The EverGreens

About five years ago I met a young lady named Laurel Chanel Harrison in my hometown of Johnstown, Pa. I attended a Open Mic Night at a newly opened cafe in town called Flood City Cafe. I was amazed by her voice and the range of it. Laurel has been doing music since she was a little girl, doing church songs on Sundays and then as a teenager performed for her youth group and worship band. Laurel went to college for piano for a year and a half at IUP ( Indiana University of Pennsylvania) for classical music, but she wanted to play more than just classical music so she left school. Laurel started working at the Flood City Cafe and she began learning covers to popular songs. She started to play Open Mic Nights at the cafe every Friday night, Laurel was sent up every Friday night to play since she was there working anyway. Laurel then went on a trip for five months and when she returned her life was changed forever. When Laurel was gone on her trip the cafe hired on Amanda Alt and Amanda and Laurel met when Laurel returned. Amanda heard Laurel play a few times and had asked if she as playing anywhere other than the cafe. At that time she was not and Amanda wanted to start booking her in other places. The two teamed up for a gig at the Press Bistro in downtown Johnstown and hit it off very well. They started to practice covers together and Amanda brought her drums in the mix. The style that the group plays is different than others because Laurel's voice is the main focus, The set that Amanda uses is not a full set, so she doesn't over power Laurel's voice. The duo began to get a following and people started to ask them to play at different places and functions.

Amanda started to reach out to other venues and started booking them at different places around the area.  With everyone hearing and loving their sound, they gained fans from all over, with Amanda hitting the internet and reaching out to everywhere she could people started to ask about them. Bars and events were calling them to perform and people were recognizing them everywhere they went. Amanda has a huge background in music, booking shows around the area and performing in bands as well. Amanda attended Columbia College in Chicago for Music Business, inspired of the old sounds of motown which her mother listened to. After taking two years off after high school Amanda found Columbia College in Chicago and learned the behind the scenes of music. Amanda received her Bachelor's Degree there and went back to Johnstown and started her own business in photography and  graphic design as well. Music was put in the background for a while but it still was her passion. Amanda was always involved in music since she was young, so it still pulled at her and wanting to perform always was there.

Once Amanda and Laurel joined up the sky was the limit, playing all over the state of Pa and beyond the duo has made a great name for themselves. Laurel is always being told that she could make it huge but that is not the goal. They love to play small crowds and be in control of their own path. Big record labels are not on the mind of the group and they and their fans like it that way. The duo want to go on the road and just play all the way to California, with their two pugs in tow.

The Evergreens are on their way to being one of those groups that you can't get out of your head. They are thinking about starting a YouTube Channel so fans can keep up with them. They strive everyday to expand their reach and be able to just do music. 

With a EP of original songs out, The Evergreens want to work on other projects as well, such as a Christmas album and a summer tour. The Evergreens are on the path to the American Dream, and that is doing what you love and holding nothing back!

You can follow The Evergreens on their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/theevergreensmusic/ to keep up to date with shows music and just plain great pictures and videos!!

Hanging with ThreeSound!

The weekend of Labor Day I had the chance to go to the Ethnic Fest in Johnsttown Pa, and I got the chance to sit down with a band called Threesound. The group hails from Virginia and was started back in 2011 when they were in high school. The quartet of Bobby, Andrew, Marshall, and John are laid back guys that love to play music! It was the first time in Johnstown playing at the event and they had a blast, with the many genres of music that were presented. Their smooth sound will definitely get you hooked the first time you play one of their tracks. Influenced by by bands like Lettuce, Anderson Peck, Hiatus Kaiyote, and even Snnop Dogg, these guys are on their way up to being one of the best groups out there. Threesound has two studio albums out now that you can find on digital outlets,  "Soundbound", and "Different Spaces" that are both great projects and working on another EP as well. The band said farewell to Marshall as he went on to a new chapter of his journey so now a trio for the first time since they started, they are still plugging away to bring new light to their music and more fun for the fans.

I also got to talk to the group about how the world of the music business has changed from what ti used to be. The band thinks that the streaming phase has opened a lot of doors for independent artists and has put them on the same playing field as the bigger names. The group really loves to take their music all over and it doesn't matter to them where they ply as long as they have that connection with their fans that's all that matters, and if the venue has good drinks and food that even better! You can find the group and their works on www.threesound.net or on https://www.facebook.com/threesoundband.

Skies Above: The Story of Black Lightning

A few months ago I had the pleasure to sit down and talk to Pro wrestler Black Lightning. I waited to write this article because something inside of me said wait. Every boy has a dream to become something larger than life. Some thing that they see will spark a fire inside them, to strive for something more, no matter how long it takes. Larry "Black Lightning" Burke went through this when he was a boy.

