Tom Petty Appreciation Band Interview and Show Preview, plus Preview of Tom Petty & Heartbreakers Live Anthology – Weekender, Nov. 4

Photo from Weekender, Nov. 4, 2009

The November 4, 2009 edition of the The Weekender featured two articles my me. I’ve been a fan, thanks to @SheliTwits, of the Tom Petty Appreciation Band for some time. A life-long Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers fan, I was secretly waiting for a tribute band to pop up locally (I actually have a name for one that I’ve never been able to use because my only musical talent is listening, so instead I turned it into a collection of short stories I want to write), so when I saw a Twitter update in March that Sheli was going to see a Tom Petty Appreciation Band in Scranton, I was like, “What? Where?” I didn’t get to see them that day, but have seen most of their shows since.

When I heard that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers was coming out with a massive collection of live music called the Live Anthology, I thought it’d be perfect timing to cover the local and national angle. I pitched the idea to my editor at The Weekender, and we found out the next Tom Petty Appreciation Band show was going to be at the River Street Jazz Cafe in Plains (basically Wilkes-Barre) on November 6, so he scheduled both my stories for the Wednesday before.

Pat Finnerty, lead singer of the band, was very fun to talk to. I think the story turned out well. It seemd to help draw a huge crowd to the Jazz Cafe also.

Check out the article here: NEPA’s Southern Accents…  (But of course, I love how the page looks in print.

Also, there’s the article on the Tom Petty collection.

Weekender: Music Story on local teenage classic rock group, Gentlemen

In the 8/18/09 issue of the Weekender, I interviewed the manager (and father of two of its members) of a local classic rock group made up of local high school students. The interview was prior to their first bigger gig on their own– previously they were opening acts for other bands.

Here’s the scoop on Gentlemen from Mountaintop:

Stevie Ray Vaughn. The Rolling Stones. Led Zeppelin. Not artists you’d first associate with a modern-day teenage basement band, right? Wrong. That’s a typical setlist for a quartet of young men from Mountaintop. Make that Gentlemen.

Check out the whole story on these talented boys here.

Crime in Wilkes-Barre – Weekender Cover Story, June 3

I had the cover story in the June 3, 2009 issue of The Weekender, focusing on the recent increase of violent crime in Wilkes-Barre.  For the story, I interviewed Mayor Tom Leighton, Police Chief Gerard Dessoye, a sociology professor, a business owner and a city resident to get all views.  Despite the tough subject matter (I mean, it’s about death), I enjoyed this story because it was one that needed to be told!  Thanks, Weekender for asking me to tackle this current event story!

Here’s a snippet:

Anywhere but Wilkes-Barre. That’s the job search criteria for one local young professional.

Steve Moyer, 25, of Wilkes-Barre’s North End is looking beyond the local classifieds because he said the city isn’t as safe as it once was.

“[Deciding to leave] the area did not originate because of the violence, however, that is slowly becoming a reason. …,” he said. “The recent escalation has me looking for greener pastures.”

In 2009, there have been seven homicides in Luzerne County. Four of them have been in Wilkes-Barre — fourth most in the state. Wilkes-Barre, with an estimated 41,069 residents, is the 22nd largest city in Pennsylvania, according to the 2000 U.S. census. In murders, however, Wilkes-Barre has a much higher ranking, trailing only Philadelphia (1.5 million residents), Pittsburgh (311,218) and Harrisburg (47,196).

You can read the entire story here.

KISS ALIVE! interview in the Weekender, April 1

Just realized that I never posted this story here on my blog.  I had the opportunity to interview the lead singer (the “Gene”), Tom Pressano of a New York-based KISS tribute band, KISS ALIVE! for a Weekender story a few months ago.  He was great fun to talk to!  He’s an English teacher by day and by night, rocks out to some of the greatest rock and roll ever made.  The story ran in the April 1, 2009 issue of the Weekender, promoting the band’s show that weekend.

Here is a snippet:

Shakespeare by day. Simmons by night.

