What Time is It?? It's Microfestivus Time!!!

Here we are again, dog days of summer. Some like it hot, but no one can stay in this heat for too long without some kind of relief. So what can you do about it??

The Square Society is hosting their annual mega-party Microfestivus and has you all hooked up this Saturday to take your mind off the high temps. Beer to the rescue!! Here's what it's about, as posted on their Facebook event page:

"The Square Society will host the 13th annual MicroFestivus, a micro and craft beer festival. There will be a selection of over 50 beers from 20 micro and craft breweries from the Mid-Atlantic region. MicroFestivus takes take place at Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke on August 14 between 12pm and 6pm. Beer tastings are in 4 oz. and 8 oz. sizes. And of course you have to be at least 21 with a valid ID to have attended.

For our VIP patrons again this year Flanary's will be providing food including Reubens, Meatballs, Fish and Chips, among other tasty bites! BE SURE TO ORDER YOUR VIP TICKET ON LINE....VIP tickets are limited and will sell out. Order on line early to not miss out!

Jordan Harmon and Pop Rivets are the music for this year's Microfest!"

In other words, BEER, BEER, BEER, MUSIC, BEER, FOOD, BEER... (Did I mention, there's gonna be beer?)

So please come and join The Square Society for this day-long event. Get your tickets online at a discount, or at regular price on the day of the event at Elmwood Park. Find out more about joining The Square Society by visiting them on the web. This is Roanoke's ultimate Young (and Young-at-Heart) Professionals organization creating the cheeriest atmosphere at all their events, which to date has raised tens of thousands of dollars for The Center in the Square in Downtown Roanoke.

If you are interested in volunteering at this year's Microfestivus, sign up to be on the official beer-pouring crew for one shift. That gets you in FREE and you also can have four free beer tastings, plus a T-Shirt! Go to this link to sign up: VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP. (Other volunteer tasks are still available, too. Just sign up for a quick little shift, and be 21 or older.)

For more info on Microfestivus, check out the website. The complete schedule is posted there for brewers, bands, and food. And don't forget to buy your tickets while you're at it...

See you around Downtown (in Elmwood Park!!) CHEERS!!!

Wow, July is HOT!!! Tons of Music and Arts...

Don't know where to begin...

Star City FAME has been out on some fun shoots this month of July, so far. Coming off a couple great live shows last month, we've had the opportunity and pleasure to catch Roanoke Revolution's first-ever "Underground Melodies Music and Art Festival" on July 10th, right after a week up North in Woodstock, NY, where the temperatures were above 100 every day. We got to shoot some more footage of Denise Jordan Finley and Daniel Pagdon for an on-going musical documentary. We hurried back to catch the day and night-long festival in Boones Mill, VA.

That weekend, we caught the Star City Roller Girls' double-header, taping some really great action of their rookies in a game they called "Fresh Meat Bout."

On the 16th, Star City FAME headed over to WVTF to shoot the station's "Juried Art Show." There were musical guests, catering by Center Stage, and of course, ART!!!

And just the other day, we grabbed footage of Milan Tobacconists' cigar event featuring world-renowned master cigar maker and blender Don José 'Pepín' Garcia. Right after that, just a couple blocks away, was the Starbomb Bicycle Superheroes bike event, meeting at Sharebike, taking cyclers on one of the wildest rides two (or three) wheelers could ever hope to make!! These bikers were truly super-heroes (the event's theme for the bike race down Mill Mountain, and for its parade through Downtown).

Yes, we're working on the videos. A few are already uploaded. But we are currently upgrading our hardware, so this weekend's editing is delayed a little. Our new system will be a dedicated new editing machine. Now if only we could get a dedicated new editor who needs nothing but coffee to run on...

Don't forget, there are still plenty of groovy events going on out there in the old 'Noke. Tonight, catch the Roanoke Hard Rock Festival (going on til 11pm), and if you're already downtown, the Square Society is still crawling the pubs in their Summertime Cocktail Crawl today until 9pm.

See you around, Downtown!!

("Summer" graphic courtesy livingstonps.schoolwires.com)

Not Just Any Party - Gina Holmes Book Launch at Roanoke Library

Where to start?? Gina Holmes is our home-girl-does-good story in Roanoke, VA. That is the big, awesome thing here. The new book she's written was just published and will be hitting the book stores very soon. It's called Crossing Oceans, about a young single mother who comes back into her family's life after a long absence.

For the past few weeks, all sorts of great local media coverage proclaimed and celebrated this artistic victory - the Press, TV, Bloggers, Social Media sites... But the most outstanding celebration of all was the love our own Roanokers showed Ms Holmes at the Roanoke Library last Tuesday evening.

The Roanoke Public Libraries, as we've mentioned other times, is (as an organization) one of the front-running advocates for the Arts scene in the SW Virginia region. They take it to the streets, up-close and personal. No fancy, corporate-sponsored bookings brokered here. What they do have is one River Laker, a fellow who keeps his eyes and ears on up-and-coming local talent (and from nearby cities), so he knows the latest, the artsiest, the grooviest... And then he books 'em for what always becomes a treat to the community in performances, exhibitions, seminars, readings, and that one very special thing so many "venues" can't really do - Participation.

