Location: Kingston NY

Saturday, Oct. 6 at 12 p.m., Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, 300 Wall St.

Think back to the last time you sang along to your favorite song. Were you alone? If you were singing along to a song on the radio, you were one of thousands singing along to that same song, at the same moment in time. The truth is, in the digital age, we live in an increasingly fragmented world, where opportunities for shared experiences, in real time, are precious few. Now more than ever, radio – especially independent radio – has a crucial role to play in connecting and engaging us all. It is the forerunner, and perhaps final bastion, of active community building on a mass-media level. Though not immediately obvious, community in action occurs daily on (and off) the airwaves. How is this accomplished? In this panel, we’ll find out, and have a thought-provoking look at the myriad ways radio continues to stay relevant and vital to our daily lives.

Moderated by: Carmel Holt (WFUV 90.7 FM)

Panelists: Jimmy Buff (Radio Kingston — WKNY 1490 AM), Greg Gattine (Radio Woodstock — WDST 100.1 FM), Lynn Sloneker (WGXC 90.7 FM), Steve Pierce (Media Alliance)

 

Carmel Holt

A lifelong student of music, Carmel Holt grew up singing and playing the piano, acting, and performing in musical theater, and received a BA in music composition and vocal performance at Bard College in 1994. Holt joined the staff of WDST in Woodstock and worked her way up to become midday host and three-time award-winning music director before being selected to fill the full-time mid-day shift at WFUV and serve as Assistant Music Director in 2013. The life of a radio DJ and music director has been perfect for Holt, who has an enduring belief in the power of music to bring people together.

Jimmy Buff

Jimmy Buff is the current Executive Director (and on-air host) at Radio Kingston. Buff began his radio journey at the legendary WNEW-FM. He came to the Catskills in 1993 to work at WDST and along the way has had stops at NYC’s K-Rock and WEHM in East Hampton, NY. In addition, Buff has done national TV, for ESPN and the Outdoor Life Network (now NBCSN), and locally hosted “Kingston Now” on RNN. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Buff has written about adventure for the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Catskill Mountain Region Guide and loves dogs and his family’s ancient (20!) cat. “I’m so excited to be a part of Radio Kingston and to focus on this city. My wife is a Kingstonian (her grandfather was fire chief, dad was deputy fire chief) and we chose to raise our son here. With this community at what seems to be an important crossroad in its future, I hope to help facilitate positive conversation about what works for the whole community. And I can’t wait to provide a soundtrack for that too.”

Greg Gattine

Greg Gattine is the current Program Director and Morning Show host at WDST Radio Woodstock. A graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, Gattine’s voice has been heard on the Hudson Valley airwaves since 1982, starting with oldies and standards station, WHVW/WJJB in Hyde Park. After a few years in the mid-1980s at WBNR/WSPK, Beacon, Gattine moved on to legendary WPDH in Poughkeepsie, for over a decade, and was Program Director and afternoon drive host for many years, prior to beginning his current tenure at WDST in Woodstock in 2000. Born and raised in Poughkeepsie, Gattine’s greatest joy in his role in broadcasting is the opportunity to be of service to the Hudson Valley community.

Lynn Sloneker

Lynn Sloneker has served as Station Manager and Managing News Editor with WGXC in Greene and Columbia counties since 2012, motivating and leading staff, and ensuring that the station’s objectives are met in terms of output, audience and revenue. Her belief in the critical importance of local media is informed by her experience as a print journalist, public official and parent. Before joining WGXC, Sloneker was a writer, editor and blogger for more than 20 years. She is a resident of Hudson.

 

Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce is the Executive Director of Media Alliance. He is a media reformer, activist and multimedia producer, with three decades of experience in the organizational and technical implementation of the telecommunications infrastructure. His PhD is from the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he is also a member of the adjunct faculty, teaching: Radio Production, Engineering Ethics, and Leadership. His past experiences in media reform include: Executive Director, Deep Dish TV Network, New York NY, 1989-92; Assistant Manager, Pacifica Radio WBAI, New York NY, 1988-89; Program Director, WWOZ Radio, New Orleans, LA, 1987- 88; and Journalist, New Orleans LA, 1980-87.

