EVERETT COAST (DANNY BYRNE and JOSH MISKO)

Everett Coast, the acoustic guitar driven duo of woven voices and fused songwriting, was founded in early 2011 by singer-songwriters Danny Byrne and Josh Misko. They were introduced by their instructor, mentor, and now close friend, Anika Paris (Warner Chappell / Universal), while attending Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA. The two California natives bonded quickly becoming fast friends, bandmates and eventually roommates.

Raised in the small town of Springville, CA, located near the Giant Sequoias in the Southern Sierra Nevada, Misko (vocals, guitars, ukulele) credits his mother for his love of music. At the age of 14, he asked his parents for an acoustic guitar. His mother told him she would only buy him a guitar if he wrote his own music. “I absolutely give my mom 100% credit for why I write the way I do today. She forced me to think outside of the box musically right from the start.” After graduating high school, Misko attended California State University Channel Islands but quickly realized that traditional college wasn’t for him. He packed up and moved to Los Angeles to attend Musician’s Institute in the fall of 2010.

A 4-year-old Byrne (vocals, piano, guitar, bass, drums, production & engineering) always knew that music was the life for him. His parents, however, needed some convincing. “My parents were reluctant to get me started on the piano at such a young age, but even as a 4-year-old, I wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’d jump on the piano bench beside my big sister during her piano practice and turn every note, scale or song into an unwelcome duet. Finally, my parents got me lessons of my own.” In high school, the classically trained pianist from Sacramento picked up the guitar and in college began singing and writing songs. After graduating from California State University, Sacramento with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Organizational Communications, Byrne decided to move to Los Angeles in the fall of 2009 and follow his true passion for music.

Everett Coast writes and produces all their own original material as well as co-writes across a wide variety of music genres from pop and hip-hop to folk and country. Influenced by such artists as John Mayer, Jason Mraz, The Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons, Everett Coast creates with the intention to not only stay current in today’s music industry, but to also keep the influence of the greats, such as America, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Everly Brothers, and of course, Simon and Garfunkel.

In July of 2013, Everett Coast self-produced, recorded, and released their debut 4-song EP Hey, Hey, California (available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, etc.). From this EP they independently secured Everett Coast Radio on Pandora Internet Radio, and three sync licensing deals featuring their songs “Hey, Hey, California” & “Passing Through” in the independent film Monumental, and “Hey, Hey, California” in a new reality T.V. series Barflies. Additionally, in 2014 Everett Coast wrote & produced the music for Oregon State University’s The Campaign For OSU Thanks Donors Like You commercial.

Kristine Carlson, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned speaker, is passionate about spreading her message of returning from grief and waking up to life with more joy and gratitude—and certainly not taking life too seriously.

Kris’ life mission expands upon the phenomenal success of she and her late husband Dr. Richard Carlson’s work in the (“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” series). She continues his legacy of peaceful and mindful living through her own bestselling books, including the most recent, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms, An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love: The True Story of the Best Gift Ever and her memoir, Heartbroken Open.

Over the past two decades, Kris and Richard have sold more than 25 million books. She has been featured on national radio and television broadcasts, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Kris’ particular roles of expertise are focused on change, transition, and reinvention, and waking up to life with more gratitude and joy. She is a mentor for people navigating the challenges of “middle age.” Kris is a sought-after inspirational speaker and is available for keynote talks, media appearances, and more.

More About Kristine:

“Mrs. Carlson, your husband has expired.”

Six words, delivered over the phone, from two doctors I’d never met, on the other side of the country.

“Expired?”

The love of my life? Expired? Like a carton of milk?

Six words, and my world stopped & accelerated, exploded & shrank, shape-shifted & stalled to a halt, ended & began. All at once.

Six words, and everything changed.

My name is Kristine. I’m a survivor. A widow. A mother. A grandmother. A wife. A writer & bestselling author, many times over. A mentor for people navigating that exceptionally urgent & poignant time known as “middle age.” A motivational speaker for women & girls.

And yet, who I really am, when all’s said & done, is a woman who knows how to bounce, rock and roll through all of life’s changes. Good & bad. Light & dark. Perfectly planned & wholly unthinkable.

When loss blackens my heart, when my kids leave the nest (and forget to call home), when my hormones go haywire, when earthquakes turn the solid ground beneath my feet into Jello, I am brave. I am strong. I evolve.

