A major attraction since she moved to Southern California 30 years ago and formed her Latin band, violinist Susie Hansen and her musicians perform an infectious blend of salsa and Latin jazz that has the audiences smiling and dancing. This year her band is celebrating their 30th anniversary with lots of prominent performances.

Popular from the start, the Susie Hansen Latin Band mixes together infectious Latin rhythms with jazz improvising, vocals in both Spanish and English, recognizable standards and strong soloing from players. They play salsa, cumbia, charanga, merengue, bachata, bolero, cha cha cha and Latin jazz. The result is music that inspires dancers yet also rewards a close listen.

Susie Hansen was born and raised in Chicago. Her father James Hansen played violin with the Chicago Symphony for 37 years and attended many of their concerts with her family. She had a violin lesson every Sunday with her Dad and practiced hours every day. Having other interests and skills, Susie earning two Masters Degrees in Engineering from MIT, but music proved to be a stronger calling.
Susie played classical chamber music, worked in Boston for two years performing swing, bluegrass and original string band music with Strings Attached, and then was a member of Trapezoid, a popular folk band in West Virginia.

Returning to Chicago in 1980, she formed her own jazz quintet. The turning point of her musical life occurred when her quintet was playing at Taste Of Chicago, a huge festival in Grant Park. “The band playing before us was Victor Parra’s Mambo Express All-Stars,” Susie reported. “Victor stayed to hear our group, and afterwards he asked me to join his band for their regular Monday gig at the Moosehead Bar and Grill. I told him that I did not know much about mambo, but he said that I’d get it, and I’d love it. And he was right. Harmonically the music is based in jazz, which I already loved, but the Latin rhythms are just more compelling than I ever imagined. It has that drive that really hooked me on Salsa and Latin jazz.”

After moving to Southern California in 1988, Hansen sat in with jazz musicians like Billy Mitchell, John Bolivar, Sal Marquez and the dynamic charanga band Bongo Logic. She got her first break three months after arriving in LA when Cuban master drummer Francisco Aguabella invited her to join his band. “I played his trombone book on my electric viola, so I learned really fast how to transpose from bass clef!” Throughout 1988 and 1989, she was a member of several other Latin groups, bands led by Bobby Matos, Long John Oliva, Papa Conga, and Candy Sosa, and became a recognizable and important part of the local Latin music scene well before she formed her own Latin band in 1990.

The Susie Hansen Latin Band is well represented on Susie’s three recordings: Solo Flight (named by Latin Beat Magazine as one of its Top 100 Independent Latin Jazz Recordings), The Salsa Never Ends (includes “La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba” which is popular around the world), and her most recent, Representante de la Salsa. Each of these recordings features a variety of Latin dance styles and Latin jazz, especially salsa and cha-cha-cha, with the occasional bolero and merengue.

Her ensemble features the masterful Daniel Castillo from Venezuela on lead vocals in Spanish and percussion, and the soulful Kaspar Abbo from London on lead vocals in English and electric guitar. Susie not only plays electric violin, but is the band’s musical director and sings both bilingual lead and background. The powerful montuno-maester Joe Rotondi plays keyboards and hails from Hollywood. Bassist Brian Wright is from Colombia and supplies the heart-beat of the band. Drummer Tony Shogren’s heritage is Peruvian, and he provides the driving force of the rhythm on timbales. When they play with their bigger band, Roberto Cascante from Costa Rica joins them on percussion, David Stout on trombone, and Tim Messina on sax and flute.

Some of LA’s finest and best-known Latin jazz and Salsa musicians have been long-time members of Susie’s band – percussionists Tiki Pasillas, Jimmy Branly, Joe DeLeon; bassists Rene Camacho and John Belzaguy; singers George Balmaseda and Eddie Ortiz. The Susie Hansen Latin Band plays between 100 and 150 gigs every single year. Among some of the highpoints have been appearances at the Playboy Jazz Festival, Norfolk VA Latino Music Festival, the Toronto Jazz Festival, Fiesta Broadway, the San Jose Jazz Festival. The great Cuban singer Celia Cruz and master percussionist Giovani Hidalgo have performed with her band. Apart from the band, the violinist has had opportunities to perform with Tito
Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Orquesta Broadway, Orquesta Aragon, Vikki Carr, and Jose Rizo’s Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars, and she particularly treasures having played with Orquesta Los Van Van both in Los Angeles and in Havana, Cuba.