So, Tuesday night at the Main Library's Howery Mezzanine, we all came out to celebrate Gina Holmes' Book Launch Party. Mr Laker brought together a very successful party, indeed - perhaps the largest attendance thus far at the Library. There was a lot of work behind it to pull this off, and again he coordinated that magnificently as always. Roanoke is lucky to have a real-life Eveready Bunny.

Ms Holmes was honored and entertained by fellow area artists. The cool thing about that is she was greatly involved with the entertainment herself. For one, the author's work inspired a short play that was performed during the event. From SW County's Showtimers, local actors Nancy Lawrence, Caitlin Morgan, and a cute little actor named Madeline Neil practiced the script with precision over the past couple weeks, under River's directing. Watch out, Broadway! (Oh yes, it was my debut as an actor that evening - and I enjoyed being in the company of experienced actors! Thanks for having me on!)

A short video, as a response or spoof to the book's trailer video, went over hugely with the audience. Gina co-starred in it with her husband and, oh, that guy with the British accent who dresses up in silly outfits... um, yeah - River again! You can see the video here, on River's Vimeo Channel, produced by Matt Ames.

The event had a musical guest, Maddie Grace Garber, a local teenager with tons of talent for songwriting and singing. Also, artist Toobz once again created a backdrop and banner for the stage area. His work is often showcased at the Library for Emerging Artists performances.

Ms Holmes answered questions from the audience about her book, about writing and her journey to become a published author. One guest, Sunny, who is also a local artist, even referenced a page and paragraph in her question to the author, which must've been a sweet compliment for any writer when someone can do that!


Star City FAME taped the book launch party, and will be editing the video this week. Hook up with us on Facebook so you can get updates on cool things that happen within the Arts community here in Roanoke.

Visit Gina Holmes' blog for more information about her life, her books, and the art of fiction writing. Her novel Crossing Oceans is also available through Amazon.com. We wish her many congratulations, much inspiration, and a long, happy career in writing!

See you around Downtown!!

Pre-Production for "Planet Divine"

Star City FAME and Ahha Pictures begin collaborating on a new video series today, called "Planet Divine." Last night was a six-hour preparation involving setting up lights, cameras, and audio, with a run-through of costume checks and script-tweaking.

Director Hans Moore (Ahha Pictures) has been an actor in several local independent movies, one that is currently making the rounds at national-level film festivals. The movie Blue Ridge is a feature film by Vincent Sweeney, which was shot in the Roanoke area using many local talent, and stars Sean Gullette.

Hans picked up a video camera about two years ago when he acquired enough cash to get into it "the right way" after learning a great deal from working on-set with professional directors and cameramen. Film was not the medium, however, due to the huge expense. But he equipped himself with some of the best video technology available.

Ron Bergeron met Hans in December 2008 at a local Dunkin' Donuts in Roanoke, where the two stopped in to chat with friends. Ron remembers how excited Hans was about a new venture into film-making. Ron (that's me), who has been a musician in New Jersey and technically skilled at audio engineering for over 25 years, liked his enthusiasm so much that, a few months later, he contacted Hans to ask about going into video production himself. Hans was still so intensely involved and passionate, that it rubbed off... and they became close friends through sharing techniques and ideas. Eventually, the two began shooting and editing projects together.

One of the earlier collaborations between Star City FAME (Ron's Video Production and Media Company) and Ahha Pictures turned out to become a series of YouTube comedies called "Cher on Crack." These videos spoof the Sonny and Cher television show from the 1970's, but the characters are only loosely based on Sonny Bono and Cher. They are what Hans calls "Trailer Park Trash Sonny and Cher, looking to break into the big-time," and their last name was changed to Bonehead instead of Bono... to protect the innocent, of course.

This week marks the start of their new series, which will be a combination of studio green screen shoots and on-location filming in various Roanoke settings. Some of it will be impromtu (or "reality" style) in which there will be interaction with the public. Also in the works are casting local notables and collaborations with other film and media professionals from the Roanoke area.

Here are some photos of Hans and Ron in pre-production last night at the studio.

Director Hans Moore of Ahha Pictures

Definitely see you around Downtown!!!

No Shame Theatre Now in the Daytime at Roanoke Public Library

Studio Roanoke partnered up with the Roanoke Public Library to bring a daytime version of "No Shame Theatre" to the infamous Mezzanine of the Main Library in Downtown Roanoke City. Chad Runyon, host and General Manager of Studio Roanoke, opened the show with the near-usual announcement adding the new rules of "no cussing" or any other obscene behavior for the more family-oriented flavor of "No Shame."

The first performance was held last week on March 3rd at noon, and brought in several brave souls to kick off what will be a regular monthly program at the Library.

