Out and About

I’ve been out and about the last week covering some “entertainment tonight” type stories for Channel 21 and the MyMCMedia website.

On Saturday, June 16, I was in downtown Silver Spring with nearly 20 other MCM staffers covering the Blues Festival. It was a picture perfect day for a summer concert. I enjoyed the sounds of Warner Williams, Nate Foley & FLLD, and had a lot of fun interviewing the area’s music fans. This event attracted people from outside of Silver Spring. During the two-hours I was there, I interviewed music lovers from Landover, Ellicott City, Germantown, Silver Spring, Washington, D.C., etc. It was also a pleasure to meet Celebrity Host Ida Campbell whose passion for the blues is contagious. The organizers should be proud of putting together such a dynamic community event. You can watch my two-minute recap report here on our website.

Look for more programming from the Blues Festival in the near future as MCM staffers are producing a TV special to air on Channel 21 featuring the event’s musicians and their music.

After the Blues, I found myself on the red carpet (for the first time ever) to cover the opening night of Silverdocs. It was on this assignment that I scored an interview with a band member from one of my all-time favorite rock groups. That’s because opening night of Silverdocs featured the D.C. area premiere of “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” a movie about the rock band Journey’s search for a new lead singer. The band’s new singer, Arnel Pineda, could not attend the festival because his wife just had a baby in their Phillippines homeland. But I was able to score interviews with Director Ramona Diaz, Silverdocs Festival Director Sky Sitney, Journey Guitarist Neal Schon and Michaele Salahi. Also on the red carpet: Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. who is the Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America.

Like everyone I interviewed, I loved the movie. It makes you laugh and there are some emotional moments too. If you are a faithful Journey fan, you are likely to enjoy it too. In case you are wondering, Diaz told me it would be released to theaters later this year or early next spring. The AFI theater is gorgeous and the after party at the Fillmore across the street was packed with people. You can watch my two-minute piece from the red carpet here on our website.

Look for extras from my interview with Neal Schon on our MyMCMedia website.

Next week, I will be covering Montgomery County Council President Roger Beliner’s press conference. If you ever have a question for me to ask him, send me a line at sburke@mymcmedia.org and I will try to get an answer for you. Don’t forget, we always post video of Berliner’s press conference in its entirety on our website.

Finally, I want to send a shout out to Jessica McFadden, also known as “A Parent in Silver Spring.” She shared our story on her popular blog site and that video is climbing up our most popular video list. Thank you Jessica! You can check out all our popular videos on You Tube. We hope you will subscribe too.