Musician plays autobiographical songs at festival

People who look at Patrick Hyland's art tend to ask him, "What am I looking at?"

The giclée canvas transfers look like paintings, but are actually photographs printed on canvas. Unlike traditional photography, the images have no mattes, no frames and no glass. It's a process he says he's used for two to three years.

"I spend about half the time at shows explaining what I do," the 49-year-old artist says.

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Mill Creek Park rock formations focus of 'Wednesday Collection'

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Artists beautify Wick Six District

Saturday, October 24, 2009
By Katie Libecco

Almost two years ago, Atty. Debra Weaver had an idea.

She wanted to beautify the Wick Six District, a historic Youngstown neighborhood that's a corridor into the city from Hubbard and Liberty.

Weaver, involved with Treez Please and Art Youngstown, saw that dream come to life Saturday with Wrap the Arts. The project involved the installation of 40 panels of art on fences around at vacant lot at 1226 Wick Ave.

"I love it, love it, love it," she says. "We have a great talent in this city."

Weaver says she wants to do similar projects and "keep moving downtown."

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Artists beautify Wick Six District

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Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Musician plays autobiographical songs at festival

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Musician plays autobiographical songs at festival

YOUNGSTOWN - Local musician Ryan Ross has been playing guitar for nine years, but Sunday's performance was only his fifth area performance.

The solo guitarist describes his music as a "Youngstown street sound."

"You know, honest. Dirty. How we live here," Ross says.

The 28-year-old Brookfield native performed solo Sunday as part of the Soundwave Music Festival at The B&O Station.

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Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Collecting Youngstown’s past

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

By Sarah Poulton

YOUNGSTOWN — While the Mahoning Valley Historical Society tends to feature items of monetary enhistorical value to the area, the latest exhibit at the Arms Museum is a little different.

Exhibit Curator Jessica Trickett says that when Olive Arms died in 1960, she left her home and an endowment to fund the society. Trickett says she thinks Arms wanted to give people a chance to experience something they otherwise wouldn’t because until that point, the society didn’t have a location to store or display memorabilia.

“She wanted to bring a sense of culture, I think, to the area,” Trickett says. “She wanted people to see the eclectic things she collected...”

The society’s newest exhibit, Mahoning Valley Collects, opened recently at the Arms Family Museum of Local History, 648 Wick Ave. The exhibit features Mahoning Valley residents’ personal collections, including dolls, cameras, guns and rare novels. It is an example of how locals lived their lives, she says.

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Monday, September 21, 2009

Smash Alley: It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but they like it

Smash Alley: it’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but they like it

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

By Sarah Poulton

YOUNGSTOWN — When Phillip Daichendt of Austintown goes out, he wants to hear the music he loves most.

That’s why the Generation X-er created Smash Alley, a traveling, private club that specializes in rock music. Daichendt says the concept was born about five years ago when he discovered there was no where in the area where he could go out, drink a few beers and listen to the sounds that permeated his youth.

“There was never any place in the area for any of us to go out and listed to rock ‘n’ roll,” Daichendt says. “Not necessarily bands, but places you can go hear Guns n’ Roses on a Saturday at midnight. There was just never any place for someone who’s into the style of music I’m in to.”

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Monday, September 21, 2009

Local documentary gathers expert insight

Saturday, September 19, 2009

By Katie Libecco

YOUNGSTOWN - When Kevin DeOliveira premieres his first major work Friday, he'll be 21.

But it's that age that gave him a new angle to approach making "Steel Valley: Meltdown."

"My generation is starting to have a huge disconnect with the history of this area and what it means," DeOliveira says.

DeOliveira says he hopes the documentary, premiering 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at DeYor Performing Arts Center, will inspire "some people to take charge of the the future."

"It's about Northeast Ohio using Youngstown as an example, and of the rest of the Midwest," DeOliveira says.

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Friday, September 04, 2009

Family Reunion brings Youngstown together

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

http://valley24.com/news/2009/sep/01/family-reunion-brings-youngstown-together/

YOUNGSTOWN - Lucky Penny's Family Reunion, a free and family-friendly festival put on by 101.9-JAMZ, returns to the city Sunday for the second year.

101.9-JAMZ radio personality Lucky Penny says the event is a way to unite area residents.

"We used to have City Fest. Now Youngstown doesn't have a festival for Youngstown," he says.

Lucky Penny says the idea for the event to be a "family reunion" is that it's a chance for the community "to come together as a family."

The Family Reunion will begin at 8 a.m. Sunday on Federal Street in downtown Youngstown. In addition to music, event coordinators say there will be a car and bike show and bingo. There will also be a 3-on-3 basketball tournament sponsored by the Youngstown Swish, spades tournament and poker. For children, there will be a bounce-around and train ride.

Genres of music scheduled Sunday include jazz, hip-hop, R&B, gospel and rap. Local acts performing Sunday include The Nevels Sisters, The Edsels, Booker Newberry, J Mel, 100 Proof, FamBoyz, Da Kreek and Geo C and Tha Storm.

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Father and son are Martino Motorsports

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
By Katie Libecco

YOUNGSTOWN - Ryan and Tom Martino say racing brings their family closer together.

"When we're together we're unstoppable," Ryan says.

29-year-old Ryan has been around drag racing all of his life. His dad, Tom, 54, says he began racing by sneaking the car out to the track with his brothers when he was 16.