The very first original pieces offered at "No Shame in the Afternoon" were by authors (in order of appearance) Patrick Lyster, Claudia Harris (read by Jonathan Harris), Leisa Thomas, Paula Smith, Mark Tutai, and Beth Deel and River (Car Less Brit) Laker as a duo.

Everyone followed the rules, but you know, there always is that one exception in the crowd who will find a loophole, right? Wonder who and what that could have been??

Luckily, Star City FAME brought a camera, otherwise it'd all have been hear-say!!

River Laker and Beth Deel

Of course, this is not considered dis-robing in public, because the man clearly was not wearing a robe.

More pics...

Patrick LysterJonathan Harris

Leisa ThomasPaula SmithMark TutaiChad Runyon

A fun time not to be missed. Please come out to the next "No Shame in the Afternoon," which will be on April 7th. Workshops for the afternoon performances are held on the last Monday of the month at the Main Library.

Many thanks to Studio Roanoke, Roanoke Public Libraries, and special thanks to River Laker, the programming master-mind behind so many of the Library's events, and Beth Deel of myScoper.com, one of Roanoke's brightest artists and biggest advocate of the Arts here in Downtown. Without some of our more adventurous residents, Roanoke would just be plain Roanoke. (A whole 'nuther topic for another day...)

See you around Downtown!

Thank You Roanoke!

We did over 70 video productions for Downtown in 2009,
so THANKS for giving us a great first year!!

BEST WISHES to all our friends for a fabulous 2010…

Star City Fame

Arts, Culture, Commerce –

We’re there for you!!

Because… Roanoke Happens. Here.

Bouncy Ball New Years' Eve at Science Museum of Western VA

This New Years' Eve, the Science Museum of Western Virginia will be hosting its 2nd Annual Bouncy Ball Drop. The event begins at 10:30am Thursday, December 31st at the Museum which is located in the Center in the Square building on the Market Square in Downtown Roanoke.

A take on the dropping of the ball to kick-off New Year's, which adults customarily practice (the most famous of which happens in New York City's Times Square), Bouncy Ball is alternately a family affair for kids to enjoy as thousands of bouncy balls are dropped from various landings inside the atrium onto the ground floor level. The Ball Drop is timed for high noon and promises to unleash a frenzy of cheering and a rampage of boings!

Immediately after the Ball Drop, visitors may continue their visit inside the Science Museum until 2pm. Admission is free. (No shows are scheduled for the Planetarium or the Megadome on New Year's Eve. The Museum is closed the following day on Jan 1st and will re-open on Saturday.)

Here are some scenes from last year's Bouncy Ball, courtesy of myScoper.com from their Flickr photo page:

Also, myScoper posted a video of last year's Bouncy Ball if you'd like to see what's in store for you and your kids - You're definitely in for a treat, so bring your cameras!!!

The Science Museum of Western Virginia is located at 1 Market Square SE, Roanoke, VA 24011. Visit their Facebook Page and become a Fan today! For more details and to show your support for the Bouncy Ball New Year, you can check out their Event Page and click to "Attend." (And after New Year's, you can post your pics of all the fun you had!!!)

Hope to see you at the Bouncy Ball on New Year's Eve Day! Star City FAME will be there to capture all the mayhem on video! So as always...
... We'll see you around Downtown!!

(Photos and video of courtesy myScoper.com)

Sun Trust Dickens of a Christmas 2009

Two more Fridays left for the Sun Trust Dickens of a Christmas celebration in Downtown Roanoke - so try to get out to see all the magic!!
Last week, Star City Fame went out to experience the first night of this event. It was awesome fun! I brought my smaller video camera with me to be more mobile... it helped keep people from freaking out too. I was able to get many of the vendors, passers-by, and even the Dickens street actors to just do their thing. This made editing the video so much easier and a lot of fun! So thanks everyone for participating!!

Actually, I don't have to go into any details - you can see for yourself everything that happened if you watch the video.



Please come out this Friday and next Friday... On tap for the 11th there will be an XMas Parade, and on the 18th there is a pet dress-up contest. All three Fridays are packed with sounds and colors of Christmas, street vendors, horse and carriage rides, children's games, various performances, and of course, the Dickens characters. Stores are open late along Salem and Campbell Avenues and the Market Square, and further around the perimeter.

Center in the Square, Mill Mountain Theatre and other local Arts Organizations will also have special performances, including a choir of Local Colors friends this Friday night (11th). Find out more on Facebook - Visiting Dickens of a Christmas is free, so just click to "Attend!!"

Have a wonderful Holiday Season - and see you around Downtown!!!

The Arts Council - Thanks So Much for a Wonderful Evening!!

This is a short post my friends - not because tonight's Arts Council of the Blue Ridge Annual Meeting wasn't something worthy of a long post, but because I am just too awed for words. If you are a Roanoker and into the whole love-affair of our area's Arts presence, then you will appreciate this short and sweet entry.

First of all, I am a newbie Arts Council member. I belonged to my hometown's Council years ago in Elizabeth, NJ. We were not exactly bursting with members and programs. (I am still friends with one fellow who is a world-class 6-string Contra Bass player, a member and son of musicians/ artists, his mother being one of the leaders of the Elizabeth Arts Council. In fact, he will be performing here at the Taubman this coming Sunday. I will give details at the end of my post.)

