Three Song Stories

Dr. Fredara Hadley is a professor of ethnomusicology at Juilliard in New York City. She teaches courses on ethnomusicology, jazz history, and African American music - and her research focuses on the diverse musical legacies and impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Dr. Hadley’s commentary is featured in the recently released PBS series, "Gospel" and the 2021 series "The Black Chu...

Tim McGeary is a singer-songwriter who started out in the New York club scene playing at CBGB's, Trax, and Danceteria. In 1982 he was signed to A&M records with the band The Rescue - they were together for two years and opened for the likes of Duran Duran, Billy Idol, Simple Minds, Missing Persons, and Stray Cats. Tim has recorded three solo albums, the first two under the name "Wonderful John...

Emma Rodriguez is a journalism student at FGCU. She’s southwest-Florida born and raised and says her goal is to help keep the spirit of local journalism alive in her hometown.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chion Wolf is the host of Audacious on Connecticut Public Radio. It features  conversations with people who have uncommon or misunderstood experiences, conditions, or professions. Audacious is a three time Gracie Award winner - the Gracie Awards recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment. She is also the host of Other People...

Kirsten Hines is a writer, photographer, and environmental educator who started out as a wildlife biologist, but found herself being drawn toward storytelling with images and words versus collecting data so made a big pivot in that direction. Kirsten’s photographs and writings have appeared in numerous exhibitions and publications, including eight books…the latest of which is “Wild Florida: An Ani...

Jason Crosser is owner and operator of 8-bit Hall of Fame, where he buys, sells, and trades video games, consoles, collectables, accessories, trading cards, pro-wrestling memorabilia, and Vinyl albums, figurines. In 2022 hurricane Ian destroyed his store and more than $2 million of inventory, but the store reopened and Jason is back doing what he loves. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Stacey Holman is Series Producer & Director of the new four-part PBS documentary series, Gospel . She's a Harlem-based filmmaker who has directed and/or produced a number of award-winning projects including an episode of the 2018 PBS series Reconstruction: America After the Civil War hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. She was a producer on the critically acclaimed documentary Tell Them We Are Ri...

Gina Sabiston has been a DJ, sold puppets, is an eight-time Golden Apple Finalist, and has served on the City of Fort Myers Historic Preservation Board since 2003, also chairing the board for a significant portion of that time. She has served on the Charter Review Committee, ran for city council, and dedicated her time to nearly 30 boards.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Walt Tiburski spent more than 50 consecutive years in the commercial radio business, starting in college at a local radio station as a “gopher” and working his way up to becoming a radio station group owner of 23 stations. Walt quickly rose from Account Executive to Sales Manager to Vice President and General Manager of the legendary WMMS 101.1FM “The Buzzard” in Cleveland. Also during that time T...

Katie Garcia is Vice President of A&R at Capitol Music Group. Prior to that Katie worked at Secretly Group for 8 years and helped sign some of their flagship artists including Slowdive, Faye Webster, serptentwithfeet, Japanese Breakfast, and Phoebe Bridgers.  Before that she was the label manager and head of A&R at the independent record label, Captured Tracks. She also co-founded Bayonet...

Preston Rumbaugh is a roots-music veteran now based in Clarksdale, Mississippi  where he is a member of the Big A & the Allstars blues trio. He also leads his own blues band that features Big A & the Allstars members Anthony "Big A" Sherrod and Lee Williams, and he plays solo gigs.  Preston has backed a who's who of blues legends including Robert "Bilbo" Walker, Big George Brock, and Terry...

Grace Lougen is a guitarist and songwriter from Buffalo, NY. She toured Europe and the US with award-winning bandleader Robert Parker and with Grace Stumberg, who also performed as Joan Baez’s background vocalist for 8 years.  In the studio, Grace has contributed her songwriting and guitar playing to more than a dozen full-length records and in 2018 she joined forces with Megan Brown, Josh English...

