When you get the rare opportunity to interview one of the greatest living guitarists in the music business today, even by e-mail, you certainly don’t pass it up, so when I heard “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas,” commonly known as ZZ Top, would be stopping at the Mt. Laurel Pocono Performing Arts Center, on Saturday, August 20, I jumped at the chance to talk to Billy F. Gibbons about his career, his road stories, and his precious guitar, Pearly Gates. The following was an e-mail exchange, so all answers are pasted directly from what Billy typed in response.

You started playing guitar at such a young age and picked up how to play pretty quickly. Why do you think you were able to ease into the instrument so smoothly, and what motivated you to continue playing?

I heard the sounds of blues and R&B thanks to a lady who worked in our house that we called Big Stella and her daughter who, logically, was Little Stella. They knew the blues in a big way and imparted that wisdom directly to an impressionable kid (yours truly) who soaked it up. They took me to places you wouldn’t expect a 10 year kids to be and I’m forever thankful for what they did.

What made you make the transition from a psychedelic band like The Moving Sidewalks to a more blues and boogie sound with ZZ Top?

It was the era of psychedelic sounds but at the root of it was the blues, of course. The transition to ZZ Top was, in some ways, a way to dig a bit deeper into those roots.

Was there a particular moment when you knew Pearly Gates was the perfect guitar for you that would consistently carry your band’s sound?

It was about the very first moment I plugged her in back in 19__. I’d never heard anything quite as fine as that and felt so fortunate to have Miss Pearly Gates in my life. Really delighted that Gibson has done a line of replicas and they’re as great sounding as you could hope for.

Many bands have internal conflicts and end up changing members, but you have kept the same line-up for over 40 years. How have you guys accomplished that?

We just like doing what we do and that goes for all three of us so really no need to make any drastic changes after all this time. We’re having fun so why stop the good times. If it makes you feel better, imagine that we’d broken up about 20 or so years ago. This would be our reunion tour.

The music industry can also be a tough business. Was there ever a time, maybe during a break or hiatus, when you felt it would be too hard to continue?

No, it’s tough but it’s also “tuff.” Meaning we dig going out there and playing for the people. It’s not as if we’d ever figured out any career alternatives because we got in a good groove and just stayed right there.

Everyone knows your best-selling hits, but what songs to you as a musician do you personally hold up to be your greatest work?

“Blue Jean Blues” is as low down as one could possibly get. It’s the “limbo” contest winner of all of our songs but “Jesus Left Chicago” is down there. Of course, “My Head’s In Mississippi” is kinda “fonky.”

With such a successful career, is there anything you feel you have yet to accomplish as a musician?

Getting to 50 years is a logical goal and playing with the Rolling Stones again would be something to anticipate.

What inspires you as a songwriter?

You never know. Could be a riff that just falls into place or a phrase you pick pick up on. The key thing is to marry the two and create an ambiance that serves the cause.

Is “Flyin’ High” an indication of what the rest of your highly anticipated new album will sound like?

It’s just one aspect of it. There are quite a few songs that are more elemental than that one but we liked the way it came out and when we found out our friend Mike Fossum was going into to space, we thought we’d send it along with him.

What are the challenges of writing a new album that sounds fresh but still maintains your classic sound?

We try not to get caught up in over conceptualizing things. If it feels good to us, the chances are it’s gonna feel good to the listener; it’s not as calculated as you think it is.

You’ve served as an inspiration for so many musicians out there. Are there any musicians that have left you a bit star struck or inspired you either by working with them or witnessing them perform?

Jimi Hendrix. Nobody before or since could do what he did.

You’ve played with many artists as diverse as B.B. King, Al Jourgensen, and Hank Williams III on various musical collaborations. Is there any one in particular that stands out to you as a favorite track, and if so, why?

BG: We had a great time with Josh Homme and the Queens of the Stone Age. Those guys are totally into it. Of course, playing with B.B. King was like being in the presence of royalty but B’s not a stickler for ceremony. He likes to let it all hang out, too, so he provides a comfort factor.