The father-son duo make up Youngstown-based Martino Motorsports. Tom does most of the driving, but Ryan says he gets seat time, too.

"It's indescribable, the feeling you get behind the wheel," he says.

Ryan is a bailiff for Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Kirchbaum. Drag racing, he says, is part-hobby, part-job.

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Boardman grad shows film at Summer Fest

Saturday, July 11, 2009

YOUNGSTOWN - Boardman High School graduate Maria Bleahu showed "Dreams" this weekend at Youngstown State University's Summer Festival of the Arts.

The 8-minute film was shot about three years ago in YSU's Bliss Hall, the Butler Institute of American Art, the McDonough Museum of Art, Mill Creek Park, downtown Youngstown and the Royal Oaks.

Bleahu says she wrote, directed and produced the film as her thesis project at the New York Film Academy. The 29-year-old graduated from YSU with degrees in photography and anthropology.

She brought the cast and crew from New York City to shoot the thriller movie in Youngstown.

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

YSU hosts weekend arts events

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

YOUNGSTOWN - It's one of the Mahoning Valley's largest arts and entertainment events, and for the most part, it's free.

The Youngstown State University Summer Festival of the Arts and Forté on the 50 will occur this weekend, and the surrounding organizations will also open their doors for the event.

YSU's Assistant Director of the Performing Arts Series, Lori Factor, says it's hard to keep track of attendance at the Summer Festival of the Arts because it is free and no tickets are taken, but estimates that it attracts about 13,000 people during the event's two days.

The event brings together university organizations, Mahoning Valley groups, entertainers and artists.

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Confident Coping: Local rocker struggles with neurological disorder

By Sarah Poulton
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Mike and Mandi Ezzo lead very simple lives.

They have four children and live in a modest Boardman home. They share a truck that doesn’t always go in reverse and try to have a date night at least every other weekend. They live from paycheck to paycheck and if they want to treat one of the kids, a bill might not get paid.

Mandi, 33, is a server and cleans at Barleys. Mike, 39, was laid off when DHL Delivery and Logistics in North Jackson, closed in November.

The layoff doesn’t even begin to describe the hardships that this family has dealt with in the past two years.

About two years ago, Mike, drummer for local rock band Away From Eden, was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation with Syringomyelia. According to information provided by Mike, Chiari is a neurological disorder where the cerebellum descends out of the skull and crowds the spinal cord. Syringomyelia happens with when a fluid-filled cyst develops inside the spinal cord.

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The pre-club: Old Precinct finds a niche

Thursday, June 25, 2009

By Katie Libecco

YOUNGSTOWN - Sometimes one-night stands turn into something more.

It certainly did for Old Precinct, a new downtown bar.

Manager T.J. Parker says the owner, Mike Fonda, 52, used to run a deli at the Phelps Street location but closed for about a year.

Fast forward to February 2009, and Fonda asked Parker, 24, and his friends, Patrick Bokesch and Michael Howley, to open the bar up for one-night for the Kelly Pavlik fight.

It went so well that Old Precinct is now open every Friday and Saturday night.

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Lethal FX: The King of Beatboxing

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

When it comes to Youngstown-area beatboxing, Lethal FX is king.

The 21-year-old Austintown Fitch graduate was born Ludovic Nicolaidis, which he says translates to "king" in Greek.

Linguistics aside, he's one of the few talents in beatboxing in the Mahoning Valley.

"I'm a beatboxer. I'm pretty much the only beatboxer in the area," he says.

Lethal FX got his start about five years ago. He says he'd beatbox while his brother-in-law would rap, then they'd switched and he'd take over the vocals. When his brother-in-law left for the Navy, Lethal FX became a solo act.

He started, using a number of monikers, going to open mic nights in the area. He says while at an open mic night at Barleys, Jim DeCapua of Jones For Revival took notice.

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Friday, May 15, 2009

Record stores survive MP3 era

Thursday, May 14, 2009

By Sarah Poulton

Old or new, independent record stores — and contents inside — are priceless.

Indie Wax Records opened April 11 on Market Street in Boardman. Manager Heather Cannon says that she and her partner always wanted a record store because “there’s no place around here for us to buy records.”

Indie Wax sells mostly newer records but focuses on punk and indie rock. “Whatever new is coming out on vinyl.”

Their clientele ranges from high school students to senior citizens. She says the kids are amazed because they’re just discovering vinyl, and the older shoppers love the fact that a store still carries it.

“This area is so old-fashioned, but there’s enough of the old and the new that suits people,” Cannon says.

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Friday, May 15, 2009

Hotchacha returns to Youngstown

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

When Hotchacha played Cedars Lounge March 27, singer Jovana Batkovic says they didn't really know what to expect.

But she says they had a blast: So much so that by the end of the evening, the Cleveland-based band accepted an offer to come back.

Now, Batkovic says to expect a more relaxed show Saturday after getting to know the people and venue.

Hotchacha is an edgy, all-girl group that consists of Batkovic, drummer Lisa Paulovcin, bassist Heather Gmucs and guitarist Mandy Aramouni. Their music is both dance and rock with elements of punk.

Batkovic was born in Bosnia and then lived in Germany, so in addition to English, also expect to hear lyrics in French and German.

At Hotchacha's last show at Cedars, Batkovic teetered on the stage's edge, heel thumping along with the beat. She'd walk off the stage and dance with those in the crowd.

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