It's the Off-Ramp 10th anniversary special: Off-Ramp Live. Harbor Party, Musker&Clements, David Whitfield, Rico Gagliano, Chris Redd, and much more, live onstage in downtown LA.
Comedian Chris Redd on Moving to LA from Chicago
Chris Redd is an actor, writer, and standup comedian. You’ve seen him as Andy Samberg's rapper nemesis Hunter the Hungry in "Popstar." Complex Magazine called his character the film's best part.
He’s also in the series "Love" and "Lonely and Horny," and you’ll soon be seeing him in the upcoming films "The House," opposite Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell. He moved to LA from Chicago, where he played Second City all the time.
How does he feel to be in Los Angeles now? "A man threw up on my shoes, like the first week I was here," he said. "I was so mad. But also, I was like 'here I am! LA!'"
Listen to the rest of his interview by clicking the play button above!
Want more? You can
and find out about his next gig on his website.
Play "Yachtify it!" with LA band Harbor Party
Two years ago, my friends and I went to Rockwell in Los Feliz to see Allen Mezquida play with Molly Ringwald, and I stuck around for the second act. They were Harbor Party, and they were playing the songs I grew up with, and that I played on the radio when I was a DJ.
I interviewed their lead singer that night and played the interview that weekend on Off-Ramp. And here they are two years later, helping us celebrate ten years on the air. I talked with Harbor Party’s Landon Beard and Jack Kovacks. What is yacht rock?
"From a musical standpoint, it's removing any dissonance and replacing it with some phasers, and background harmonies, and the falsetto, and just all around good vibes," says Harbor Party's Jack Kovacs.
Here's their rendition of the Doobie Brothers' 1979 classic "What a Fool Believes:"
Want to hear more from Harbor Party? Click the play button on the top for their full interview!
Disney's Moana's directors John Musker and Ron Clements: a partnership for the record books.
John Musker and Ron Clements are a part of your life — a part of your world — even if you don’t know their names.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the creative team that brought you The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, and now, Disney’s new animated feature, Moana - Ron Clements and John Musker!
Here's the trailer from their latest picture - the Polynesian epic "Moana:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI
What inspired Musker and Clements to make Moana?
“I was intrigued by the Pacific Islands. I read novels that were set there, I saw paintings by Paul Gaugin, I thought it was a great arena to set a movie,” said Musker. “And then that actually lead me to reading Polynesian mythology, which I had never read. I discovered what a rich vein of storytelling it was. And particularly, there’s this character, Maui, who the island is named after. He’s a demigod, a bigger than life trickster, shapeshifter, has a magical fish hook that he pulls up islands, tattoos.”
Meantime, Disney has just announced it's giving Clements and Musker their own retrospective at El Capitan Theatre. They're calling it the Countdown to Moana, and it starts Oct. 6 with “The Little Mermaid,” continuing with “The Princess and the Frog,” “Treasure Planet,” “The Great Mouse Detective,” “Hercules,” and “Aladdin.” For each film, there's a special presentation, incluing Ron and John talking about the movie.
The sweet voice of David Whitfield
David Whitfield is someone you need to hear. Born in Atlanta Georgia, he’s a jazz vocalist, gospel pianist, and actor, who has not only toured nationally and internationally — he says performed in every Ramada Inn in the country. He's also won an NAACP Image Award and portrayed a murderer in Murder She Wrote.
But Whitfield's voice sells itself. Don't believe me? Click the play button above to hear him perform.