So can you.

Though, you might have forgotten.

So it’s my job, my purpose, my calling … to remind you.

And that’s precisely what I’m here to do.

Think of this website as your touchstone — your safe zone, your homebase, your rock in a world that never stops changing.

Here, we don’t run from change — and we don’t just learn how to “deal” with it.

We learn how to love it. We learn how to laugh with it. We learn how to let it keep us awake & alive.

So. Whatever change you’re going through (and sweetheart, I know you’re going through something) … know that I’m here. With love. With words. And with every tool & resource I can possibly share.

To endings.

To beginnings.

To change.

To life.

Kristine

P.S. When I say “I’m here,” I mean it — fully and truly.

I’m here on Twitter & Facebook. I’m here, responding to your questions & comments on my blog. I’m here when you need to be reminded that you are incredibly strong. And I’m here, every month, leading soul-stirring conversations on love, loss, reinvention, resilience, and all the “big stuff” that we’re living & dying to talk about.

Michael Tamez is a certified Holistic Health Coach who lost 105 pounds, lowered his blood pressure, and reversed sleep apnea and advanced gum disease. This was all accomplished without drugs or surgery. All of these experiences combined led Michael to discover his true passion in life. He is dedicated to guiding, empowering, and sharing the knowledge and wisdom he has acquired over the course of his lifetime. Drawing from this incredible health transformation, Michael published his award winning book, Transformative Nutrition. His guidebook to healthy and balanced living is powerfully designed to create a permanent shift in the way people eat, think, feel, live, and love.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/transformativenutrition

Kaayla Vedder has spent more than two decades honing her skills as an intuitive energy healer so clients in Canada and around the world can live healthier lives free of density and full of joy. Able to see energy since childhood, Kaayla has developed a system for tapping in to the dance of divine energy, bridging the gap between humanity and our higher levels so people can release what no longer serves them.  The results are astounding.

To find out more about how Kaayla can help you move towards better health and live in the fluidity of divine grace, please visit her website.

STILL THE ONE:  A ROCK’N’ROLL JOURNEY TO

CONGRESS AND BACK

AN INTERVIEW WITH 'ORLEANS'

GUITARIST-SONGWRITER-SINGER

JOHN HALL

John Hall’s path is optimistic. As a professional performer/singer-songwriter/guitarist, he found himself wanting and needing to make changes to better the world around him. By advocacy through music, he segued into politics first on a local level, and then nationally as a member of the United States Congress. After making a difference for the environment, healthcare, and even more so for veterans, he returned to the music world.

John’s memoir STILL THE ONE:  A ROCK’N’ROLL JOURNEY TO CONGRESS AND BACK shares a variety of stories from his life in the musical and political worlds. 

Best known as a member of Orleans, a hit-making pop-rock group with multiple lead singers and hits “Still The One,” “Dance With Me,”(both co-written by John and still in heavy use on the radio, streamers, Broadway shows, and TV shows like Maya and Marty and Hallmark's Movie of the week). “Still” and “Dance” have been certified by BMI at over 12 million airplays in the US alone. Other Orleans hits include “Love Takes Time,” "Let There Be Music," and "Reach."

John Hall has written songs for music legends ranging from Janis Joplin (“Half Moon”) and Bonnie Raitt (Good Enough) and to Chet Atkins (Sails). Other folks that have covered John’s songs include: Bobby McFerrin (Dance with Me),the Doobie Brothers with James Taylor and Michael McDonald (Power), Bela Fleck with New Grass Revival (Reach), and Ricky Skaggs and James Taylor (New Star Shining). He wrote “Ms. Grace,” Number One in England by The Tymes in 1975, and listed in Rolling Stone's top five of all- time beach music hits.  

John played guitar on record and/or on tour with Seals and Crofts, Taj Mahal, Carly Simon, Little Feat, and Christopher Cross.  

His environmental concerns led him into community activism, as one of the movers of the antinuclear movement. John co-founded the activist group MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Graham Nash in 1979. His song “Power” became the rallying song and a highlight at the five NO-NUKES concerts presented by MUSE in 1979. Among the artists that participated: Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, Crosby Still and Nash, Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne…

Starting in 1990 John served in the Ulster County New York legislature and the Saugerties, New York Board of Education. In 2006 he ran for Congress against an entrenched incumbent in a historically Republican district. John’s musical colleagues performing at fundraisers made it possible to finance his winning campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, for whom he served until early 2011. 