Brought to you in collaboration with and support from Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, Radio Kingston and ReverbNation. Special thanks to Bear Call Mastering. Refreshments provided by Variety Coffee Roasters and More Good.

Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m., Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, 300 Wall St.

It’s tough to be a DIY artist in the music industry. With more than 360K emerging artists in the U.S. each year it seems impossible to grow your fanbase and career. You can look at the industry’s focus on algorithms, streams, social media followers and music-as-marketing (not a product) as a negative, or you can look at this as an huge opportunity. Hear from a panel of industry experts including a label representative, a publicist, a lawyer, a manager and a DIY artist about how to build a sustainable career.

Moderated by: Craig Snyder

Panelists: Loren Chodosh, John Burdick, Mike + Ruthy, Kevin Calabro

 

Craig Snyder

At ReverbNation, Craig Snyder facilitates the artist development program impacting 5 million-plus artists on its platform. Using their curation-at-scale product, leveraging algorithms and human curators, ReverbNation identifies artists early in their career for the music industry and brands.

Snyder earned a master’s degree in rock n’ roll while producing radio shows on SiriusXM for some of the greatest music movers and shakers, including Andrew Loog Oldham, Joan Jett, Kim Fowley and Little Steven Van Zandt. Drawing from this experience, Snyder has been able to extract and implement campaign ideas as both a music marketer and an artist manager. When he’s not working, he’s creating podcasts, brewing coffee and playing hockey.

Loren Chodosh

Loren Chodosh is an entertainment law attorney and native New Yorker. Over the years she has represented a varied clientele, including Shawn Colvin, EMF, Moby, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Swans, Live and Tricky, currently representing The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, TV on the Radio, Liars, Buddy Guy, Steve Jordan, Nada Surf, Mercury Rev and many, many others. Lacking any discernible musical talent, Chodosh went to law school in the hope of figuring out how to work with bands. Decades later, she is still standing.

John Burdick

John Burdick is a regional music critic for Almanac Weekly. As a freelance writer, he composes biographies and release announcements for a variety of signed and unsigned artists. Burdick is one of the founders of SubFamily Records, a Hudson Valley cooperative that has released five records since forming late in 2017. As a guitarist and songwriter, he performs with his band The Sweet Clementines. He has recorded and/or performed with a variety of artists, including Laura Stevenson, Matt Pond PA, Dean Jones, Pelican Movement, and many others. Burdick is a multiple-time O+ alumnus with The Sweet Clementines and other projects. He will be performing this year with Hiding Behind Sound.

Mike + Ruthy

Mike + Ruthy (of The Mammals) are Hudson Valley-based songwriters who have made waves in the Americana world and beyond. In 2018 they released their self-produced LP, Sunshiner, which Tape Op magazine called “some of the best folk-rock music you will ever hear.” These two believe in the transformative power of a great live performance. Touring upwards of a 100 shows a year (with their two kids in tow), Mike + Ruthy also produce a bi-annual folk festival called The Hoot of which the late Pete Seeger called “one of the best song gatherings I’ve seen in all my 94 years.”

Kevin Calabro

Kevin Calabro began his career at the PR firm Susan Blond Inc., where he met Grammy Award-winning producer Joel Dorn who’d just launched the label, 32 Jazz. Calabro would work with Dorn for the next 10 years, earning production credits on many albums and received a Grammy nomination as executive producer for Vernon Reid’s production of “Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions” by jazz and blues legend James Blood Ulmer. In 2009, Calabro formed his own firm, Calabro Music Media, which oversaw campaigns for Chris Robinson Brotherhood, The Wood Brothers, and Medeski Martin & Wood, while his current roster includes Marco Benevento, Seth Walker and Leslie Mendelson. Calabro and Benevento formed Royal Potato Family, a record label imprint that’s released titles by Garage A Trois, Stanton Moore and Lukas Nelson.

Brought to you in collaboration with and support from Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, Radio Kingston and ReverbNation. Special thanks to Bear Call Mastering. Refreshments provided by Variety Coffee Roasters and More Good.

Saturday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m., Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, 300 Wall St.

Who owns public space? Who gets a voice in the commons?

