Brendan James

"don't have a back-up plan."

Listen to a wonderful conversation with an incredible singer songwriter Brendan James. we talk about the significance of having a mentor; having someone recognize your gifts before you even recognize them; the freedom that comes from giving up a backup plan; the music industry hustle; putting down the persona and expectations; touring in the age of social media and the intimacy of house shows; selling his house and traveling the world; leap off the cliff and the net will appear.

Brendan is currently traveling the world with his family, check out his Instagram for more!

Video made by Hanson Media House

Want to support a local station? Tune into Ohm Radio 96.3 to hear Brendan James' episode

8/27 at 8PM, 8/30 at 2PM, 9/3 at 8PM, and 9/6 at 2PM

Learn more about Brendan James

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Read Charleston City Paper Article

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ROBERT LANGE

"YOU KNOW WHEN YOU COME ACROSS PEOPLE THAT, THEY'RE JUST VIBRATING AT A HIGHER FREQUENCY... WHERE YOU'RE LIKE 'WOW' THAT IS JUST A POWERFUL HUMAN BEING..." 

We are pleased to bring you the 28th episode, and first four-part playlist, of Call to Adventure. We had the pleasure to interview a good friend, Robert Lange. Rob is an incredible hyper-realist painter, a gallery owner, father, husband, and all around great guy.

He is a long-time meditator, who brings this contemplative mindset along with a playful and positive energy to his paintings. He began painting at a young age but was recognized as a mathematical prodigy and subsequently followed his gift to college. It wasn't until his second year at Northeastern University, which he attended on a full math scholarship, that he decided to follow his passion for art and transferred to Rhode Island School of Design. There, he was again awarded a full scholarship, but this time for his painting abilities. In 2003 he both graduated from RISD and opened his first gallery, Robert Lange Studios, with his wife Megan in Charleston SC. The gallery quickly became a fixture of the Charleston art scene, and has garnered national attention and an incredible stable of talented artists.

We cover a wide range of topics, and there are so many gems to savor. Rob recounts an emotional description of his younger brothers hemispherectomy as a teenager and how that altered his life. He shares sage parenting advice given by his father-in-law while hiking together across the Annapurna Pass in the Himalayas. And we talk fatherhood, daily routines and creative process. Hope you all enjoy!

Favorite Quotes:
“Our imagination should be nurtured with the utmost care, for it is the tool of liberation from the bonds which tie down this existence. We can do anything we can imagine, become anything we are able to visualize, for the images we create in our minds will inevitably lead us to the world which affects their realization.” - Anonymous

“I am not who you think I am, I am not who I think I am, I am who I think you think I am” - Thomas Cooley

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” ~ E.B. White

Links:
www.robertlangestudios.com
www.brendanjames.com

KATHRYN BUDIG

“I’ll be dancing outside of my box, you cannot put me there.”

Welcome to the 27th episode of Call to Adventure, where we sit down with Kathryn Budig - internationally celebrated yoga teacher and author known for her accessibility, humor, and ability to empower her students through her message, "aim true.” With over a decade of experience in her field, Budig served as the yoga editor to Women's Health Magazine for five years, was on the Yahoo Health Advisory Board, and regularly contributes to Yoga Journal, The New Potato, and MindBodyGreen. She was an athlete in Under Armour's "I WILL WHAT I WANT" campaign, the co-host of espnW's podcast, Free Cookies with her fiancé Kate Fagan, and is the founder of her animal project, Poses for Paws. She is also the creator of the Aim True Yoga DVD produced by Gaiam and the author of The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga and Aim True.

Often celebrity can bring scrutiny and controversy, especially in the unusual world of modern postural yoga - and Kathryn is no stranger to this reality. She has been the unintended catalyst for debate in the yoga community about the sexualized and commodified female form, and more recently about body image. She seems perfectly suited for that role - with the strength and confidence to step into the lion’s den and emerge better for it - sparking much needed conversations about difficult subjects.

We cover a wide range of topics: Can success and fame co-exist? How to use jealously and competition as inspiration... Labels, sexual identity: finding YOUR human, "meatsuits:" body image and the yoga industrial complex, and stepping (or dancing) out of the box… 

Chris Jordan

"Do you know the two countries that have the highest consumption of elephant tusks on earth? China and the United States."

Chris Jordan, lives in Seattle and works with photography, digital photo illustration, and film to create unmistakable bodies of work in unified themes exploring contemporary mass culture. His series “Intolerable Beauty” and “Running the Numbers” give artistic visual form to the enormity of global consumerism. His collection, “In the Wake of Katrina: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster,” features the devastation in New Orleans post-Katrina - and while the images are devoid of any people, they read as intimate portraits. Jordan is a winner of the prestigious Prix Pictet Prize in Paris, he traveled to Kenya to document native tribes, and the killing of elephants for their tusks, producing photographs with a haunting mixture of beauty and horror.