But the violinist’s main focus is always her own band. A crowd pleaser with its rhythmic energy and drive, the Susie Hansen Latin Band has performed before hundreds of thousands of people through the years. They appeal to a wide and enthusiastic audience with their mixture of famous and traditional salsa numbers, infectious original compositions, and Latin-style interpretations of American jazz standards. Their solos are compelling, and the dance floor is always packed!

Cynthia Rivard is a spiritual teacher, business strategist and environmental advocate. Having come into a spiritual awakening later in life, she is keenly aware of religious paradigms and cultural perceptions of new age concepts and instead teaches a timeless wisdom that has been diluted over the ages. There is a golden thread of truth that is woven throughout all of the world’s religions and cultures, and it is this thread that underpins her teachings and will help us to create the next chapter for humanity – our Golden Era.

Through a meteoric upleveling of channeling skills, Cynthia has become a crystal clear seer for awakening humanity to the next chapter of its evolution. Raising consciousness and saving humanity from extinction due to the effects of climate change are the first priority, which she illuminates in “Hope for A New Era.”

With a long career in executive leadership, Cynthia believes in the power of compassionate communication and egoless leadership to drive improvements in society. When the world is solely governed by individuals who focus on the good of all, the earth will come to know peace, prosperity and a healthy environment.

You can learn more about Cynthia at https://www.cynthiarivard.com/. All proceeds of Hope for a New Era will be donated to https://globalrisingtide.org/, the purpose driven, conscious leaders’ community she founded that is contributing to raise human consciousness and end global warming.

St. Finnikin is an independent, multi-instrumentalist/producer/songwriter based out of Nashville Tennessee. His reverence & devotion towards creating music to help people along their healing journey is felt within all facets of his expression.

Dr. Leah Hanes leads the Two Bit Circus Foundation (2BCF) and has done so since 2013. During her tenure, 2BCF has grown into a strong voice in the current STEAM Education discourse leading to her co-authoring SHAPING THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION with Nolan Bushnell.

Hanes who is on the Board and CoFounder of Bushnell’s Ed Tech firm, ExoDexa is now also CEO of the organization. Prior to ExoDexa, and 2BCF, Dr. Hanes’ held a variety of positions focused on children and education.

Most recently, she taught Adult Developmental Theory and Ethics at Antioch University Los Angeles. Dr. Hanes’ formal education includes a Ph.D. in ethics and gender from Antioch University’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change. Her M.A. is in Organizational Management.

Amae Love is an exceptionally diverse, deeply soulful, positively uplifting songwriter/vocalist from The Bay Area. This songstress brings passion, heartfelt sentiment and remedy to her lyrics- even when she’s Singin’ the blues.

Amae’s birthday anthem, “The Amaezing Birthday Song” is a catchy, soulful alternative Birthday tune with over 140k plus views on Youtube.

Amae is currently a professional wedding singer in the Bay Area with 2 bands, Radio Gatsby and Lucky Devils.  

As a songwriter she has released 2 original full length albums.

Amae’s debut solo Album, Ripe, is a timeless eclectic bend of blues, soul, jazz, and dub flavors, showcasing smooth harmonies, soaring melodies and varied vocal styles, all woven together with soul.
Amae’s Latest Album REAL was recorded in Nashville featuring some of the town’s best session musicians, a gospel choir, sting & horn sections. Maintaining her Bluesy, soulful sound with a southern twist.

Mz. Love wears many hats as a multi-faceted talent whose skills include Band Leader, MC, live looping, ukelele, cheffing, & clothing design.

Amae’s Love is palpable in her music…you can hear it when she’s singing from the gut.

I’m a performance enhancement expert and a published author with a strong background in spirituality and Yoga, and the creator of Working In©.

Throughout my forty years of working with high achievers in sports, business, and the performance arts, I have a proven track record of empowering driven people to increase performance and reach their goals using time-proven practices and techniques to address the inevitable body, mind, and life challenges that come up, while also strengthening their sense of personal well-being.

