ELYSE JEWEL

It’s hard to believe Dallas based singer-songwriter, actress, and model Elyse Jewel is only 16 as she’s already won Pop Song of the Year in the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her debut single “Thinking About You” and shared the stage with legends such as Broadway superstar Kristin Chenoweth. Now, Elyse is back with the release of her breathtaking new pop anthem, “Arms,” out February 5th.

​Elyse was surrounded by music growing up and was introduced to the likes of Eric Clapton and musical theater by her dad and listened to Taylor Swift religiously. Inspired by Taylor, Elyse decided she wanted to be a music artist. Now, she takes inspiration from not only her childhood favorites, but Julia Micheals and Olivia O’brien. Elyse has struggled with anxiety, but music enables her to live authentically and open up. She has had the opportunity to work with Grammy nominated and Top Billboard singers, songwriters, and producers including Nash Overstreet, Shane Stevens, and Kristin Chenoweth. Elyse has performed at venues in the Dallas-Fort Worth area such as The House of Blues, Lava Cantina, The Gaylord Texas, Gilley’s, and the Plano Balloon Festival.

​It’s very apparent that Elyse has a strong, personal connection with her fans and that it is important to her that she can inspire others and create a safe space through her music and platform. Despite the fact that she has performed at prestigious venues and has collaborated with award-winning songwriters and producers, Elyse still maintains, “My number one success has definitely been the way I have been able to use my voice to speak on important subjects such as equality and mental health awareness. I struggle with anxiety, but songwriting has been a great outlet for me to grow as a person and work through my emotions. It’s amazing to be able to connect with different people all around the world and be a positive example for young women and girls.”

​Elyse Jewel is truly a rare gem of an artist and a person, just as her name suggests. We can’t wait to watch her follow in the footsteps of strong female role models such as her idol Taylor Swift and continue to glisten, while using her platform for good. 

BRIAN BECVAR

Brian BecVar is an accomplished keyboardist/composer/songwriter and producer who has toured, recorded and performed with Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Laura Branigan, Air Supply, Englebert Humperdinck, John Mellencamp, Gino Vannelli, Roberta Flack, Bill Champlin, Jon Anderson (from the group Yes), Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, Davy Jones (from the group The Monkeys), Phoebe Snow, Dave Mason, Ben E. King, Bobby Caldwell, Wild Cherry, Kitaro, Cheryl Lynn, Alejandro Lerner, Pedro Aznar and David De Maria. The highlight of Brian’s touring years were the years performing with Celine Dion and with Michael Bolton, with whom he is currently performing as a pianist/ keyboardist.

As a composer of Film & TV, Brian has produced and scored music for independent films and major sports channels. His songs have been recorded by John Mellencamp, Roberta Flack, Bobby Caldwell, Cheryl Lynn, Alejandro Lerner and Pedro Aznar. In 1994 Brian released his first solo CD, entitled “Once In A Life,” on the Real Music label, featuring vocals by Pedro Aznar, from Pat Metheny’s group. Since then, Brian has recorded several solo albums of jazz/classical/world music. He is currently producing several promising young artists for major label distribution.

In 2003, Brian, along with his brother Bruce BecVar, collaborated with mind-body specialist and best-selling author Deepak Chopra to create an extraordinary CD of healing music entitled “The Magic Of Healing.” Composed, recorded and co-produced by Brian and Bruce BecVar along with Deepak Chopra, this CD contains music that uses elements inspired by ancient Vedic traditions and principles of healing. Since its initial release in mid-2003, the CD has been a major success globally and continues to inspire to this day.

In 2008, Brian wrote two Olympic theme songs for the Beijing Olympic games. Out of 80,000 songs submitted, Brian’s songs were selected and honored as two of the top 50 songs. And Brian received special Olympic awards from the Olympic committee for both songs.

Brian has recently launched SerenityStream, a video streaming app for mobile phones and smart TVs. SerenityStream is the source for epic films to quiet the mind and calm the soul, an ever expanding library of extraordinary visual landscapes and stunning soundtracks composed, edited and produced by Brian. Multi platform apps for mobile, TV and the Web allow the user to stream tranquil visual & sound environments for meditation, relaxation, stress reduction and inspiration. Brian is also developing an interactive multi-media gaming platform for SerenityStream. And Brian continues also to tour with Michael Bolton and write and produce songs for pop, alternative and world music artists and special events.

DAVE KINCAID aka “PERMADAVE“

A Tool and Die Maker and Tool Designer by trade, in 2011 PermaDave purchased 40 offgrid acres at 6000’ in Northern AZ to create his own vision of an eco-village style homestead, where his soul family could live and thrive together for generations to come.

After discovering Permaculture in his quest for sustainable offgrid living techniques, PermaDave has since completed 3 Permaculture Design Courses and his life is forever changed and charged with a passion to learn and share the knowledge and wisdom of the Ethics and Design Principles of Permaculture throughout the world.

His vision is to make Permaculture a household word and reach as many people as possible as we rediscover this 10,000 year old science that deals with sustainable human habitation on this planet in all of its forms.

PAUL HELLYER

BIOGRAPHY

Paul Hellyer is Canada’s Senior Privy Councillor, having been appointed to the cabinet of Prime Minister Louis S. St. Laurent in 1957, just eight years after his first election to the House of Commons in 1949 at the age of 25. He subsequently held senior posts in the governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre E. Trudeau, who defeated him for the Liberal Party leadership in 1968. The following year, after achieving the rank of senior minister, which was later designated Deputy Prime Minister, Hellyer resigned from the Trudeau cabinet on a question of principle related to housing.

Although Hellyer is best known for the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, and for his 1968 chairmanship of the Task Force on Housing and Urban Development, he has maintained a life-long interest in macroeconomics. Through the years, as a journalist and political commentator, he has continued to fight for economic reforms and has written several books on the subject.

A man of many interests, Hellyer’s ideas are not classroom abstractions. He was born and raised on a farm and his business experience includes manufacturing, retailing, construction, land development, tourism and publishing. He has also been active in community affairs including the arts, and studied voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. His multi-faceted career, in addition to a near-lifetime in politics, gives Hellyer a rare perspective on what has gone wrong in the critical fields of both world politics and economics.

In recent years he has become interested in the extraterrestrial presence and their superior technology that we have been emulating. In September 2005 he became the first person of cabinet rank in the G8 group of countries to state unequivocally “UFO’s are as real as the airplanes flying overhead.” He continues to take an interest in these areas.

Want to create stories that get standing ovations? My guest is Steve Cuden who co-created the hit Broadway and international musical Jekyll & Hyde, writing the show’s original book and lyrics with noted composer Frank Wildhorn.  He’s written 90 teleplays for popular animated TV series, such as X-Men, The Batman, Iron Man, Pink Panther, Xiaolin Showdown, Gargoyles and numerous others. Steve directed and co-produced the cult-favorite horror-comedy feature Lucky.  He’s the author of two books on writing: Beating Broadway and Beating Hollywood.  He taught screenwriting for 10 years in the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. And he currently produces and hosts StoryBeat with Steve Cuden, a weekly podcast of in-depth interviews exploring the creative process of artists of all kinds.  For more, please visit stevecuden.com and storybeat.net