This panel will examine the challenges and opportunities involved in the creation of a work of art in public. Together we will discuss the ways that the public nature of muralism can expose the social undercurrents of a community, who gets to “own” the visual field and the line between graffiti, street art and muralism.

Moderated by: Jessica Pabón-Colón

Panelists: Ori Alon, Tani Ikeda, Riisa “Boogie” Tochigi, Callie Mackenzie Jayne, Sarah Wilson

Jessica Pabón-Colón

Jessica Pabón-Colón is Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at SUNY New Paltz. She published her first book, “Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora,” with NYU Press in June 2018. Featured in Bitch Magazine’s “Bitchreads: 15 Books Feminists Should Read In June,” Pabón-Colón’s book is a groundbreaking interdisciplinary transnational feminist ethnography that examines how “graffiti grrlz” negotiate their place within a heterosexist male-dominated subculture. She tweets @justjess_phd and blogs at www.jessicapabon.com.

Imaginary.”

Ori Alon

Ori Alon is the Director and Founder of the Empowering Clerks Network (Center for Supportive Bureaucracy), the largest international organization issuing Playful Paperwork documents such as the Joy Permit, Forgiver’s License, Racism Release Form, Refurbished Report Cards, OK Parent Award, Peer Review Certificate of Recognition, Apology Declaration and more. He creates interactive street art such as the Hidden Fortune Wheel and Alternative Memorial Plaques, satirical government entities like the NY Diversity Authority which facilitated the White Men Registry, a comics series with postage stamps and children’s book series The Magic Bagel. Currently Alon is running for Mayor of Beacon NY, offering free ice cream for elders, 17 percent tax deduction for men who express vulnerability, spending zero dollars on the campaign and reducing the voting age to 6, among other promises. Alon vowed to only say positive things about his opponents. www.supportivebureaucracy.org

Tani Ikeda

Tani Ikeda is an Emmy-winning director who creates narratives, documentaries, music videos, and commercial films. She was recently selected as one of Sundance’s 2018 intensive screenwriting lab’s fellows and was also named one of Film Independent’s 33 Emerging Filmmakers as a Project: Involve Directors Fellow. Ikeda was an Executive Producer and Director on the Blackpills Documentary TV Series “Resist” with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors about the fight against LA County’s $3.5 billion jail plan. At the age of 21, Ikeda co-founded imMEDIAte Justice, a nonprofit that fosters the talents of young women artists working in virtual reality. She is the current executive director of imMEDIAte Justice and was named one of the “25 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World,” by the Utne Reader. Ikeda tours the country speaking at universities and national conferences about storytelling as a tool for social justice. She holds a B.A. in Film Production from the University of Southern California and currently resides in Los Angeles. (@taniikeda)

Riisa “Boogie” Tochigi

Boogie is a Japanese-American street artist who crafts detailed imaginary creatures, flowing abstractions and fun-loving characters. Her body of work taps into the flow of the streets, the vibrations of dance culture and blends the technical mastery of traditional Japanese prints with urban imagery, materials and locations. boogierez.com

 

Callie Mackenzie Jayne

Callie Mackenzie Jayne is the Founder & Executive Director of Rise Up Kingston, and Radio Show host at Radio Kingston. Her desire to fight for justice began in eighth grade protesting against unequitable dress code policies. Jayne’s career started off in sales, bouncing from job-to-job, and struggling to make ends meet. Her life, work and educational experiences led her to discover the institutionalized issues that were preventing her and many others — from all walks of life — from achieving a quality standard of living. Her desire for change comes from the belief that all people deserve a basic standard of living, and if we could all come together and hear many differing perspectives, we can use our struggles to achieve collective greatness.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson currently serves as the Chair of the Poughkeepsie Public Arts Commission in Poughkeepsie, and she is also the Vice President of the Board of Directors at Barrett Art Center.  She earned her B.A. and M.A. in Art History from Michigan State University and Brooklyn College, respectively. Wilson works as an attorney with McCabe & Mack, LLP where she handles intellectual property and art-related matters. www.mccm.com

 

Brought to you in collaboration with and support from Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, Radio Kingston and ReverbNation. Special thanks to Bear Call Mastering. Refreshments provided by Variety Coffee Roasters and More Good.