I’ve also written a book about my work with athletes to support high-performance goals which arose from a development program for athletes I created in 1999.

Whether you have a specific challenge, want to take your performance to the next level, or you want help navigating the intensity of the performance track, my goal is for you to be able to successfully address these areas so you can focus on the joy of performance.

When our work together is complete, you will find yourself empowered with actionable skills and practices you can use going forward not only in performance, but for skill in life.

The Working In Foundation

Starting in 1998, Coaching for Champions Founder Kamala Nellen began working with elite athletes and high achievers. As the result of their often quick results, she created the Foundation Program in 2010. This program is an immersion course that provides high achievers with the groundwork—the strong foundation!—needed to carry forward tools to perform more consistently at high levels, more skillfully manage challenges on the competitive performance track, and stay balanced.

The Working In Foundation Program consists of three modules designed so you can master practices and techniques that lead to sustained champion performance with balance, and with skills to navigate the stress of the performance path. When you leave the course, you can begin your season, or take these skills forward into the work you do, with tools in your pocket to perform at higher levels and remain resilient throughout the season…and beyond!

I am a survivor of civil war in the former Yugoslavia, have endured the trauma of being held captive, suffering torture and abuse.  But I’m one of the lucky ones having eventually escaped to the United Kingdom.
From not speaking a word of English, I went to college, supported myself through various jobs from working all hours in a dry-cleaning business, through to manning an internet café.  I saved to invest in myself, and qualified as personal trainer and nutritionist.
In tandem I began to work with charities and got involved with voluntary work to campaign against human trafficking and exploitation of women.  This led to joining the public speaking circuit, where I use my story of ‘survival to success’ to give others hope.
Additionally I qualified as a public speaking and presentation skills coach working on a global level with start-ups, through to multi-national firms across media, financial services and technology, including WPP, Dentsu, Verizon Media, Yahoo, The Telegraph, Goldman Sachs, Engie, Bloomberg, Clear View, Amobee, Google to name a few.
My latest initiative is focused on lifestyle planning and wellbeing, to optimize work performance, avoid burnout and ensure mental health is kept in check.  I provide bespoke plans based on individual needs around lifestyle goals, and work objectives including:

Exercise and activity (this doesn’t have to be about completing a marathon!)
Diet plans and nutrition, from low fat alternatives through to brainfood and supplements
Sleep, rest and downtime
The role of technology to optimize peak performance, and tracking recovery
Breathing techniques and meditation
Lifestyle planning and time management techniques

As a founder of a  fitness business and ultimately moving into the coaching circuit, I’ve successfully run my own personal training business from 2005 to 2013, focusing on delivering 5 star training, injury rehabilitation, nutritional advice and personal programs, I was lucky enough to be exposed to A-list clients from athletes and actors through to the top business people from around the world. I played a vital part in helping them achieve their dreams and helped them make gains in both their physical and mental conditioning.

I moved to Singapore in April 2014 to 2018 and I recognized the huge potential in Asia for taking a tried, tested and successful training program to market and tailoring specifically to local/regional companies and their workforce.

London has always  been home for me and it is an amazing feeling to be back.

I am finally working on my  book  and will be available on the book stores soon. I enjoy traveling all over the world speaking to audiences, both large and small about making their dreams come true and coming up and over trials and tribulations.  As well, I am uniting with women’s organizations to empower women all over the globe by bringing both practical solutions as well as inspiration.

Flat Earth Dave is a prominent proponent of the Flat Earth theory and frequently appears on podcasts and interviews to discuss his views on the Flat Earth model, Gravity, and Antarctica. 

However, he was not always a believer.

Dave was born and raised on the East Coast of the United States where he began his Flat Earth journey after leaving his corporate job to start his own company.

Rumor has it, as a hobby Dave hosted a conspiracy comedy show for a few years in New York City and at the urging of his fans he looked into what he believed to be a ridiculous notion called, "Flat Earth".  Dave set out to disprove this conspiracy and discovered, to his surprise, the facts convinced him differently. Dave is now on a mission to wake up the world to the Flat Earth. 

Flat Earth Dave will be a fun, trippy, mind blowing guest that will at the very least leave yourself asking "Hmmm...is the earth really flat?!"