PHILL FEST

Phill Fest is a natural born talent, making his performances a fun and exciting experience. With 35 years of professional stage experience, being onstage is like being at home. Phill Fest is one of Florida’s (including Tampa Bay & South Florida) most in-demand guitarist/vocalists.

Whether performing as a solo, duo, trio or full ensemble, the audience is always captivated and left wanting more. Often asked to emcee an event, in English and Portuguese, speaking to a crowd/audience always flows with comfort and ease.

Phill Fest’s background and training give his musicality a unique twist uncommon for his generation.Phill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Brazilian parents, and currently resides in West Palm Beach, Florida. Phill grew up in a musical family. His father was a recording artist and his mother a composer and music instructor. Phill was exposed to Brazilian and American Jazz right from the start. “I remember hangin’ with Sergio Mendes backstage many times as a kid.” His father, Manfredo Fest, was the Keyboardist and Music Director for Bossa Rio, the opening act for Brasil ’66 for three years.

Phill started guitar at age 16. Having already studied clarinet and violin, the ‘six string’ came easy. Phill studied at Music Tech of Minneapolis in ’89. “My training is a combination of school and self-taught techniques.”Phill performed for five years with Deeforce, an all original eclectic rock-n-roll band that won best original band of Florida ’93-’94 at the Florida Jammy Awards. During this period, the band also moonlighted as The Starliters as in ‘Joey Dee and The Starliters’, known for the hit singles Peppermint Twist and Shout. “I’ve played with the who’s-who of oldies; Bo Didley, Spencer Davis, Coasters, Drifters, to name a few.

“Phill recorded four compact discs with his father Manfredo Fest for Concord Jazz. Each of these recordings feature a composition by Phill.2009 saw the release of his CD “Smooth Edges” which garnished critical acclaim. Returning to his Brazilian Jazz roots, 2013 saw the release of “Projeto B.F.C.”, which reached 18 on the Jazz Charts,Followed by 2015’s “That’s What She Says” reaching 23

TONY WALK

A multifaceted artist is an artist that has many aspects and abilities by definition. Tony Walk is not only multifaceted, but a well rounded artist in the truest sense. 

Born Anthony Walker, Tony Walk has been singing since the age of five years old and his love for music was evident in his ability to approach any genre of music vocally and master it in a signature style showcasing his smooth and fluid tenor voice.

He is an experienced performance professional who always leaves his audience entertained and wanting more. A gifted singer, songwriter and producer, Tony Walk has worked with music industry greats including Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, Cher, Celine Dion, Little Richard, Andrae Crouch, Etta James, Miki Howard, and Vesta Williams.

His newest project  is highly anticipated in the music community by fans and friends, and is slated for release. A collection of classic material, this CD crosses international boundaries and showcases Tony’s masterful approach vocally to Pop, Rock, R&B, Gospel and Soul influences, all wrapped in a project that appeals to any music lover, while staying true to his message of love, social consciousness, spiritual awareness, and equality.  

PAUL KARASIK

Paul Karasik is one of America’s leading sales and management consultants. He is the President of The Business Institute, a sales and management training and consulting organization. Paul has devoted 18 years helping America’s business professionals achieve their goals. He is the creator of eight sales and management programs. Paul’s client list reads like a Who’s Who of American business.

His client list includes Prudential, Mercedes Benz, AT&T, IBM, New York Life, and Shell Oil. Paul is the author of four all-time business classics: Sweet Persuasion and Sweet Persuasion for Managers, published by Simon and Schuster, and How To Make It Big in the Seminar Business and Seminar Selling for Financial Services, published by McGraw-Hill.

His most recent books are Brilliant Thoughts and How to Market to High-Net-Worth Households. He is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at management conferences and advanced sales and marketing programs both nationally and internationally.

Paul is the founder and President of the American Seminar Leaders Association.

JASON LEE BRUNS

Originally from a small farming village in Southwest, Ohio, Bruns’ passion for drumming took him from delivering newspapers for music lesson money, to Miami University on a music scholarship, to USC’s Jazz Studies program. 

Today, Bruns travels the globe in search of new rhythms and draws on these musical experiences  over the  past 16 years as the founder and director of the World Music Program at Campbell Hall (a private k-12 school in Southern California).  

He’s produced nine World-Jazz albums, including two that charted in the top-10. He holds a Bachelors of Music degree in Classical Percussion (Miami U.), a Master’s of Music degree in Jazz Studies (USC) and a Master’s Certificate in  Music Production (Berklee). Notable projects include Beck’s Sound & Vision, Game of Thrones, Louis Price (Temptations), and Liane Carroll (2x BBC jazz Award recipient). 