Anyway, as a member to the Arts Council here, I went by invitation to its Annual Meeting and experienced a history lesson of this organization by one of its founding members: Ms Carol Bewley Dalhouse, the Arts Council's first Executive Director. She was the Guest Speaker for the meeting tonight held at the Eleanor D Wilson Museum at Hollins University. What a heart-warming story she told! And it was a real treat to hear it from the person who did so much to make this Arts Council a reality today. One of the amazing things I learned was how in its early days, they felt they had no choice but to return an initial grant of funds because trying to get matching donations took them away from the Council's real mission.

I met and chatted afterwards with some of the wonderful people on the Council's staff and made my way over to the special exposition of Artist Betty Branch: "Through The Crow's Eye, a Retrospective." Her work is currently on display at the Eleanor D Wilson Museum, as well as throughout Roanoke and beyond. (You can find more information about Ms Branch's sculptures and drawings - including videos - on her website http://www.bettybranch.com/. The artist has a Roanoke studio you may visit by appointment. The Betty Branch Sculpture Studio and Gallery is located in the Historic Warehouse District in Roanoke, Virginia at 123 Norfolk Avenue.)

Scuplture of women's figures, crows, a variety of media including fire - I took my time walking through the museum in amazement. I can't remember the last time I was so moved to stare so long at an artist's creations. I wondered what her mind was telling her hands - or was it her heart speaking, or an other-worldly breath? I was also intrigued by the combination of the two subjects. Could it be one theme? Indeed, sculptures of the female form/ female rites of passage (see Biographical Notes on her website) interspersed with sculptures of crows. The soft and the hard; the blunt and the sharp; the curved and the angled... those are just the visual contrasts. It seemed somehow perfect to me in the same room.

Well, I lied. This is not a short blog post after all. Therefore, let me finish by saying that my friends Denise Jordan Finley and Daniel Pagdon, singer-songwriters, will be performing at the Taubman this Sunday at 1pm. Perhaps I can see a woman-crow combination in their musical partnering now that I may never be able to shake that concept... Hmmm.

(Photos of Betty Branch's work are from her website, http://www.bettybranch.com/ and if there are any objections to embedding them here, please contact me and I will humbly comply with your request to remove them.)

Ada Lis Jimena and William Krause performance of "Gipsy Soul"

Gipsy Soul is the nickname given in endearing terms to Garcia Lorca. The Spanish Popular Songs program given at the Roanoke Main Library on Monday, September 14th, by the Emerging Artists Series, was performed in his honor. Local artists Ada Lis Jimena, mezzosoprano and William Krause, guitarist, performed thirteen such songs in a mezmerizing, elegant evening at the Library to a full house of spell-bound listeners.

Presented in the musical program was a short written description about Lorca, "Gipsy Soul," distributed to guests so that they too may be familiar with his legend and artistic spirit:

"Garcia Lorca is Spain's most deeply appreciated and highly revered poet and dramatist. His murder by the Nationalists at the start of the Spanish Civil War brought sudden international fame. He must now be bracketed with Mocado as one of the two greatest poets Spain has produced this century, and he is certainly Spain's greatest dramatist since the Golden Age.
As poet his works reflected andalusian spirit. As a dramatist, he wrote romantic pieces with social implications and comedies.
However, music was one of the greatest passions of Lorca's life. In fact, he was a musician before he was a creative writer and had composed music before he wrote his first poems.
This program is about thirteen Spanish popular songs (Trece canciones populares espanolas) that Lorca collected during his trip to the Andalusia region in 1919."

Star City Fame filmed the evening's performance. Included here is one of the songs recorded live, entitled "Los mozos de Monleon."



What I found interesting was that I had seen familiar faces attending the Gipsy Soul performance who range in varying degrees of artistic tastes, and this illustrated to me the significance of Ada Lis' and William's presentation and talents. In the audience was a folk songwriter, a cultural dance performer, pop and rock music fans, opera fans, as well as Spanish music fans.

There is more information about Ada Lis and William on Emerging Artists' website, including additional videos. We look to bring a full interview of Ada Lis Jimena and William Krause in the near future, most hopefully as a video interview!!

About Emerging Artists Series:
River Laker (a/k/a Car Less Brit) is the man behind coordinating artistic performances at the Main Library. These events, the Emerging Artists Series, are some of the best and most interesting in Downtown. It focuses on local talent as well as artists imported from all over. Artists are of fine and performing arts of various mediums and genres.

New and Exciting Developments for Downtown

Some exciting times coming up in the near future for Roanoke City, Downtown in particular. Two of the most innovative projects due up are the Center in the Square renovation and the Heart of Roanoke "netroots" Community Organization which focuses on exploring and making changes in urban design for the core of the city.