Tom Pressano spends his weekdays teaching English in New York City, but as his students tell him, he’s a freak on the weekends. Pressano, or “The Demon,” on bass and vocals, is one-quarter of the Kiss tribute band KISS ALIVE! He impersonates fellow (former) teacher, Gene Simmons.

The NYC-based KISS ALIVE! will bring the makeup, the costumes and the setlist that made KISS rock n’ roll icons to Nightcaps in Edwardsville this Saturday, April 4. It seems as if Kiss and other legendary bands from that era are still insanely popular today, and Pressano offered that perhaps it’s because they were the first big entertainers in the genre.

To read the entire story, you can visit the archived Weekender story here:  KISS ALIVE! to Rock and Roll All Night.

Weekender Cover Story- Feb 25th- Tracking the Twitter Trend

I usually post the links to the things I write professionally at www.DonnaTalarico.com to separate the two blogs and my personal life from my writing life (which is one in the same really, but I feel the need to have a total independent writing blog.) But since this article is about something I personally use and know and love, I figure it kind of belongs here, too. So, if you have time and want to learn more about Twitter, check out the Weekender cover story (if you are local, pick one up for all the other great stuff the Weekender offers) here. Thanks to the local people and businesses who gave interviews.

Also, unrelated to this particular article, but pertinent to Twitter and it’s friends, to learn more about social media, keep up with my company’s social media blog for lots and lots of great SEO and SMO tips.

Oh, and of course, you can follow me on Twitter, here.

Earth-Friendly in NEPA- Weekender Cover Story

Today, I have the cover story of the “Green Issue” of Northeast PA’s Weekender- I interviewed an environmental engineering profressor who is heading up some green efforts at Wilkes University, a quality control director of the company that put the windmills is Bear Creek, a lawyer who just constructed a green office and several individuals who are starting to live the green life.  The rest of the issue covers other green topics, too.  Pick one up at newsstands today- the articles always look so much better in print, but you can read it online, too.

Holiday Gift Guide for Techies: Weekender, November 28

In this week’s Weekender, I wrote about gadget gifts for the techie on your holiday list. The article always looks better in print, so check it out this week if you can! Otherwise, you can read it online here, scroll down to the Gifts… for Techies headline- that’s the portion of the gift guide section I wrote.

Abbey Road on River story- Weekender, Wed. 8.27.08

This week’s Weekender features a story I contributed on the upcoming Abbey Road on the River festival in Wilkes-Barre- the second annual version of this Beatles tribute festival. I interviewed event promoter Pat Verrastro.. Read more here:

http://www.theweekender.com/music3-0827.html

Today’s Weekender: Beyond Fallen Headlines Metal Bash

In today’s Weekender I had a story about Metal Bash, happening this weekend at Nightcap’s in Edwardsville.

I interviewed the Joe Karavis lead singer of the headlining band, Beyond Fallen.

Beyond Fallen, whom I also wrote about earlier this summer, toured in Europe this summer. They’ve got a record deal in Europe and this summer released their debut on the label (but not their first CD), Mindfire.

Pretty cool for a local band out of NEPA.

Interview with CCR original drummer, Doug Cosmo Clifford

For those of you who know me, you know that I love CCR. So, I was thrilled when I got an e-mail out of the blue from the band’s publicist, Wendy (for whom I have worked with before) asking me if I could do an interview with one of the members for their upcoming show at the Bloomsburg Fair.

My editor okayed it and I spoke with the original drummer Cosmo (Doug Clifford). That was a big highlight for me. I’ve been fortunate to be able to interview lots of cool people, but this is the first person from my fave era of music and one of my life-long favorite bands that I have interviewed. Look for the story in this Weds.’s Weekender.

Doug was very open and extremely cool to talk to. I didn’t want to bring up anything about Fogerty…. For those that don’t know- this new CCR (with the R meaning revisited, not revival) is made up of two original CCR members and three new guys– but all the same hits! They also have an album out: Recollection.

Credence Clearwater Revisited will be at the Bloomsburg Fair on Weds. Sept. 26. Check them out.