Dr. Dawn Belamarich is president and CEO of the Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers, which used to be the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. She leads a team that coordinates efforts to solve Southwest Florida’s social problems on an eighteen-year deadline. She holds a Doctorate in Business Administration and Leadership, and has dual master’s degrees in Sociology/Criminology, as well as Ment...

Bryce Ivie is Events Director for Sugarshack Music Channel - and he hosts their podcast that features conversations with the cool bands they bring to their porch. He’s also the frontman for an Americana Folk Rock band called Sun State Blues.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chef Paul Rogalski is the Culinary Director & Co-Owner of Rouge Restaurant in Calgary - one of San Pellegrino’s "World’s 50 Best Restaurants". He can be seen starring in Les Stroud’s Wild Harvest on PBS, where he explores natural landscapes across North America with Survivorman Les Stroud. In each location, Les forages native ingredients that Paul then turns into culinary delights.  See omnyst...

Dan Navarro is a singer and has been a songwriter for artists including Pat Benatar (he co-wrote “We Belong”) The Bangles, Jackson Browne, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick and more. He's also a voice actor and singer. Most recently, he sang on six Lin-Manuel Miranda songs in the Disney Film Encanto . He’s also done voice work for Family Guy, American Dad , and for video games and TV commercials. Da...

Alexander Goldstein has composed music scores for 26 feature films, two silent classics, approximately 300 documentary films, animations, countless radio and television shows, circus and stage shows, commercials, and sports programs in the U.S. and abroad.  More than 40 Olympic Medals and over 120 World Medals were won using the music that he either edited or arranged. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Jazmyn Hunter is the first-ever City Curator for Sofar Sounds, a movement that  creates intimate concerts with local artists in nontraditional settings, in 400 cities around the world.   After recently moving to Ft. Myers and falling love with the local music scene there, she’s made it her personal mission to disprove the myth that Fort Myers is boring. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Liz Cochran is owner of Stellar Records. Born and raised in New York, she quickly became immersed in the Southwest Florida music scene when she moved there at 20 years old. She's a buyer, seller, collector, and advocate for listening to new and vintage music on vinyl. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Walters left his job in Finance in 2020 and moved to Napa, California where he spent time at Cakebread Cellars and Chappellet Winery. In 2021 he joined the team at Eleven Madison Park, a 3-Michelin Star restaurant in NYC, frequently named one of the top restaurants in the world. Now a Sommelier there, he helps to oversee one of the most awarded wine and beverage programs in the world. See omn...

It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time for our next Parting Tune Roundup!  Music Guests: Jen & Amelia Ford (and Seth) - Leave My Mangoes Alone Apollo Fresh - Rich off the Internet Michaela Berres - It Don't Mean a Thing  Camryn Cole - Them There Eyes  Jim Hale - Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain Cadence Bakker - And She Smiled Mia Borders - These Roads Phil Roy - Melt Dan Bern - Regent S...

Eli & Fur are DJs and electronic music producers originally from London. The duo’s debut track "You’re So High" reached the top 3 on Hype Machine in 2013 and has since received more than 73 million views on YouTube. They’ve performed regularly around the world at clubs, and at festivals including  Coachella, Tomorrowland, and Glastonbury. They've relaunched their own record label, NYX Music. S...

Samantha Uzbay is a Producer and Director of Business Development at Premier Music Group, a firm that oversees the music for film, television, advertisements, and more. Most recently, she contributed to the GRAMMY-nominated For the Birds: The Birdsong Project , a 242-piece collection of original music, poetry, and art, including works by Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Ronson, Beck, and others, all inspired by bir...

Eddie Kopp is the founder of the Sugarshack music channel . The YouTube-based platform showcases local, emerging, and national Musicians, with videos of them performing intimate, stripped down acoustic versions of their songs. The channel has grown from a backyard hobby into a business that includes audio and video production, photography, graphic design, and conceptual development, as well as a Y...

Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold are both comedy writers just coming off of a 2-year stint on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon , where they were the youngest writers in late night television. They also have several new shows in the works. Their new book, called “Naked in the Rideshare” is a collection of stories about the different stages of life, from childhood to college to adulthood. One of th...