In STILL THE ONE, John shares stories about moments that stand out from both his musical and political lives. 

John shares childhood memories of being raised to be an optimist, and finding himself at age 18 in the miles of the ‘60s’ Music Explosion. In STILL THE ONE shows the cresting of his passion for environmental issues and rolling up his sleeves to help build several environmental groups.  

From Janis Joplin's birthday party to conversations behind the closed-door caucus in the basement of the Capitol, from dialog with protesters to sharing elevator rides with fellow members of Congress, this captivating memoir offers viewpoints from an earnest and humorous voice.

John Hall’s life path is jam-packed with intriguing stories, fascinating people and optimism. 

Titled after John’s best-known song, STILL THE ONE: A ROCK’N’ROLL JOURNEY TO CONGRESS AND BACK is ultimately an ode to engagement in creating a better world. –available now at amazon.com

Purchase John Hall’s best-selling memoir entitled … Still The One: A Rock'n'Roll Journey to Congress and Back at amazon

STEPHEN DAY

Sarod player, singer / songwriter and composer Stephen Day writes songs and compositions inspired by his many music tours around the world.

Born in California, and raised in Canada and France, Day began as a guitarist, then studied sarod in India with world-renowned award winning sarodist Amjad Ali Khan.

Day describes the 21-stringed fretless silver-necked sarod as being like the ‘granddaddy of all guitar like instruments’ and playing it as being ‘like taking a rocket ride for the inner soul’.

After India, Stephen spent time touring in Europe and America where he played premier venues including the Kodak Theater in L.A. and Town Hall in N.Y.  He then settled in Los Angeles and began to write music for TV and film. His body of work now contains music in 7 films, 4 music libraries, 4 albums and hundreds of television shows.

In 2007 Mr. Day organized and performed in a concert at the United Nations where his music was featured as a uniting force for ancient civilizations and modern countries in the East and in the West.

His latest album, Namaste, a collection of songs about adventure, mysticism and the road less traveled, is produced by two-time Gold Disc Award winner Matt Forger (Michael Jackson, Stephen Spielberg, Paul McCartney), and Shenkar (John Mcglaughlin, Peter Gabriel, voice of NBC’s smash hit “Heroes”).  It features musical appearances by Matt Malley (Counting Crows), Daryl Jones (Miles Davis, The Rolling Stones), Satnam Singh (Nikka Costa, Hans Zimmer), and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Ry Cooder) among others.

Stephen is the founder of “Ombience” a 501 c3 non-profit organization dedicated to self-reflection through the Arts.  In addition, he co-founded Arts & Entertainment Radio (AER), the most listened to station in the IBS network of over 45 mostly college radio stations, with well-known broadcaster and musician John Tesh. Stephen currently resides in Los Angeles where he is currently recording and performing his new show entitled ‘Stephen Day and Friends’.   The exciting new show format blends elements of world music and dance with meditation and yoga and features eclectic collaborations between Stephen’s Sarod playing and Steel Drums, Tablas, Vocals and Sufi Poetry to name a few.

JOHN HALCYON STYN

John Halcyon Styn was the subject of an MTV documentary, won 2 Webby awards, and hosted the NBC.com series, “Fears. Regrets. Desires.” He is the author of “Love more. Fear less.” and has hosted the weekly video broadcast Hug Nation for over 10 years. In 2010, Halcyon co-founded the San Diego-based “1st Saturdays” homeless outreach program. If you see him around, he’d love a hug.

Ken Dunkin is a Democratic Representative in the Illinois General Assembly serving the people of the 5th District of the State of Illinois.

As a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, Dunkin serves on several committees, and is the chairperson for the Tourism and Conventions for the State of Illinois. He is also on the Appropriations-Higher Education committee. He focuses on legislation to raise the quality of life for working families, children and seniors, and has been successful in boosting Illinois' economy by working to strengthen Illinois' tourism and film industry.

Representative Duncan currently serves on the Associate Board of the Chicago International Film Festival. He was the sponsor of a bill that created legislation to extend tax credits to film producers to encourage them to bring more of the film industry to Illinois. Representative Dunkin is also a proud member of the world renowned PhiBeta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.