Continued from last week…….
So the next 4 artists I will be talking about have so much talent, charisma, and personality it’s unbelievable. Each of their styles, while equally beautiful, are very different but at the same time all feel like home. These guys are true artists…one of them in the most literal meaning of the word.
Trent Hancock (http://www.trenthancock.com/ ) is a singer/songwriter that I found kind of on accident. He’s got a very smooth easy sound that is kind of reminiscent of the Beatles with a twist of some of the vets from the CBGB scene. His EP “Ghostbird” is said to be inspired by his time in the Brooklyn area as well as many of his other personal life experiences (as you will see in the video below I borrowed from YouTube). When I say that I found him on accident, I was at a concert at Lestat’s coffee house in San Diego (where I see a lot of great acts) watching a concert by Ernie Halter (who I will talk about later) when he called on stage a couple of his friends to sing a song with him. He also had Kenny Eng with him (who I mentioned in last week’s entry); well Trent’s voice caught my attention immediately. For one he was a new voice to listen to (and I love to find new people…don’t know if you noticed) and for another his tone was so clear and clean. You could hear every word, which when you can’t is something I hate, and if you didn’t know the song he was singing you could definitely pick it up just by listening. After the show I got a chance to tell him how much my wife and I liked his voice and he gave me his Ghostbird EP. Needless to say it was on repeat for a few weeks after. I also have seen him on other occasions and each time he is better than the next. If you haven’t heard of him please look him up on either YouTube or iTunes. He is definitely worth your time. Check out this bio video, where he tells you a bit about himself.
Next on the mic we have a not so San Diego local….Ernie Halter (http://erniehalter.com/fr_newstours.cfm). Born in Inglewood (…”bitches”…. An Ernie fan inside joke, so don’t kill me gangsters of the wood that is full of ingles) in the 70’s, he spent most of his childhood in the O.C. with his 2 brothers and his "Cuboslavian"(Cuban mother and Yugoslavian father in his words lol!) parents. I will let the bio on his site tell you the rest. What I will tell you is how talented this guy is. I owe his discovery to my wife (dammit), she heard him first on a soap called “General Hospital” and went nuts for the guy, and rightfully so. We got lucky enough to catch him at Lestat’s (see, I told you some awesome acts go there) because he posted something on Facebook a few hours before the show. That show was amazing. His voice is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and his lyrics are just the kind of thing that can make any woman putty in your hands. We’ve been faithful fans ever since. Every time he makes his way anywhere near SD we are there. We even made it out to that somewhat career changing show in Costa Mesa, California at La Cave (pronounced La Cov), where Ernie was visited by two special guests. Unfortunately those guests were not us, they just so happened to be Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. The two of them are apparently huge fans of Ernie’s to the point that Justin covered one of his songs. The song is called “Come Home to Me” and is beautiful. He even got on stage to sing it with him. Here is that video for you to enjoy.
My favorite song from all of his albums has to be a tossup of “Whisper” from the ”Congress Hotel” album, “Pretty Girl” from the “Starting Over” album and “Black Coffee in Bed” from the new “Franklin and Vermont” album. Those songs to me are 3 of the most well written songs (although “Pretty Girl” is a song by David Ryan Harris who is another stellar artist), and 3 of the most heart filled vocals I have heard from a “coffee shop performer”. I used quotations because my wife and I think that he is so much more than that. He is an amazing individual that is sure to be more than huge and anyway that we can help we hope he knows that we are an email or a phone call away. PLEASE CHECK HIM OUT!!!!
Another artist that is not so local but everyone knows even if they don’t think they do is a guy named Thomas Ian Nicholas (http://thomasiannicholas.com/). He is an actor turned singer/songwriter and what an awesome artist he is (let’s be honest I wouldn’t mention him if he wasn’t worth the time). He has this classic rock vibe that is mixed up with some pop and a good bit of alternative. Sounds crazy but I am so lucky that I was at Ernie’s show to catch him. Currently he is on location in Atlanta filming his new movie “American Pie 4”. I told you he is an actor, I’ll narrow it down for you he was also the lead actor in (and I know he’s gonna kill me lol.)….”Rookie Of The Year” the movie about a kid that cracked his arm and for a while was able to throw a baseball at ridiculous speeds for a kid and got drafted to the Cubs. If you know the movie then you’ll get my next quote “FUNKY BUTT LOVIN’!!!!” Anyways, back to the music, when my wife and I first saw him we had that “ooook how's this gonna work?…” kind of feeling. You know what I mean cause we weren’t sure how the “actor” was gonna pull it off, but WOW he plays the guitar exceptionally well, and his lyrics (at least for me) were something to relate to and the song that I related to the most was “Face In The Crowd” from the album “Without Warning” the acoustic version. If and when you get the album it is track number 11 (c’mon you know you want it!!). He really put it all on the line and left his life on the stage. He performed every song with so much feeling and had that gruffness in his voice that made me want to keep listening. I think that his jump into the music scene was a good one and for me was really well received. Today 7/10/2011 (today) just happens to be his birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Here he is performing “You Don’t Know” live in what seems to be an alley in Brooklyn, NY enjoy!!!
The last artist I will be talking about today is just that, a true artist….he paints some of the most amazingly realistic pieces of art that I have ever seen. His name is Daniel Jaimes (http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Jaimes/1087821132#!/profile.php?id=100000053214610) We first met him when my wife put an ad out on craigslist for artists to show at her yearly art show called “Art in the Yard” which I will be writing about in august when the event takes place this year. He was doing pencil drawings of famous people that you would swear were printed from the internet. He has moved into paint and it is amazing. I have some photos of his work that I will share with you below.
Like I said his work is absolutely amazing! His paintings make you feel as though you are in the movie with every superhero or committing crimes with every villain. When you take a closer look at his work you can see how much detail he puts into every piece. His stipple work (basically dotting to form shading or other lines) is phenomenal. When you see the work in person it will be all you can do not to empty your bank accounts to buy his one of a kind art work. I know some of you are thinking “millions of people paint portraits. What is so different about this guy?” and you are all right… lots of people do paint portraits but there is an eerie realism to his work that you can only appreciate in person, so follow him on Facebook to find out about his next gallery. If we are lucky he will be at our next “Art in the Yard” this August 13th in San Diego (more on that in the future).
Well everyone thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Penguin Gazette, and allowing me let you in on some of my local (or not so) favorites. All of the people mentioned mean a lot to me and I wish them nothing but the best! Please look out for everyone as they may be coming to a town near you!!! As for me I think I liked the break from my normal rants and may make this a monthly segment, but don’t worry I will be back to “normal” next week with some new rants for my followers (all 3 of you lol). Thanks everyone and please pass the word if you like what you see and follow by email so you don’t miss a single edition of The Penguin Gazette!
-Editor & Chief of The Penguin Gazette,
Rudy
P.S. I'd love to hear what you think about this topic. Comment below.
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