Do you like to read? Do you like to listen to audiobooks? Perhaps you enjoy both. I know I do. But I also enjoy narrating audiobooks. It’s one fact of being a voiceover artist that I love because you learn so much about so many different subjects. In this case, I’ve narrated this book about the 1930’s Dust Bowl migration called the Golden Fortress by Bill Lascher. It examines how it impact the intended destination of that migration for many migrants fleeing the dust storms and attempting to make a new life in 1930’s California, as well as California’s response to the influx of so many people from around the country. Click the cover art image to jump to Audible.
Melinda (Mindy) Conklin has worked in the health and wellness industry for 30 years. She has a master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Human Development and a master’s degree in Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Melinda lost her young husband to colorectal cancer in 2011. After her loss, she left her career as a mental health clinician and she founded Hitting Cancer Below the Belt – a Richmond, Virgina based nonprofit organization dedicated to colon health and colorectal cancer prevention.
Melinda’s personal and professional experience in the field of mental, emotional, and physical wellness has prepared her to identify community needs and has produced a strong skill set which encompasses the ability to create and bridge resources which positively impacts community health. Hitting Cancer Below the Belt (HCB2) began serving the Richmond community in 2013 and continues to expand its messages and services across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Appalling – Father Inferior
Book of Wyrms – Sodapop Glacier
Dirtwoman – Lady of The Dunes
DUST~ – Dirty
Elabor – The Rain Brought A Flood
Ett Eko – Modern Content
Evan Solomon – No More Kim Kelly
Goodnight Daniel – Used To
Hotspit – Melting Point
Landon Elliott – Aftermath
Mr Earthbound – Not To Know
Ninth Realm – Plea To The Heavens
Outer World – Flower Gunpowder
Rough Age – Rote Philosophy
Shane Cooley – Dracula
Shane Cooley – The Circus Rolls On
Sincerely Iris – Low As I Ever Wanted To Feel
Skincrawler – Bleed
Strawberry Moon – Magnolia Trees
Sun Years – Codex
Ten Pound Snail – I Don’t Want To
The Practitioner – Church of The Void
Twain – The Light
WKNDR – Carousel
Ryan Kent (w/Chris Farmer) – Dying Comes With Age
Omen Stones – Black Cloud
Much of this music can be found on my Bandcamp profile HERE. I purchase as much of the music that I play on RCL and the Studio B RVA podcast as I can.
Laurel Marr’s website states that the term “doula” is a Greek word that means “a woman who serves”. While traditionally associated with childbirth, a doula is also someone who assists in a variety of ways with the end-of-life process, supporting the patient, family, caregivers and loved ones. In this conversation we discuss when it might be a good idea to enlist the services of a doula, when it might not be and some of the things we might not consider with which a doula could help. Learn more about Laurel and doula care on her website at www.lmdoulacare.com
Susanna Calvert is the founder of the Foundation for Family and Community Healing. Their mission is to “empower us all to create healthy, positive, rewarding relationships woth ourselves, each other, Earth, and the loving force greater than ourselves”. What started as something Susanna began in 2018 following several tragic life events now reaches internationally helping people “change their behavior, and change their world.”
Register for the ride, or just come out to Final Gravity Brewing in Lakeside on Saturday, Oct.1. Riders will start getting back to Final Gravity about 11am after the ride. There will be an after event with food and fun for everyone.
A new VO project for Design Blasting Services. I love digging in on a read like this – authentic, blue-collar, a little gritty, unhurried. Great vision, production and direction by Dawson Waters.
Mike Rutz’s show Activate! on WRIR is known around the station as one of the most challenging shows to do, especially since you’re sitting in for Mike who does it every week. He’s used to it. It’s an audio music calendar featuring music from bands and artists who will be playing in the Richmond area over the next week. So you have to do a lot of research for it in a short amount of time and also find music to play which should represent the artists appropriately. Do you play the new single? Or do you play an old favorite? What do you play by local artists who listeners may or may not know? It’s fun, but you want to do it justice.
I sat in for Mike on Thursday and even though it’s a relief to find plenty of music to play and plenty of live dates to promote, there is always so much more that you could play and highlight. And that speaks highly of Richmond’s live music scene which is pretty cool.