His latest work brought him to Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to capture firsthand the consequences of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on a colony of Albatross who are feeding toxic plastic to their young. This turned into an unexpected 8-year journey culminating in the creation of an original feature length film called "Albatross". What began as a documentary morphed into a powerful, paradigm shifting, contemplative poem about contemporary culture, interconnectedness, grief and love.

This is our first true long-form podcast and couldn’t have come at a better time, because it felt like a real luxury to spend two hours talking with the incredibly inspiring Chris Jordan.

Kelly Jean Moore

"Time is a river that flows backwards and forwards"

A wonderful conversation with Kelly Jean Moore, owner and founder of Mission Yoga in Charleston SC, and founder of her own style Sarayana Yoga. We discuss "changing the narrative" and how complicated that can be. The idea of "life as creative process", forgiveness, and healing a family and DNA moving forward through her son Owen - loving backwards and forward in time.

Karen Paavola

Karen joins us in the studio to discuss her ditching pharmaceutical school to follow her passion to be a full-time artist.

An incredibly talented painter and printmaker, she moved to Charleston to become the executive director of Redux Contemporary Art Center, then became an associate director at the Halsey Institute .

We talk about moving towards a life where everything she does is in alignment - including painting her succulents.

Chad Walldorf

"I'm don't think I'm the brightest guy, so I try to make up for it with hard work."

Alex and John sit down with the ever-modest Sticky Fingers BBQ co-founder Chad Walldorf. The conversation ranges from a serendipitous stint on President Ronald Reagan's staff while in college to unexpectedly running a successful restaurant chain. They discuss his moving from a fear of responsibility to a desire to be the one directing the ship. Small incremental changes collectively create the unique culture of a restaurant, and the result is greater than the sum of its' parts.

Quentin Baxter

"...maximize moments in your world.”

John and Alex interview Grammy-nominated jazz percussionist and musician Quentin Baxter. We discuss his journey from pharmaceutical school to the College of Charleston, planting his roots of involvement in the Charleston community, and how, as an artist, one must be able “to maximize moments in your world.”

JoHn Duckworth

“Partner in Peace” - Alex about John

Alex interviews co-host of the show, John Duckworth. They discuss his pivotal AWAKE exhibition from late 2014, transformation as a continual process, inner voices, moving in harmony with what is, cycling the Alps, and getting involved in the community.

Brad Van Liew

"it's not worth living unless you can smile".

Brad Van Liew, America's undisputed champion of solo sailing, shares his story of racing around the world three times, winning twice. He discusses the moment the pinnacle of success merged with financial and personal breakdown, and how "Talladega Nights" felt so autobiographical it inspired the design of his last boat. As he says, "it's not worth living unless you can smile".

Vikki Matsis

A wonderful conversation with Vikki Matsis, the trailblazing woman who helped start OHM Radio in Charleston. We discuss her book on running a hostel, a 30-day trek in the wilderness, and how the seed was planted for OHM Radio. She tells us that her "bad wolf" is laziness, and that her next Call to Adventure is sharing her own songwriting with the world.
photo credit: Adam Chandler for Charlie Magazine 50 Most Progressive 2016

tim hussey

"...life as composition..."

Tim Hussey, artist, speaks about 'life as composition', and following the 'tracks in the sky'. Our conversation follows Tim from Charleston, to Rhode Island, New York, Paris, Tennessee, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, and back to Charleston as he develops an understanding of the tools of commercial communication and begins to apply them to his personal paintings, and then discards them. He discusses "copying ambition" as he headed off to college at RISD, how "New York is for amateurs", the demons of depression, the beauty of reinvention, and the lifeline of relationship.

Kurt Cavanaugh

Listen to a great conversation with Kurt Cavanaugh - the former lead advocate at Charleston Moves!

We talk about finding Charleston by way of Michigan, North Carolina, Brooklyn and Manhattan. A lover of urban centers, bicycles, mobility innovation, simplicity, and mindful consumption. Kurt gave up his car over a decade ago and hasn't looked back.

A true radical in a button up shirt, Clark Kent glasses, and blazer on a single-speed bike.

vince graham

"Look and listen mode"

Vince Graham, civic artist and now chair of the South Carolina State Transportation Infrastructure Bank, comes in to talk to us about being a maladjusted radical, and inquisitive contrarian. Vince steadily pushes the edges by taking the time to stop and notice, to really look at the reality of things, and ask questions before taking action.

"Look and listen mode" he says.

photo credit: Wade Spees of the Post and Courier

Chris Hanson

Chris Hanson is a celebrated filmmaker, a voracious reader, an avid listener to music, an artist, an educator, a spiritual seeker, and a lover of the outdoors. Suffice it to say, he is an adventurer of the first order both in the outdoors and in life.

alex opolous

“To do anything well you must have the humility to bumble around a bit,

to follow your nose, to get lost, to goof.

Have the courage to try an undertaking and possibly do it poorly. Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new.” - Epictetus

We turn the tables internally and John interviews Alex this time - providing listeners with some insight into one of our own, and his unique Calls to Adventure. Alex discusses the death of his father, and his evolving relationship with competition, vulnerability, and creative process.

