A group shot of some participants in the salon at California Historical Radio Society.
With the background of vintage radios, Irish American Writers and Artists hosted a unique salon at the California Historical Radio Society museum in Alameda, Calif. The California Historical Radio Society is a not for profit started in the 1970s that strives to keep this important history alive by creating an environment conducive to sparking interest in radio, in young and old alike.
A night of poetry, music and — uniquely for our West Coast salons — films were showcased. Films were embedded in the salon’s powerpoint with the expert help of film director Shaun Daniels, founder of Students on the Set, a not for profit that mentors Alameda high school students on the craft of film making. Students Vanessa and Julie were on hand to film the entire salon.
Kicking off was Kelly Candaele’s 4-minute short, “St. Kevin and the Blackbird at the Wilshire Grand,” in which construction workers read and critique the Seamus Heaney poem and their insights are profound as they are simple.
Keeping with the bird theme, next was Deborah Crooks and Kwame Copeland, a talented singer/songwriter duo, shared a song from their soon to be staged bird-centric folk opera: “Flight Lessons.” The first song was “57 Crows,” followed by a humorous singalong by Kwame, “Save California for the Bears,” concluding with an original, “Mystery Ride.”
Next up a series of shorts and trailers by Students on the Set. First was student Jack Ryan’s trailer about the documentary “The Tap Dancing Christmas Trees — 3 Generations on Parade.” This documentary has been film festival favorite, winning ChristmasFest last December and a finalist in Charlotte International Dance Festival last week. Vanessa and Julie of Students on the Set filmed the salon and shared the video production for the music video “Got Milk,” a rocking hilarious song that asks, “What if Milk was a Drug?”
Next, George and Michele Huertas followed with some covers. George’s fine guitar strumming and Michele’s soaring vocals filled the museum.
Alameda’s own poet laureate Kimi Sugioka read “Year of the Fire Horse Tree Strength, For Renee Good and every life stolen by ICE” and finished with a spoken-sung uplighting poem “Trouble.”
Our feature short, “Confessions of a Well Meaning Man,” written by Alex Adams and directed by Diana Lauren Jones, tells a dark and tongue in cheek story of a priest grappling with giving a live radio broadcast from WGOD station, as he drunkenly confesses his sins. Filmed at the very same California Historical Radio Society vintage 1930s broadcast booth, a Q&A followed with the actor in this short, Alan Coyne.
Irish American singer/songwriter Sean Lightholder sent us home pondering about when the circus leaves, and then two hilarious songs about Hoatling’s Whiskey and St. James’s Gate. He’s always a favorite at Irish American Writers and Artists salons, and no less the case at this latest superb venue — the California Historical Radio Society.