Center in the Square Renovation:

Center in the Square, the building on Campbell Ave SW in the Market Square, is set to be renovated beginning early 2010. This historic structure is also home to Center in the Square, one of the seven non-profit organizations under The Western Virginia Foundation for the Arts and Sciences. The organization held its Annual Dinner at the Hotel Roanoke last evening (September 10th) to announce and illustrate its plans developed by local architecture and engineering company Spectrum Design, along with conducting its annual updates to members and guests. They also held a special silent auction throughout the evening to benefit part of its Capital Campaign.

Details of the renovation plan were given by Spectrum Design's David L Bandy, AIA and his associates in a captivating presentation and video, which you can view here through the Roanoke Times' article posted the following morning: Center in the Square unveils renovation plans by Mike Allen.

(Photo above of the Center in the Square Building and the Organization's logo are courtesy Center in the Square's website.)

Heart of Roanoke:

Eldon Karr, "Appalachian Architect," runs a blog describing his urban design ideas and themes and has recently added a Facebook Page for the Heart of Roanoke. The concept for it comes both from the "Design'79 Urban Design and Planning" in Roanoke and the more up-to-date "Netroots" effort (termed so in a manner of online-social-networking-meets-grass-roots-community-organizing). The first meeting for this group began on Saturday, August 29th, when a Photographers' Walking Tour of Downtown assembled outside the Hotel Roanoke. Dan Smith, owner, editor and photographer of Valley Business Front, led an informal photography class. While the focus for Eldon is a passion to green up and revitalize things for Henry Street, the scope of this organization is much wider for the Downtown area as a whole.

Star City Harbinger, "Appalachia's Online News Alternative," ran a nice review of the event on their website. In a collaborative piece, Hank Bostwick (SCH's editor), River Laker (Car Less Brit), and I filmed and edited a short video of this first-of-a-series Photog Walking Tour. The video opens with impressive historical information about Downtown, the Heart of Roanoke's roots and its efforts, narrated by Mr Laker in his marvelous British accent. (Girls, I didn't see a ring, but I wasn't looking either...) Please check out SCH's article and video Exploring Alternative Visions for the Heart of Roanoke," and also add their blog to your news feed while you're there.

I can't wait to see all this transformation going on soon!! Hi-tech roof-top with butterflies in Roanoke? Oh yeah!! Vertical Wall Gardens? Yes, and much more...

SEE YOU AROUND DOWNTOWN!!

What’s Been Going On – StarCityFAME in Roanoke

Last weekend was a typical Roanoke weekend, amazing and busy as usual. Star City FAME had the pleasure of capturing four great events from some of our incredible people and organizations in and about town. A big part of our “mission” is to bring events online for everyone to see, whether they were there or not, to relive it or to find out what we Roanokers are all about here in the Valley.


Local Colors – A Taste of Culture
“Dragon” Pearl Fu and the Local Colors organization continues their monthly celebration of the cultural kind every second Friday during the warmer season right after the annual Local Colors Festival. We went to one this past month for the Vietnamese “taste” on August 14th.


Car Less Britt Museum - Touring for the Turtles
This new museum established by River Laker (Emerging Artists, Roanoke City Library) in downtown is not only an exhibit of bicycle memorabilia and other interesting bike things, but also promotes going without a motor vehicle by switching to riding a bicycle all over town – as a way of life!! They just hosted a pair of eco-bio experts who spoke on leather-backed turtles and their mission - touring on bike to get the message out.


Star City Roller Girls – Game at Lee Hi Skates vs Little City Roller Girls
The Roanoke Valley has a women’s pro sports team… it’s not basketball, baseball, football, hockey, or golf. IT’S ROLLER DERBY!!! And we got highlights of this awesome, energetic, and crowd-pleasing game.


Sister Cities and Local Colors – International Fashion Show
Ms Pearl Fu was at it again in high style, as she and co-host Tammy Epes presented a fabulous International Fashion Show at the Hotel Roanoke. Members and friends of both organizations participated, including contestants of Miss Roanoke Valley Pageant. The show was presented at the Ladies Luncheon during the Grand Encampment Knights Templar 64th Triennial Conference at the hotel last Monday, August 17.

Videos will be posted on the Star City FAME YouTube channel as well as here. Find us on Twitter and Facebook, too! If you’d like for us to attend a really cool event in Roanoke, just give us a shout and let us know what, when, and where!!

Taubman Museum's First Annual "Battle of the Bands"

Man, this was an event!! The new Taubman Museum of Art really means ALL Art, even the performance kind. They have been presenting a variety of shows and exhibits indoors at the Museum and outdoors Downtown. One would normally expect a musem to be an inside adventure with paintings, photography, sculptures, and other exhibits of artwork. But definitey not this past Saturday.

I wish I could be everywhere around Roanoke filming things. And I do miss out on a lot of cool stuff. It's hard to keep up with the different events going on, especially in the summer. Some things slip by me... Luckily, I got tipped off by Facebook friend and band leader, Santiago Prada of Twelve O'Clock Knob. So I contacted the good people at the Taubman to ask if I could shoot their Battle of the Bands contest for the Star City FAME YouTube Channel.