Tisch Aitken is a New York City based astrologer, who translates the language of the cosmos into every day wisdom that is both practical and accessible.

As an intuitive astrologer, Tisch studies the cycles of the planets and how they impact us in the individual and collective level. Tisch guides her clients by helping them to seize opportune time periods during lucky cycles in their charts. She also helps them to glean the lessons from the challenging transits and how to work best with them.

BILLY KENT

Billy is a singer-songwriter born in and raised in Northeast Los Angeles (Highland Park), his songs encapsulate the many cultures and sounds of L.A. and California.

In his own words:

Music truly has saved my life; from an early age of 5, I danced in rhythm by eight singing in the school choir. After my parents’ divorce around age 10, life became a lot harder falling into poverty, age 12 getting arrested. At 13, my mom and sister got me my first guitar, and that put me on the path; it gave me an interest that turned to a passion for music more powerful than I knew.

My music education was the songs and artists that moved me. On the radio, I heard Ottis Redding sing “Try A Little Tenderness.” Artists like Marvin Gaye; I gravitated to prolific singer-songwriters besides Marvin, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Jackson Brown, so many to mention; inspiration. I put my feeling to paper and strummed my guitar for the next ten years.

Around age 26, the light clicked on and realized I was a Singer-Songwriter. Almost 40 years of song crafting, I have the same energy to create that melody, that groove, bringing joy to the listeners, sometimes even a tear to those connecting with the lyric.

Yes, music saves lives; it saved mine.

Previous records

2019 Pieces of a Lifetime

“Vol One” Produced by Billy Kent & Marshall Thompson.

2008 Soul Soft

Produced by Gregory “Gee Mack” Lawrence.

Collaborations

2015 ¡Oye Frank! SOnata Latina Tribute Orchestra

Billy was the lead singer on “Oye Frank”, the 100th Birthday Anniversary tribute CD featuring ten classic songs Frank Sinatra recorded.

Songwriting Credits

Tower of Power

Billy wrote “Baby’s Got the Power” with Greg Adams, Tower of Power’s long-time horn arranger. He later wrote the lyrics for three more Tower of Power songs: “Someone New,” “It All Comes Back,” and “Quiet Scream.”

In more recent years recorded “Hope,” Music Greg Adams- Lyrics Billy Kent. Greg has a more recent CD released in 2018 called “Conversation” with a re-recorded version of “Quiet Scream.”

For more than 40 years, Pacific Northwest-based Superfeet has been creating innovative products featuring the highly-regarded Superfeet® shape, helping millions of people worldwide experience unparalleled comfort, pain relief and performance. First introducing the supportive Superfeet shape in their wide variety of over-the-counter insoles, the company now makes full line of comfort-focused footwear with Superfeet shape inside. Today, through the latest advancements in 3D-printing technology, Superfeet is taking insoles and footwear from mass-produced products to personalized, made-for-you solutions. A 100% employee-owned company, Superfeet gives 1% of sales and countless volunteer hours to help others shape a strong foundation for a healthy future.

Principal Educator at Acupuncture in Podiatry

I have been a practicing podiatrist for 37 years and a certified acupuncturist for 27 years.  Since including acupuncture into my private practice late in 1991 I have  been combining my podiatric and acupuncture skills. During most of that time I have also lectured part-time in undergraduate podiatry courses in orthotic therapy. For all of that time I have also been Managing Director of Artisan Orthotic Laboratory. Very recently, we have incorporated digital scanning and digital modeling in the design of our devices on a foot by foot basis to create a model suitable for 3D printing.More recently I have also presented lectures and workshops in acupuncture for podiatry students at UWA, Galway University, Huddersfield University, QUT, UniSA  and Metropolitan in Birmingham. For five years, I was team podiatrist for the Australian A League Football team, the Perth Glory. For the next 5 years I have been the sports therapist for a top rate under-age AFL football team and was WA State Minor Gaelic Football sole therapist for two Australasian Carnivals. Since then I have have providing my skills to my local amateur AFL club. My association with sporting teams always involves providing hands on treatment at training sessions and games. I have been conducting practical Podiatry workshops nationally and internationally for over 15 years.

It has been my mission to unravel the most effective acupuncture treatments for conditions commonly being presented to Podiatrists and pass this on to my profession. These were never self evident from the training I received. They have the capacity to make a profound difference to clinical outcomes and they do.

In 2013 I was awarded the Australian Podiatry Council Hall of Fame recognition. However, I am not about to retire!