What is it you enjoy most about playing live? What keeps you going back on tour?

It’s the people who come and see us. They’re just get off on our music so much that we’re thrilled to be a part of that experience. Same as Santa Claus.

Do you have any favorite odd or fun road stories from over the years you’d care to share?

When we went out with the bison, buzzard, bulls and snakes it was an unforgettable time. The animal wranglers knew their stuff and, as far as I know, no humans or critters were any the worse for wear. We did a show in New Zealand a while back that we were told was the largest gathering of humans in the southern hemisphere. Sounds like one of those odd baseball statistics but, believe you me, there were a lot of people out there and they certainly had a good time.

What can fans at Mt. Laurel expect from a ZZ Top live performance?

We try to cover he full breadth of our repertoire starting waaaay back around the time the earth cooled and bring it up to date. Even if you have all of the records, there’s gonna be something you haven’t heard so listen carefully!

You’ve also had an interesting career outside of music. How did you end up with a major role on Fox’s Bones, and what is it like playing a fictionalized version of yourself? How much of your own personality is in the role?

The “Bones” character and I have to sit down and talk about our motivation from time to time. He’s a tough one and I wouldn’t want to cross him on any level. Of course, playing a guy who plays guitar for a living isn’t all that much of a stretch. The character is only known as “Angela’s Dad,” by the way but I’ve never asked to see his ID to determine his real name. That would be too scary.

Is there anything else we haven’t talked about that you’d like to add?

Just hope that everybody comes out to see us and is prepared to have a good time ’cause we’re gonna get loud ‘n down!

While many bands on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival are continuing their established acts, Hell or Highwater has given several musicians the chance to Begin Again, as their new album so aptly states.

The hard rock and heavy metal festival will be stopping at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Saturday, Aug. 27.

Hell or Highwater vocalist Brandon Saller is better known to many metal fans as the drummer and occasional singer of Atreyu, but with that band currently on hiatus, he was given the perfect opportunity to release songs in a different vein of rock through Black Cloud Collective. Made up of himself and friends from “random bands,” BCC eventually became HoH when he chose a permanent line-up made up of several other successful musicians.

“I just feel like it was something fun for me, something that started out as just writing music and having a good time, that turned into something that has really opened my eyes all over again to music, playing music and writing music and what it really is to be in a band,” Saller explained.

“I feel all of us are in pretty transitional periods in our lives. Everyone in the band is, like myself, taking a break from what they’ve done for a long time. Everyone’s out of other bands…Hell or Highwater, to us, is kind of like a musical awakening and I feel like all of us have the passion and the fire to make this project work no matter what. Everyone really feels that this is the band of our lives. We’re writing the music of our lifetime.”

He emphasized that while he was grateful for his musical history and the fans it has generated, he would not be relying on his past to shape his future career.

“We don’t want to have anything handed to us because of what we may have done in the past. We want this band to earn everything that it gets because of what we are, not because of what, individually, we’ve been in the past,” he said.

“I was always at the back of the stage with that security blanket in front of me. Now I’m up front…and it feels like my baby. I’ve put everything I’ve had into this band. It’s a cool perspective to be able to perform in a different way and be on stage and really let loose.”

This fresh start allowed the band to release their first record, Begin Again, on Aug. 9 independent of any record label or outside control. Their first single, Gimme Love, was released for online for free via Facebook.

“In this day and age, it’s really great to do things on your own terms. We could either spend time looking for a label and maybe not have a record out until next year or later. Luckily, we were able to do things on our own. The record that we wanted to put out exactly how we wanted to put it out is coming out right now,” he said.

HoH had a three-week “trial run” earlier this year, but Uproar will be their first major tour, making them the only unsigned band in the festival. Saller has been pleased with the response he’s received from audiences thus far and is looking forward to touring with many of his best friends in the music business.

“This music really energizes us and puts big smiles on our faces, so with anyone that’s seen us so far, it’s rubbed off on them. It’s a fun show to watch,” he enthused.