Johnstown Pa is the home of Polka music, Gob Cakes, and of course Pro Wrestling. Larry Burke grew up in the Kernville section of Johnstown, where he made friends, with Nygel Tisinger, The McCall Family, Randy Altemus, Bum Tisinger, and older cousin JD Robinson. Everyone knew that Larry was in love with wrestling and was very interested in the sport of it all. A chance viewing of a wrestling broadcast at his mother's friend's house, gave Larry his first sight of the Ultimate Warrior! Seeing Ultimate Warrior running down the entrance ramp and seeing how the crowd reacted to his energy had Larry hooked.

The fire building up inside of Larry was growing hotter in his young age and he finally found to let it out. A kid name Randy Collier and his friends had built a wrestling ring in his backyard! Larry saw the kids in the yard taking bumps and working on their entrances, and he fell in love with their production. Getting to know Randy Collier and becoming friends with the other kids, was Larry's way in to the company and he flourished. The Wood Street Wrestling Federation (WWF) would be the home of "Lightning" and his persona. Lightning would be in every show and would gain fans with each performance, his matches with The RingMaster (Randall Fareway), Freddy Sabu, Saturn (Sherrod Hall) Phsyco Fusion, and others would bring fans from all over the city to see. The one match that Lightning would go to a level that he never went to was the infamous "Barrel Match" with one of his biggest rivals at that time of his career "The Assassin." They were the under card match of the night but after putting The Assassin in a barrel and rolling him down a alley way, Lightning and The Assassin would steal the show! Once the Wood Street Wrestling Federation died off Larry took his persona to RIPW ran by Zack Graham.

Using the name "Black Lightning" now Larry would take the time to hone his craft and become a great performer at RIPW.  Where he had a great run and his fan-base grew with each event that they had. The back yard wrestling days were good to Lighting and his love for the sport grew with every match that he performed. Helping the RIPW to build their fan-base and story lines was fun for him because of the love for the sport, and Lightning is forever great full for the experience.

After the backyard era in Johnstown died off, a new era began with the JWA. A new Professional Wrestling Federation in Johnstown. At this point in Larry's life wrestling was in the past. Larry had no interest in stepping into his boots again. While walking in the Hornerstown section of town, Larry ran into former Wood Street Wrestling owner Randy Collier, who started a new federation called Johnstown Wrestling Alliance (JWA). Larry's interest in the sport faded away at the time, so Randy tried his best to talk him into coming in and see what was going on. Larry went in the church that Randy and his cousin had got to hold shows in. For  the first time Larry saw a real wrestling ring! There were guys taking bumps and going through the paces, but it just didn't put a spark in Larry's heart. After some time Larry was at home and started watching WWE programming and the fire that he was looking for ignited again! Larry went back to the church and told Randy that he wanted in, but some of the locker room did not want this to happen!  Larry took this as a challenge and said "If you don't want me here then I'm going to be here!" The drive created the fire that Larry needed to become one of the most popular characters of the company! One day someone came to Larry and said why don't you call yourself Black Lightning? At that moment his character was born!  The crowd loved to see him in the ring and he loved to perform. Towards the end of JWA Black Lightning went on to face Shane Malice and won the Heavyweight Champion!

Once again Rand Collier had the idea of starting another federation in Johnstown, with the help of Black Lightning, and Physco  Fusion, ISP, and Shane Malice. Randy would put everything that he had into the federation, even putting his house on the line!  One evening they were playing some video games and came up with the name All Or Nothing Wrestling, because his was their last chance to go and do what they loved so much. Now that they had the company and started building a fan base around the area. The company now is getting paid to perform for 200 to 300 people at their shows, even being scouted out by the people that put together the famous motorcycle rally "Thunder In The Valley!" This would be their "WrestlieMania" and they treated it that way. Black Lightning and the rest of the locker room were putting on the best shows that they could produce. At this point of it all a local gym "Snap Fitness" would sponsor the federation and added money and more shows to the agenda. The hep of Snap Fitness would also soon bring the demise of the company because of the growing popularity of AON in the area. Other federations were loosing their fan base because of the new innovative style of AON and the marketing of Snap Fitness, so of course the other federations were angry. With the competition fading away the only ones standing in their way was themselves. With the locker room divided they went after each other pretty hard. Black Lightning took a hard part of the fights between the locker room. He was called a "Ass Kisser" because he loved AON and trying to stand up for the guys in the back. "I was just the one saying what 30 other guys were afraid of saying and they hated me for it!"  Fighting for pay and food Larry was just trying to show that he had love for the company that they built and the talent as well. After about 3 years of going the AON shut it's doors.