Marjory Wentworth

"In stillness we see the things that are not visible.”

We had the honor of interviewing Marjory Wentworth, the Poet Laureate of South Carolina, to discuss the current value and role of poetry. From her poem, “Sand,” she writes, "In stillness we see the things that are not visible.” The ability to observe more than what is initially perceived is a talent that poets refine through stillness - a skill we would all be wise to emulate. 

Robert Swan

“The British have this awful thing called the, ‘stiff upper lip,’ which is sort of, “carry on chaps everything’s alright but we’re going to die,” and that’s wrong.

You don’t beat the arctic or the antarctic, you slip through by respect and sensitivity.

If you think you can take it on and win, you die...I also quite like penguins and I still do...” - Robert Swan OBE

Rob Swan - Arctic stories about adventure and discovery, and one man's steadfast dedication to the integrated health of the planet, calmly sounding the alarm, offering a unique perspective, and a helping hand.

Ben Towill

‘Global Manners,’ is the ability to talk to someone about anything anywhere and make them feel good.

We had the the pleasure of interviewing Ben Towill, the owner of Basic Kitchen!
Alex: There are two things that I know of you. 1. Energy is everything; opening a resturant was an idea that was born with your best mate at 13. 2. The qualities that you admire are curiosity and humility. That seems to open a lot of doors for you. You really embody those qualities. I love your idea of, ‘Global Manners.’
Ben: ‘Global Manners,’ is the ability to talk to someone about anything anywhere and make them feel good.

Karalee Nielsen

Karalee Nielsen-Fallert, one of the most prolific and innovative restauranteurs in Charleston and a founding member of Green Heart SC - a project that creates urban gardens at local schools. We discuss how new knowledge can "corner her" into action, being blessed with too much to do, and how picking cherry tomatoes at dawn one morning elicited a deep yearning to create a "soft landing" on Edisto Island.

Kevin Harrison

“You got to go with your strengths. Trust your own instincts. Get professional about fun and find your own reasons to believe.”  

A fun conversation with one of our favorite people in the world - Kevin Harrison - part Forest Gump, part wise happy Buddha, a creative force working in painting, photography, design, and filmmaking... and most importantly, creating his life as he goes.

Stan Gray

"Dig South is the story of a tumor, two tots and the desire for a new adventure truer to myself. Oh, and I love smart stuff and cool inventions! It's also about helping entrepreneurs and startups succeed in the South by connecting them to the contacts, content and capital they need to launch, scale, and thrive." - Stan Gray, the founder of Dig South - a yearly interactive business festival in Charleston SC

Jeremy Rutledge

“We (CHS) look the part, we’re a postcard town in so many ways but just beneath that surface there is so much stirring. We have these beautiful currents of resistance.”

A wonderful conversation with Reverend Jeremy Rutledge about bearing witness, racial equality, grieving via creative process, and keeping the joy in the weighty world of activism.

Kate Nevin

"Kate's part Huckleberry Finn with a skirt a Led Zeppelin t-shirt on and some cowboy boots or Grace Kelly in a gown entering a casino in Monte Carlo.” - Alex about kate

Kate Nevin brings her contagious enthusiasm to the studio to discuss how her creative journey is a thread in Charleston's unique community that is shaping new paths for inspiration. We discuss her love of Sally Mann, growing up wild and free in Tennessee, leaving Manhattan after 9/11 to follow love to Charleston, and starting @enoughpie - a non-profit devoted to engaging the Upper Peninsula region of Charleston via small business and creative placemaking! 

Jennet Robinson

"As a citizen I want to see my city retain its character and its ambience but at the same time I want it live-able."

Fascinating conversation with Jennet Robinson-Alterman about a lifelong interest in and pursuit of women's rights. A cause she seemed destined to pursue from a very young age - taking a quarter from her mom to ride the bus to Hampton Park at age 6, running away from sleepover camp at 11, was one of the first women at Davidson College, then on to Afghanistan with the Peace Corps, and then at the helm of the Center for Women in Charleston for 12 years.

Hamilton Davis

A conversation with Hamilton Davis, the Energy and Climate Director for the Coastal Conservation League in Charleston SC. We discuss his adventures hiking the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail, his ongoing work for the Coastal Conservation League, his interest in Stoicism and love of the water...

marcus amaker

John & Alex sit down with Marcus Amaker for an inspiring conversation about music, poetry, the creative spark, Charleston post Emanuel 9 shooting, and letting your weird out for a walk in the woods... www.marcusamaker.com

Buff Ross

A great conversation with the one and only Buff Ross - wizard of www.alloneworddesign.com - jack of many trades and master of curiosity. A wide-ranging conversation with one of our close personal friends covering archeology digs cut short, a gay & lesbian museum show in San Francisco, John Calhoun giving Charleston the finger, social media grieving post AME shooting, to cleaning with Rod Stewart...