“I write lyrics that are representative of what I’m feeling and what I’m thinking, but I wrote them in a way that people can relate to them as well. I lay everything out on the line plain and simple because I feel like that way people will relate to it and maybe get the same feeling that I have.”

The album’s overarching theme not only captures this synergy, but it also seems to serve as an effective account of Hell or Highwater’s foundations as a band.

“There’s a theme that kind of peeks its head a bunch on the album – the thought of wanting more in your life and wanting better for yourself in any aspect of your life, whether it be relationships or your career or anything. I know that a lot of people these days are feeling that way. The world is kind of down in the dumps, if you will. I feel like there are a lot of songs representative of that,” Saller acknowledged.

“It’s never too late to start over. It’s never too late to do something incredible with your life.”

Agnes Cummings has portrayed women of the cloth during her 33 years with the Scranton Public Theatre, but she’s never played one quite as entertaining as Sister Robert Anne.

The popular character from Dan Goggin’s Nunsense returns in her own play called Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class, which is running through August and September at the Olde Brick Theatre, 128 West Market St., Scranton.

Produced by Bob Shlesinger, the lighthearted, hour-and-a-half production follows the sister’s music class, with the audience serving as her students. While Cummings had never been in a Nunsense musical before, she had always enjoyed the actors’ ability to engage and interact with people one-on-one and felt that she was up the challenge of supporting a show on her own, though she will be accompanied by West Scranton High School Music Chairman Ken McGraw on the piano.

“I love the challenge of it. I love directly addressing an audience. I equally enjoy being in a show where I don’t break the fourth wall, but I enjoy this for a change too. It’s almost like stand-up comedy,” Cummings explained.

“You never know what people are going to say. There’s always a few that want to get up and participate, and that’s what I’m counting on. I have to put myself into the mindset of a sister and be prepared with comebacks. I have some ideas up my sleeve.”

Sister Robert Anne is a streetwise nun from Brooklyn whose father was a musician. She discovered her love of music while accompanying her father during his gigs, but she eventually started running with the wrong crowd and was sent to reformatory school. A nun was able to turn her life around, which is when she discovered her true calling, but she never forgot her original passion.

“The running theme for Robert Anne through all the ‘Nunsense’ musicals is that she truly loves being a nun and is saved by it, but she wanted to be a performer. That was her first love before she entered the convent,” Cummings said.

“She’s going to take the audience through the steps that she thinks they need to know to have their own cabaret act, whether they’re young or old, and make it great. There are all different kinds of songs: there are ballads, there are up-tempo songs, there are country songs. And of course it’s funny because she’s a nun!” she said with a laugh.

Cummings drew from her own Catholic school experiences to prepare for the role.

“I was educated at Nativity of our Lord grade school, as was my entire family, and it’s across the street from where I live. We went to mass every morning…I really believe in the power of faith. I’m grateful for my Catholic upbringing and education,” she recalled.

“When you’re older and you’re recollecting all the stuff that you went through, it’s good for a lot of laughs. I’m sure we all still remember things, and we will forever, because of the way they were taught by the nuns, even just things about being a good person. Even if you haven’t been educated in a Catholic school, everybody has their stories.”

She also identified with the character on a more personal level, being an educator and performer herself.

“She doesn’t want to be rich or famous. She just wants to do what she loves. The theater is what I love, so I understand that aspect of her and the fact that she shares the talent that God gave her, because I do believe it’s God-given, with kids. That’s how I feel most connected to her,” she said.

“If there’s any other level I can relate to her on, it’s her love of performing.”

While the premise may seem irreverent to some, Cummings was assured when she read the play over that it is may be funny, but it’s also respectful towards the faithful. One line in particular, she felt, summed up the heart of Sister Robert Anne.

“‘When I touch a kid’s soul, it makes me feel whole. There isn’t much more I can say. Let me tell you, I’m blessed, if you haven’t guessed. Everything’s going my way and I am here to stay.’ I think that’s great,” she commented.

