies Shirt” is online now, and posted right above this text. This show is designed to promote Friday’s benefit show for Dave Russell at The Empty Glass.

We feature music from The ButtonFlies, Sierra Ferrell and The Diablo Blues Band, all of whom will be performing Friday. We also have a trailer for “Porkchop,” the Eamon Hardiman-directed movie on which Dave worked as cinematographer.  As an added bonus we have a look at the soundcheck version of “Get Loose” by Beaver Knievel.  Next week we’ll have the full-blown song, plus an additional Beaver Knievel tune.

Continue reading…

This week’s art is another exercise in contrast and composition.  It’s called “Spiral Girl.”  You can see it larger by clicking the image.

Later this evening, Radio Free Charleston 120 will be posted here in PopCult. This episode features performers from this coming Friday’s David Russell Memorial show at The Empty Glass.  You’ll get to see The ButtonFlies, Sierra Ferrell (from 600 lbs Of Sin) and The Diablo Blues Band.  You will also get to see a trailer for “Porkchop,” a movie for which David was the Director of Photography.  A teaser for next week’s show, featuring Beaver Knievel, wraps up the show.

Bereavment

Popcult’s regular features will return Monday. We’re taking a few days off.

Radio Free Charleston returns, as seen above, with episode 119, “Transformer Shirt.” This episode features the RFC debut of Sasha Colette, a song from “Norman Rockwell’s An American Love Story,” a special surprise song from Symphony Idol winner Ryan Hardiman and DEVO/Valentine’s animation by Frank Panucci.

Our first musical guest is Sasha Colette, a musician we’ve wanted on RFC for years. Thanks to Adam Harris and LiveMix Studio, we’re finally able to bring her music to you. “Leave It Alone” is the title track from Sasha’s new CD, and it’s a little bittersweet that this performance was recorded at LiveMix Studio, our longtime production partner. LiveMix was shut down by evildoers last year, just a few weeks after Sasha performed a concert with John Lilly and Jonathan Wood.

Continue reading…

Monday Morning Art: Contrast

Today’s Monday Morning Art is called “Contrast” and is an exercise in exactly that. It’s a digital drawing. Click the image to see a bigger version.

Radio Free Charleston 119, with music from Sasha Colette, Ryan Hardiman and the CYAC production “Norman Rockwell’s An American Love Story” plus animation from Frank Panucci. See it now. Production notes will be posted tonight right here in PopCult. Fans of the RFC Facebook page can see the show now.

We Lost One Of The Good Ones

The PopCulteer
February 11, 2011

Dave’s Not Here

Charleston’s creative community lost one of its most positive forces this week. Dave Russell, a local filmmaker and supporter of the music, art and theater scenes in town, passed away little more than a week after suddenly falling ill.

Dave was a great guy in every sense of the word. He was always warm, smiling and receptive. He knew his way around a camera and proved it with his work at Razor Sharp Productions. I had the pleasure of working alongside Dave on a documentary shoot, and it was a load of fun.

It’s sad to see such a wonderful guy leave us at such a young age. Dave turned 40 last week in the hospital. He leaves behind two teen-aged daughters and scores of very saddened friends.

Continue reading…

PopCult Programming Note

Cool Comics this week will run on Saturday, so that we don’t bump the latest episode of RFC too far down the blog.  Check back this weekend for Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman.  Until then, scroll down a tiny bit and watch RFC 118!

A Fantastic Variety Of Music On RFC 118

Radio free Charleston jumps back into the swing of things with episode 118, “Not Kool Shirt,” featuring music from Fox Elipsus and White Chapel District, plus a preview of the latest show from the Contemporary Youth Arts Company. That’s it right up there at the top of this post!

“Norman Rockwell’s An American Love Story” opens Thursday at 8 PM at The WVSU Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers St., in Charleston.  This is a brand new original work with words by Dan Kehde and music by Mark Scarpelli.

A follow up to a previous CYAC show, “Norman Rockwell’s American Paradise,” this new show tells a sweet love story (just in time for Valentine’s Day) with scenes based on different Norman Rockwell paintings. You can see a song from “American Paradise” on RFC 66.

The song we feature this week is a solo performance by Sarah Schleiss, accompanied on piano by Mark Scarpelli.

Next week you’ll get to see the full cast performing a beautiful song, with parts sung in Italian.

Continue reading…

Today’s little artistic appetizer is a digital painting called “Distraction.”  It’s an exercise in color composition and using a semi-abstract representation of the hooman bean form.

As always, click the image to see a bigger version.  Come back to PopCult late Monday/Early Tuesday for episode 118 of Radio Free Charleston, with music from White Chapel District, Fox Elipsus and The Contemporary Youth Arts Company.

The Life-cycle Of The North American Cable Channel

The PopCulteer
February 4, 2011

Recently I wrote about how IFC, the Independent Film Channel,  changed their focus. They’re dumping most of their cutting-edge indie films, adding tons of comedy shows and, worst of all, they are inserting commercials into their movies and TV shows, disrupting the flow and heading 180 degrees away from what seemed to be their core mission: bringing independent film into the homes of the average American.

Of course, the main reason for this is so they can make more money. In the short term, they’ll run off all their loyal fans, but in the long run, it may wind up with IFC becoming a much more profitable entity.

This is sort of the norm for cable channels. They start out great, serving a niche audience and building a great word-of-mouth reputation. Then, once they’ve established themselves and gotten on a lot of cable systems, they change course, aim for the lowest common denominator, and go for the big advertising money.

Continue reading…