Now enter Phoenix Pro Wrestling came into the mix and provided the locker room with another fire. Black Lighting took a while to come back even though that the federation wanted him to come and perform. At this point in his life Larry was going down a dark path with drinking and partying all night long. Burning the candle stick at both ends was catching up with him, and getting to the point of self destruction. Depression was setting in and it started to show, with blackouts and not knowing what happened the nights before, BL was now known as "The King Of Turn UP" and that as not a good thing! BL's friends were starting to notice that something wasn't right and BL was starting to see the same thing as well Larry started to notice that he was having vision problems and problems with his legs as well. So Larry checked himself into the hospital, doctors had told him that he was far from ok and that he needed to slow down his "turn up" lifestyle.  Phenomena in both lungs as well as bronchitis Larry had time to stay and think in the hospital abut his life. Not having the best health or even relationship with his son, Larry was at his breaking pint and had to make a decision about where to go from there.  Larry came to the conclusion that he had to do better and changed hid life.

Larry's best friend  Eric Williams (ISP) was wrestling for Phoenix already, at the time Eric was going through his own struggles but reached out to his friend. Eric knew that Larry loved wrestling and urged him to have a talk with the federation as a favor to Eric. Larry had the conversation with Phoenix Pro and got back into the mix! Black Lightning now has become one of the most looked at and respected guys in and out of the locker room, with his on going feuds with Shane Malice and Randall Fareway, BL is a crowd favorite and has raised the bar all the way up. The match between BL and Randall Fareway end up with BL holding his first Phoenix belt The Legacy Championship!!!

Black Lightning has captured the hearts of his fans and community with his work around the area showing up for events at local businesses and even talking to fans outside of the shows. The biggest thing that BL has done this year is touched the heart of a fan that was getting bullied at his school and having it taped and showed on Facebook. BL went to the young fans house and sat with him and told him that he was sorry that kids could be so rude and mean. That meant the world to this young fan and went all over Facebook about the love BL has for his community. With all that is going on in the town of Johnstown you can trust that BL has forever hanged the landscape and will forever be a hero to the fans and his community. It's not about the dark path that you have taken but the journey to take to make it back, and that my friends is "Just The Facts!"

The War against Racism

Last weekend in Charlottesville Va the KKK and Neo-Nazis came together in a protest. The protest was about the removal of the statue of Confederate Robert E. Lee. Some say that the statue is a constant reminder of the hate that ran through the city, some say that it is a reminder of the better days of our country. The fact that we live in a country that still allows these factions to be around just shocks me. It seems that we are heading right back down the same path that we were in decades ago. The American Minority is under attack by these terrorist that have the right to operate in our country. The history that our country is filled with courage and also despair, we can never forget the despair because that's part of our history as well.

As the world watches these events happens the response from the White House has everyone in a uproar. With these blatant acts of terrorism we as  nation are tired of it , and have seen enough. The lack of response from our leaders to this tragedy is just uncalled for. Will the events in Charlottesville spread to other places in our country? With the power of the internet they can spread their message world wide and have every right to do so. The Daily Stormer is a publication that the neo-Nazi group uses to reach more people and was hosted by GoDaddy, who recently cut ties with them, after the group made a post mocking the victims of that day.

Heather D. Heyer (32)  a paralegal from the city lost her life due to a hit and run done by James Alex Fields Jr from Ohio. Fields ran into a on going crowd of protesters killing Heyer and injuring others. Two state troopers also lost their lives as well Lt H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Berke M. M. Bates while monitoring the event in their helicopter as it fell and caught on fire.

With the last term of President Obama, we've seen race relations crumble and a fight between citizens and government increase. Will we be heading back into the age where we are divided again because of our races? All eyes are one the President and a country that seems to be falling apart at the seams. Who do we blame for all of this a newly elected President or us as a society for letting our hate for one another change our landscape?  On Monday a few members of the Presidents "American Manufacturing Council" quit after the response that the "House" gave after the events in Va.

C.E.O.s from Wal-Mart, Under Armour, Intel and Merck Pharmaceuticals all left the group and are no longer the council.

The fact that we are at this point in our times just is plain scary, we are in troubled times right now. The NFL and their treatment of Colin Kaepernick and still not being signed to a team, is leaving the "Black Community" in a uproar. The fact that he's still a free agent is leaving most people in a head spin. With the likes of Jason Whitlock and others of the media, Kaepernick's life in the NFL this year seems dim.

Will he be signed and will this change, or will he suffer from his actions of last seasons stance against the killing of blacks by the hands of police?

We can only hope that a change will come soon to all of this, but will it come down to a fight? We stand and watch as our country tries to survive this seemingly ongoing war between races and hope that we can rise above it all.

The Rev logo t-shits are now online for sale!!

Get your "The Rev" logo t-shirts now!