The question arose whether SCF would be streaming the BOTB live. Unfortunately, my company was still in shopping-mode for a suitable live stream site. But at the last minute, my webmaster and I decided to choose a rather tech-integrated vendor and begin testing late Friday, just one day before the BOTB event. We did succeed in setting it up and running a live test demo. So off I went Saturday morning with the usual video gear plus additional equipment to attempt a broadcast of the show on a designated Star City FAME webpage. Alas, Roanoke WiFi would not reach behind the Taubman building. It took me a half hour to set up for the shoot, all the while connecting to any and every wireless signal that came up with a pulse and re-logging into the livestream site. I finally gave up and focused my full attention to the stage and filming. (Perhaps next time I should bring along 500 feet of Cat5 cable and ask to tap off the Museum's LAN/WAN... )

I knew I was in for a long day, so I brought 10 HDV tapes to cover the show. I used up six of them and documented every song by every band that played the BOTB. Though I started out setting up next to the PA mixing board some 70 feet away from the stage, I eventually drifted all the way to the front and off to the side only 5 feet away. Stage Sound granted me a line-out off the submixer. Thanks Stage Sound!! (They are my pro-audio supplier for SCF's music recording projects.) I tend to be a MacGiver of sorts, so I had signal converters and cables of every shape and size, including 65 feet of XLR mic cables which allowed for all the close-up camera work (eventually).

The BOTB was a big hit with the local bands and the audience. I had NO IDEA there were so many young and talented original acts here in Roanoke. In all, nineteen bands answered the call to enter the "battle" to try for a grand prize of $1000.

The show started at Noon, with Nancy and 2 Meteors opening things up, and ran until about 8pm. There was a nice variety of genres represented - rock, metal, reggae, hip-hop/DJ, country-rock, avant-guarde, power-pop, and what-not (because I really don't know what some of the newer forms are called these days). The winner for this First Annual event was a Christian Rock Band called Smoke and Mirrors. They didn't sound anything like the inside of any church I've been to... thank the Lord, haha!! I wanna know where they go on Sundays and I'll get my map out. (Yeah, I still use maps.)

After the winners and honorable mentions were announced, the audience shouted out for an encore by Smoke and Mirrors, which they humbly accepted. This took the event closer to 9pm - but it was soooo worth it! Even though my feet, back and neck were killing me from operating the camera, I loved every minute. The Taubman officials, Lisa Martin and Maria, and the staff of Norah's Cafe were wonderful to me, and I thank them deeply for saving my life with bottles of water and goodies. It was hellaciously hot and humid out there all day.

You'd think I would hit the shower and pass out after getting home, but I couldn't wait to roll back the tapes and begin transferring them to the editing computer. The audio quality suffered somewhat due to signal mis-matching, but overall the concert is nicely documented in HD widescreen format. Many of the bands have already contacted me through MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Therefore, I have since re-scheduled my regular business work to include editing BOTB tapes in the evening so these awesome guys and gals (the artists as well as their great fans) can re-live the moments in what looks to become a legendary annual event at the Taubman Museum of Art.

Here's a list of the bands that performed. Best wishes to them all in their musical journey!
•NANCY & 2 METEORS
•THE WAIT
•BLACK RAIN
•LEVI'S GENE POOL
•SMOKE N' MIRRORS
•HEAD OVER KILLS
•AMONG THE BRAVE
•THE AURORA OBSERVATORY
•GRASS MONKEY
•AFFLICTION KID
•COMMONPLACE
•THE ROYAL GREENS
•LAZY MAN DUB BAND
•ZULU WATU BAND
•THE PULLOUTS
•THE BASTARDS OF FATE
•CRAWLING THOUGH MUD WITH MACHINE GUNS
•TWELVE O'CLOCK KNOB
•THE SAD COBRAS

You can surf over to http://www.youtube.com/user/starcityfame to check out uploads of the BOTB.

Video Killed The SEO Star

Dead, you say?? How dare... oh wait, I did just look around to see if the last website had any videos, didn't I?? (Yup, you probably did.)

Even the phonebook companies are gearing up for video. Let your eyeballs do the walking? Hell yes! So let your video ad do all the talking, baby!

There was a comprehensive report done recently by DoubleClick (See Report here) wherein they analyze the effectiveness of ad formats. Rich media involves complex flash, animation and/ or video ad formats. The study includes these as well as the older formats of images and simple flash.

We have been heading toward total visual for a long time, if you count the 60 plus years of television and about 100 years of motion pictures, not to mention early animation. (Remember those booklets with a hundred pages of drawings of a cat that seemed to move when you filed through the booklet? No, well then you ain't old enough and you probably think I'm kidding.)

Don't get me wrong - people still do read. The difference is that today, if it's in words, it needs to be interactive for the reader. A blog or forum would be useless if readers couldn't post comments. Cellphone texting is another example in which people read messages, but the idea is to participate in real time. This is much different than how we started off using pagers twenty or so years ago, and it advanced quite rapidly after that, from just static sending of alerts and cellphone photos to the texting we do today.