“Her faith is beautifully portrayed in this, in song and in her own words.”

The performances will be dedicated to Cummings’ only brother, Joe, who passed away last year.

“He was an altar boy when they still had the masses in Latin. He would have had a couple of good laugh over this show,” she said.

“I hope people get a few laughs and sing along. I think people will have a really good time. That’s my goal, to make sure that they do.”

Local activist groups joined with employees of Verizon Communications, Inc. for a joint demonstration on Courthouse Square in Scranton on Friday, expressing their disgust with big business and U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), whose Scranton office is located across the street on Spruce Street.

Over 45,000 Verizon workers are currently on strike across the country after negotiations for a new labor contract crumbled, and the Scranton office had already been picketing all week. Over 50 employees and supporters sporting red shirts were joined by members of Northeast Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation and NEPA Citizens in Action, who were downtown to deliver a letter to Toomey asking him to support the strike.

“Never did I have two rallies at exactly the same time on two different issues, but it all means exactly the same thing. It’s about us. It’s about America,” organizer Roxanne Pauline said.

“We have to make sure that the politicians are aware of us. They’re always talking to the CEOs, and the CEOs are in their pocket..We’re going to tell Verizon CEOs that making $6,000 an hour isn’t right.”

Pauline led a chant of “Where are the jobs?” as a cardboard cutout of Toomey stood by, questioning what the senator has done to create employment during his time in office. James Luby, 46, of Scranton was one of several locals who spoke about the struggles of being unemployed.

“It’s important that we send a message to Pat Toomey and to all these Tea Partiers. They promised us jobs a year ago, and where are they? Instead they give us gridlock; they downgrade our status as a AAA nation to a AA nation. We watched stocks tumble, then soar, and then tumble, and the only people who make money off of that are the rich and greedy,” Luby said.

“Labor is what keeps this country going. Labor is what built this country. It’s union jobs that are responsible for the American middle class. 30 years ago, we had three times as many union workers as we do today, and in 30 years, the American workers wages have largely stagnated. I myself, 20 years ago, was making the same money that I make today on the rare occasion that I can get work.”

Dan Haney, 52, of Philadelphia was laid off in February from a mail-order pharmacy.

“How is this economy going to grow when the officials we elect, Republicans and the Tea Partiers, turn around and work for the corporations and not us? We all have to stick together as one, whether we’re union, non-union, employed, unemployed, or underemployed,” Haney said.

“We have to contact the Pat Toomeys of this world and let them know that enough is enough. Stop the corporate greed. Stop the tax breaks. Bring our jobs back, and stop sticking up for CEOs and corporations. There are more of us than there are millionaires and billionaires and corporations, so if they don’t start getting in line, we will remember, and Pat, you may be the next one on the unemployment line.”

Verizon union representative Gary Joseph defended the union against Verizon’s recent statements to the media.

“They’re saying that our members are making $141,000 a year. That is nonsense. They’re not saying that they’re counting our vacations twice. They’re adding the mandatory overtime,” Joseph said.

“In 2010, Forbes reported that (Ivan) Seidenberg, the former CEO of Verizon, had a net compensation of $30 million. If I’m not mistaken, it might take us all to make half of that…We’re ready to go back (to work), but we’re not ready to give back and to go back 50 years.”

Protestors also asked Toomey to hold a town hall to address employment issues in front of his Allentown office on Tuesday. When asked for comment, Toomey’s press secretary Rebecca Neal responded via e-mail with the following:

“Senator Toomey appreciates feedback from his constituents and knowing their concerns. He often travels across the state to meet with constituents and hear their thoughts on the best way to create jobs and get our economy moving. He spent Monday in Northeastern Pennsylvania hosting jobs roundtables, and Tuesday he was in Pottsville, Reading, Annville and Harrisburg, talking about how we can get the economy back on track. He also met with job creators in Philadelphia Wednesday and in Pittsburgh Thursday. The senator will continue his travels across the state during the August recess and looks forward to meeting constituents at public events.”