Sizes

M-L $12.00 USD XL-3X $14.00 USD

The Divine Medium

I recently had the chance to talk to Christina Kay Watts also known as The Divine Medium. Now I know what you're thinking, this is a music magazine. Well we wanted to try something different and new. So we will be putting in great new articles about some folks who do some pretty amazing things outside of music. I sat down with Christina and she let me ask her some personal questions. I was very honored for her to let me into her world. She has never let a magazine come in and do a interview before. So this was really special to do and we thank her for it.

So every story has a beginning and Christina has a movie like story for you to hear. Like me she grew up in Johnstown Pa, in the Richland area of town. She comes from a Catholic family and her family is pretty well known in the area. Christina is a graduate of Bishop McCourt in Johnstown Pa and  college graduate attending Cambira Rowe, where she gained a Business Web Design Degree. Christina would also attend Walden University with a study in Forensic Psychology, with this in her arsenal of skills she could work with the Homicide Unit and Victim Services. She then found that being a medium would be too demanding to do both. 

Christina was given a very unique gift, she can see and hear what others can't. When she was a little girl her family lived by a cemetery in their back yard! She had this gift at a very young age and told people about it, but no one believed her. Christina is the youngest of five children, she told two of her sisters but only one of them believed her at that time. Growing up and learning to deal with knowing that she would have to cope by herself was tough.  

In 2009 a car accident would change her life forever. The accident would enhance her ability and  take her to a place where she cold learn more about her gifts. What seemed like such a little time for the Doctors who worked on her during the time of the accident, seemed like decades to Christina.  Imagine going to a place where there is no time and no one grows older than the age of 35! This place would be Heaven and this is where Christina went.

Now you are probably thinking that this can't be true. If you believe in Heaven and Hell then why can't it be true. I believe that there are people that are in tune to the spiritual world more than others. If you have any kind of faith then you believe that there is a higher being than us all. A world where there is peace and unity.Christina has been to this place and has learned things that we can only imagine. Being taught of the different realms in Heaven and learning that you can make your experience in Heaven a personal one. These are some of the things that were shown to her. 

                       

She explained to me that we all have guides in our lives. They help us through the rough terrain  that we call life.Before we're even born we have a purpose and meaning. A contract is made up of what your purpose in this life will be. Some of us were meant to be leaders and followers. Now Christina is sometime called a Psychic but this is not the case. Psychics' are not Mediums, in fact Psychics only pull things from your "Soul Contract" without knowing where it's meant to be. What psychics do is called "Implanting", and what they do is tell us things from our certain future. These choices haven't been made yet to get to those certain future outcomes. They may have pulled something from your "soul contract" that was suppose to happen 5 years from now! 

Christina is a teacher and a healer, providing her clients with answers to the questions that plague their lives. She has things like crystals and books for learning, and other objects that help raise your vibration, because everyone has their own vibration. She has a great, warm presence about her, I spent some time with her and observed her world. I have seen some stuff that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! The amazing gift that she has been given she uses to help people find peace and meaning in their lives. A genuine person with a huge heart for people here and beyond.

You can follow Christina  on Facebook (the devine  medium) and at www.thedevinemedium.com 

I want to  thank Christina  and her team for letting  me come in and talk with them, and for allowing  me to write this. Thank you.

The World of Jay La'Mont

With the Hip-Hop game the way it is now it's hard to find artists that really stand out. Jay La'Mont is one of the few artists that does. A native of Johnstown Pa La"Mont has gained a following with his music. Doing shows around Pa and surrounding areas, he takes pride in his work and loves the connection with his fans. To Jay La'Mont "Real artists are true to themselves and can adapt to any style." He proves that with every song that he does and puts out.

The founder and leader of "The Genius Society" a cult following of fans that live a laid back and hate free lifestyle. His music stands out in the crowd and send positive messages to his fans. He recently went to Portland to work on a album called "Gold" with Rare Rap Records which is set to be released this fall. He said that he learned a lot from his time there and really honed in on his craft.

His music is influenced by the minds of such great like Wiz, Kanye, Kendrick, The Doors, The Beatles, George Clinton and Jimi Hendrix. He also is a great producer behind the board he makes his own beats and contols his own sound. He is a double threat in the studio and that helps set him apart. He was on VH1's  Save The Music Concert at Thiel College and gained a lot of fans from that. 

You can find most of his work on SoundCloud so you can enjoy songs like "Late at Night" with Trey Ell and "No Breaks.". Jay La'Mont is on his way to the top there is no doubt in anyones' mind. He has the skill and the fire to become one of the best. "Fake artists can't adjust to the changes of music." Jay La'Mont proves time and time again that he can change at will and bring the same level of heat to each and every track. We look forward to seeing where he ends up and becomes in his music. So just sit back and enjoy the ride and by all means "Stay Foolish!"