For websites, again we need to hold people's interest, and that improves by reducing their burden to read too much information - ah, that wordy explanation of your product or service typically needed for accomodating spiders, crawlers, and that whole google search engine phenomenon.

Not only is visitor interest important, that is getting them to stay on your site and navigate it. You want visitors to make a proactive decision: Buy your products or services!! Well, they have to FIND you first, right? And this is the best part about using videos.

For those looking to rank and be found, a well-titled video hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, or other video-sharing sites, will markedly improve your search status without spending thousands of dollars on SEO. The video can be a traditional-looking 30 second ad, but your options are many. Don't limit yourself. You also do not have to limit your ad to just the video hosting site. Once posted, take the video file's link and drop it in any of the popular online social networking sites you belong to. Of course, you can include the video on your company's (or org's) site, too. If you have the marketing budget, and you carefully choose an effective online marketing consultant or company, they can provide some strategic SEO solutions. But for guerrilla marketing, which is what most small businesses are doing these days, videos are a more cost-effective and results-effective way to go. (Hell, even huge corporations are going this route.)

If your company or proprietorship is already popular and you have top ranking on search engines, you still should think about staying on top of your game. There are always competitors out there selling cheaper, faster, better, more. What you present in a video can make the difference. A kind and sincere welcome to your services, a product demonstration, an entertaining invitation to visit your location, or a sincere customer testimonial are some nice ideas. Personal, helpful and familiar are the way to go in our socially-driven online world.

I know you all know from my blog that I cover lots of events and music in the Roanoke area. I shoot videos of all types and genres. These include videos for commerce. They can be short or long, for online or for DVD presentations, and for-profit businesses or for non-profits. I am always interested in working with new and current subjects, clients and ideas to bring your best visual message up front and out into the world.

My latest video is a Real Estate listing. (I also shoot for a phone company's online business pages. Those are 30 second "ads" and a bit formulaic.) This residential home video includes a voice-over, which I also produce here at my studio. I run an audio recording and video production company. Professional audio tracking is essential in many different shoots - and not every video producer offers that. This is why I call Star City Fame a Media company. I built this company by expanding my existing pro-audio studio, adding professional video for on and off-location shoots.



(Source for the graph posted above is: Dynamic Logic MarketNorms®, 2008. Fixed frequency level of 1. Campaigns using online display advertising of any format N=547-765)

Americana In-the-Round: Free Live Music at the Main Library

I love live music. There's no crying in baseball, and there's no faking in live music. To sound good, you simply have to be good.

So with that, StarCityFAME is excited to be going to the Roanoke Public Main Library on Jefferson Street tomorrow night (June 16th) where Emerging Artists will be presenting "American In-the-Round" on the Patio from 6PM to 8PM.

The performers are folk and country artists of the down-home-bred type, a genre called "Americana." We will be catching three such performers, who will be taking turns throughout the night with songs answering songs back and forth until time runs out. That's a neat way to share stage billing.

I looked up each artists' websites to check out their music and was pleasantly surprised at the maturity of songwriting and singing talents they possess. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's show!! (Hey, I'm a 80's hair-band fan, okay? It's taking me a while to get acclimated to the folk-bluegrass-country thing down here in SW Virginia. Wanna see my spandex?)

Emerging Artists' Program Developer River Laker has given StarCityFAME the green light to run footage of the event. I am hoping we can get great audio as that has been a bummer for us due to the authorizations needed for tapping into a live sound board. Perhaps we may get that okay this time around. Now THAT would be AWESOME!! (Keeping my fingers crossed...)

Here is a line-up of tomorrow night's artists (Bio's posted courtesy of their websites):

Jonathan Byrd - http://www.jonathanbyrd.com/

A native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Jonathan grew up singing in the Southern Baptist church, where his father preached and his mother played piano. After four years in the Navy, he returned to Chapel Hill to play in rock bands in that legendary underground music scene. A friend of Jonathan's invited him to an old time fiddle festival in the mountains of southwest Virginia, where his writing began to change. Assimilating the sounds of southern traditional music, Byrd wrote new songs in an ancient style.

Doug and Telisha Williams - http://www.dandtw.com/

With their open, inviting personalities and intriguing stage presence, the duo is quickly growing their fan base. First timers at their live shows feel like old friends and part of the family after just a song or two. A single set of their music can bring audience members to their feet in applause, to their knees in prayer, and back to the bar to buy another beer.
Married and living in southwest Virginia, they tour constantly around the South and up into the North, crossing ever-widening boundaries with every step.

Danny Schmidt - http://www.dannyschmidt.com/

Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter Danny Schmidt is a writer's writer, with a lyrical depth drawing comparisons to Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, and Dave Carter. Upon winning the prestigious Kerrville New Folk award in 2007, Sing Out Magazine tagged Schmidt "the best new songwriter we've heard in 15 years." Just one man sitting alone on stage with his acoustic guitar and his poetry, in the timeless troubadour tradition, his musical influences draw from deeply-rooted Appalachian mountain gospel to haunted English balladry, from syncopated Piedmont country blues to vagabond 60’s protest folk-stumpery. But it all boils down to just great songwriting, in a singular style all his own. Not to be missed.

