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Hello FP Family,
We're just barely back and still recovering from an insane, yet incredible celebration week!! Maybe it's a good thing that anniversary's come only once a year, but its' often those once-in-a-lifetime events that serve us some long-lasting memories. Whew! Where do I begin?
Let's first acknowledge the people behind the scences that made our first year online a lot smoother. Our FPO web development and artistic site designers, Makeela Brathwaite of Blakhand Artistik, Inc., Mike Dottin of Ravage Entertainment, and Raquel Sanchez of Alphabet City Design + Marketing. All have been very instrumental in the look and feel of what you have enjoyed on our website to date. Also props go to the loyal and dedicated FP staff team, who has been close by my side since the new FPO concept was unveiled last year. Thanks to Linton Ward, Jerry Cunningham, Byron Watson, June Lopez, Alelxia Hudson, Paul Jennings, Marvin Manning, Jason Wade, Jameel Muse, Leon Williams, and Darian Bagley. Without all of your support and mentoring, FPO could not have achieved the same growth and success in the past twelve months. If I have not said this enough, well I must do it again. THANK YOU for pushing me through this year ........
So now, should I talk about the incredible music vibes that were a huge part our two anniversary events last week?
Certainly, if you had not heard of The Rebirth before last week, you will definitely know them now. Last Wednesday nite, Stephanie Renee of Soul Sanctuary Radio got the show going for us and everyone who attended were treated to a dynamic 2-hr live performance at Cielo. It's refreshing to see a group of musicians be so entertaining and hear them sound just like the CD up close and personal. In a day and time where music talent is packaged and over-produced (a fact that often gets lost on major radio), The Rebirth is truly a quintessential soul band like those we grew up listening to. I've genuinely felt that way since hearing one of their songs on a CD compilation last year. We were excited to see a diverse audience, who knew little about the Rebirth's sound, have such a great time dancing and singing to their performance. To take things up even higher, we were surprised to have Flutist Monet, and soul singers, Sy Smith, and Lady Alma bless the stage during the extended encore set. Whoa, we could not have asked for more energy and love for our first concert!
Shortly after midnite the club dance party kicked into gear as Kevin Hedge and myself cranked the mid-week Cielo faithful until 4am. Oh yes, for those of you who did not know of my previous music/dj exploits - let me just say, after 7 years away from the music scene, it felt great to return to DJ form in NYC in front of friends, family, my colleagues from the CB, and the many music industry reps that attended. Damn that soundsystem is awesome!!! Shout out to DJ Niko and DJ Herbert for the love! Special thanks go to Andrea Greene at Walk Talkin' Productions, Club Cielo, Kevin Hedge & Louie Vega of Roots NYC, their staff, our sponsors: Pioneer, Bozak, Ultimate DJ Gear, Vega Records, Blaze Imprints, 2MyBeat.com, and videographer Jeremy Edwards for all your efforts on this event. We're looking forward to more collaborations in the future!
Saturday's Mojito Party on the Moshulu Ship in Philadelphia was another memorable event! What a sight to see everyone dancing under the Philly skyline and Camden, New Jersey waterfront. Resident DJ Lucas Rivera and the Mojito Band warmed up the crowd early and set the tone for my Funky People DJ set. Philly is my second home, so playing dance music with an Afro-Latin percussion jam session for the crowd was really HOT and different! Respect to all the dancers on the floor who were feeling the vibe. You really did Dance Like No One was Watching!!! Thanks Tommy Up and Rob at Paper-Street Promotions for inviting the FP massive down during our anniversary week. Video imagery was directed the entire night by the DarienJerard Company...and Carlos from The Rebirth was in the house with us too!!!
We're planning to have the concert video ready real soon. For now, you can view the pics from both events online. Use the link at the bottom of this e-mail.
Set your web browsers daily to our internet radio link for smooth soul vibes. www.FunkyPeopleRadio.net is streaming Mondays to Saturdays from 6am - 10pm. This week, Audio Stasis with DJ Tajiri Saedi, premieres on Thursday afternoon (8/9) at 2pm EST! Our current resident shows webcast on these days:
* GrooveSetters with June Lopez - 3pm Tuesdays,
* Soul Sanctuary Radio with Stephanie Renee - Wednesdays 2pm,
* Guidance with DJ Niko - Wednesdays 6pm, and
* The Moplen Sessions with Luca Locatelli on Thursdays at 6pm.
There's a few more activities planned this summer and fall including the upcoming End of Summer Block Party in Philly on Sundae September 2nd and a Funky People VIP Party in NYC. Registration for Paintball III is now open - first 20 to sign up get $10 off! How can you stay in the loop with our newsletters, events and activities? Easy, subscribe to the FPO e-mail list and watch your inboxes weekly! Then go tell some friends who aren't connected to us yet.....
Still building, still moving forward - Connecting you to Business, Information & Artform, Funky People are Online everywhere. Until next time, enjoy what's left of the summer!
Thanks for the love - Peace and Blessings,
Terry "Tee" Alford
Founder & CEO,
Funky People, LLC
To view the Anniversary Week Event Photos - Click Here