2022 0414 Activate! – Host Jay Smack (in for Mike)
FM SKYLINE – Astral Baths (local)
Black Iris; April 16 @ 8:30pm (w/ Alfred; FM Skyline; DHEMO; DJ Bedspread Radio)
HOTSPIT – Epitaph (local) SIPPER – Party (NYC)
Hotspit (w/ Loving; Sipper) @ The Broadberry; April 21 @ 7pm
AUDACITY BRASS BAND – Raise Your Glass (local) Brambley Park; April 15 @ 9:30pm
DUCTTAPE JESUS – Fiddy Cent (local)
The Camel; April 18 @ 7pm (w/ Hunting Dog; Digital Hell)
DEAD BILLIONAIRES – Engines (local) PRABIR TRIO – America (local)
Dead Billionaires EP , The Camel; April 20 @ 7pm (w/ Dead Psychic; Prabir Trio; Sweet Potatoes)
LUCY IN BATTLE ARMOR – Funk Jedi (local) JJ SPEAKS – Sneaky Little Wizards (local) – news of a special show in Sept later BABY BUGS – Hey Bunny
Bandito’s; April 16 @ 9pm (Lucy In Battle Armor, JJ Speaks; Baby Bugs)
.GIF FROM GOD – take the flesh; make it stretchy (local)
Benefit for Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project at Ask a punk; April 20 @ 8pm (w/ Prisoner; Terror Cell; Cimitir) PRISONER – Tyrant (local)
Benefit for Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project at Ask a punk; April 20 @ 8pm (w/ .gif from god; Terror Cell; Cimitir)
CIRCLE JERKS – Coup d’Etat (live) 7 SECONDS – Here’s Your Warning
The Broadberry; April 18 @ 7pm (w/ Negative Approach; 7 Seconds)
SEA OF STORMS – Gentleman’s Jam (local) DARK WATERS – Mazy (local)
Cobra Cabana; April 15 (w/ Dark Waters; NC 17)
SUPERCHUNK – Endless Summer (Chapel Hill)
Richmond Music Hall; April 16 @ 7pm (w/ Torres)
DELTA SLEEP – Planet Fantastic COLIN PHILS – Trust/Fall GENDER ROLES – Dead or Alive
Canal Cub; April 19 @ 7pm (w/ It Looks Sad.; Gender Roles; Colin Phils)
DEAD FORMAT – Daybreak (local) NINTH REALM – All Hail Treachery (Maryland)
The Bike Shop; April 15 @ 7pm (w Heavy Is the Head; Defying Death; Wasted Space; Dead Format; Ninth Realm; Gradal Slip)
HOT TUNA – I See the Light The Tin Pan; April 18 @ 7pm
TIN CAN FISH BAND – Long Time Blue
Sound of Music; April 16 @ 5pm (w/ Craigslist Jerry; Kooler Heads)
SEPARATION – Rise of Kings MURDERSOME – Living Is Illegal I AM THE LIQUOR – Destroyer of Worlds
Reunion show Sept 17 at Canal Clubwith Murdersome, I Am The Liquor, Fallen Under, JJ SPeaks
Post production editors, mixers, motion/graphic artists, animators, composers, cinematographers, directors, and other creative technicians often work in secluded rooms using creative vision as a compass. It’s not for everyone, but for some, it’s the only thing they could ever envision doing.
Please excuse the sharing of someone else’s work, but when I saw this tribute piece for Taylor Hawkins I was floored. I don’t know who produced and edited it, but we rarely do, do we? It hits all the right notes and deftly combines the emotional impact of losing such an inspirational figure with the artistry of this production to generate a visceral reaction. The rhythm, the shot choices, the length of each shot, the song, the timing, all of it comes together to say what words never could. It tells a story succinctly, passionately, honorably and completely.
Music is what got me into this business and it’s what prevents me from ever leaving. I have to be close to it. It’s the same for many of us. As a vo artist/audio post mixer (and drummer) navigating a career path through the intersections of creativity and commerce, it hasn’t always been an easy business to be in. But I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
RIP, Taylor Hawkins. Thanks for the music and the joy. And thanks to the lifers in this crazywacky business who remain unsung, which is most of us. And we’re fine with that. #postproduction