Okay kids... and grown-ups... See you there!!!
(Remember: The evening's performance is FREE!!! There will be refreshments, also. WHOA!!!)

Roanoke Local Colors Celebrates its 19th Year!!

This past May 16th, we once again witnessed the amazing Local Colors Festival at Elmwood Park in beautiful Downtown Roanoke, VA. Led by Founder and Executive Director of Local Colors, Pearl Fu, this annual festival is an internationally recognized cultural event. It is also one of the largest and most anticipated events held in Roanoke.

Pearl began Local Colors 19 years ago and it has grown from four participants in the parade to 89 countries this year. The opening ceremony, before the Parade of Nations, saw each country's members lining up all around the amphitheatre area and winding around the park in vibrant hues of their representative nations' customary and traditional garb, carrying the flags of their native or ancestral lands - a glorious sight to see and acknowledge that people the world over feel priviledged to make a new life here in the greatest land on earth and still can be proud of their heritage as well.

Ms Fu explains on its organization's website, "Local Colors highlights the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Roanoke Valley. It has opened the minds and hearts of many, enriching the quality of life for all who have been part of it."

The annual Local Colors has been documented as a Local Legacy and awarded an Outstanding Event in Southwest Virginia by the Library of Congress. It draws crowds of up to 30,000 - which is an amazing feat for a one day festival - and it is easy to see why. Under the directorship of Ms Fu, this event is spectacular! She personally "enlists" new entries continually throughout the year (and I feel obliged now to consider joining too as a representative of Hungary).

There were many world dancers, singers, and musicians on stage after the Parade of Nations. This year, Local Colors incorporated an International Fashion Show to the repertoire. Visitors were entertained for six hours as well as educated in facts of each nation's backgrounds while the weather cooperated as if out of respect for such an enormously important day to Roanokers and fans from all over.

Star City FAME ran footage of much of the day's celebration and thank Ms Fu for granting camera access to the Local Colors Festival. Below is a short video collage of the Parade of Nations and we will bring you more highlights of this beautiful event shortly, so stay tuned!!

See you around Roanoke!!

Festival in the Park - Memorial Day Weekend

First, Happy Memorial Day to you all!! Thank you U.S. Veterans everywhere - and you are everywhere on this planet keeping us safe here at home. Thank you for your past and present sacrifices, which are heroic and successful efforts - always!

This weekend in Roanoke, EventZone is bringing us its 40th Festival in the Park to celebrate Memorial Day with a BANG!! We have been so fortunate not to have the rain that was expected the whole weekend, and the festivities are continuing without being rained out. (Hopefully, we'll be spared today too!)

The good people at EventZone graciously allowed me at Star City FAME and Hans Moore of AhhaPictures to run around Elmwood Park and film some of Saturday night's highlights of the festival. Many thanks to Debbie McClure and Larry Landolt, VP and Executive Director respectively on the EventZone Board of Directors, for giving us permission to run footage. We will be presenting the video here and on YouTube as fast as we can edit it... so stay tuned for that!!

ALSO - EventZone is always looking for volunteers to help with their many events and festivals throughout the calendar year. The people of Roanoke have so many opportunities to be of service to our wonderful city. By assisting with EventZone functions, they are strengthening Roanoke's desirable offerings to visitors and area dwellers alike. Plus, it is hands-down the most fun you can have while volunteering!!

So far, this weekend has brought us acts from around the nation and locally. Beginning on Thursday, May 21st, Cox and Q99 sponsored 12 O'Clock Knob, the Jordan Harmon Band, and tribute band Bruce in the USA. WDBJ7 and Star Country presented Grant Randolph and the Allstar Band, Jamie O'Neal, and Jason Michael Carroll on Friday. Saturday's show, which Hans and I attended and shot video (for all you folks!!), featured Blues Agents, Az Izz, and Dickey Betts and Great Southern, sponsored by Bud Light and WROV.

Last evening, I volunteered at the stage for a super terrific show, sponsored by radio station Star Country 94.9FM. It was "Unplugged" and very personal! Trent Tomlinson opened the show, followed by the fabulous Heidi Newfield, and closed with Jimmy Wayne.

(Trent Tomlinson - Image courtesy Katiedid at wikipedia.org)(Heidi Newfield - Image by Brian Tipton, courtesy comt.com)(Jimmy Wayne - Image by Brian Tipton, courtesy cmt.com)

Roanoke is always pleased to be visited by wonderful artists - and I'd like to thank them all for bringing their tour through our fine Valley, as we are particularly supportive of the Arts here in Roanoke.

Tonight, to close the Festival's Memorial Day weekend shows, Kroger, Oakey's, and Q99 will sponsor local studio (and now performing) act Aamen, Anders and Brown, and 1964: The Tribute. Hope you can make it to the Park!!

... see you around Roanoke!!