Local employees of Verizon Communications Inc. were among the 45,000 workers on strike across the country when negotiations for a new labor contract broke down, demonstrating downtown on Monday with signs accusing their employer of “corporate greed.”

The contract, which expired at midnight on Aug. 6, covers workers in Verizon’s wireline division, which includes local-phone operations, services for businesses and governments, and long-haul wholesale traffic. Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, and the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre offices handle customer service and operator assistance.

“Nothing was moving. They’ve been bargaining since June (22) and there was no leeway. Nothing was being resolved. There was no compromise. It was at a standstill,” Strike Captain Julie Brominski said while picketing behind the Verizon customer service center at 121 Adams Ave. in downtown Scranton.

“A lot of this is just job security. We want to keep our jobs, keep them here, and keep them good jobs with health care. We want to protect the middle class because collective bargaining, it seems, is going away, and we want to keep it.”

Workers and supporters wearing red shirts gathered for a demonstration on Courthouse Square and walked with protest signs in front of and behind the Adams Avenue location. A Verizon employee for 20 years, Brominski believes that she and her co-workers are only asking for what they deserve after years of dedication.

“I feel that we all work very hard. Our jobs are very difficult. We’re here every day. It’s not like they’re giving stuff away for free. We’re not asking for anything crazy – a nice wage, good benefits, and to keep our jobs here. A lot of it is being outsourced,” she explained.

“We’re bringing money into the company. We’re the front line as customer service. We’re the ones selling the products and bringing in the income. It’s only fair.”

Don Engleman, president of Communications Workers of America Local 13000 Unit 34, told The Times Leader that he and the 147 other members of the local bargaining unit would continue demonstrating outside the Verizon office on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre “as long as it takes” and until the strike is over, though they are “ready to go back to work as soon as progress is made at the bargaining table.”

The CWA contends that talks in Philadelphia and New York broke down after Verizon demanded over 100 unjustified concessions from workers regarding health care, pensions, and work rules, citing the company’s $27.5 billion second quarter profit. Engleman said top Verizon management was paid about $268 million of that amount.

Workers covered by the expired contract include 10,000 employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, serving as telephone and repair technicians, customer service representatives, operators, and more.

“Even at the 11th hour, as contracts were set to expire, Verizon continued to seek to strip away 50 years of collective bargaining gains for middle class workers and their families,” the CWA said in an Aug. 7 statement.

With its headquarters based in New York, Verizon employs nearly 196,000 workers, 135,000 being non-union, and provides more than 106 million total connections nationwide.

On their website, Verizon claims their technicians, in certain markets, earn as much as $91,000 a year with overtime and more than $50,000 in benefits. The company said that they are proposing that union employees pay a portion of their health care premiums, as most “pay nothing” for these premiums while the majority of employees do.

According to an Aug. 7 press release, Verizon has a contingency plan in place to ensure customers experience limited disruption in service during the strike. Thousands of “management employees, retirees and others” will take on the responsibilities of the union workers until an agreement can be reached.

“We are confident that we have the talent and resources in place to meet the needs and demands of our customers,” said Marc Reed, Verizon’s executive vice president of human resources in the release.

“It’s regrettable for our employees and our customers that the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have decided to walk away from the table instead of continuing to work through the issues. We will continue to do our part to reach a new contract that reflects today’s economic realities in our wireline business and addresses the needs of all parties. It’s also our intent that under a new contract, Verizon employees will continue to receive competitive pay and benefit programs.”

Times Leader Staff Writer Steve Mocarsky contributed to this story.

War may have made their indelible mark on the American music scene in the ‘60s and ‘70s, yet they are still as vibrant and relevant as ever, celebrating their 40th anniversary of the band on its own with performances across the country.

The California funk group will be headlining the 2011 Scranton Jazz Festival on August 5 at The Radisson Hotel, 700 Lackawanna Ave. Tickets are $35 and a weekend pass is $55.

Founding member Lonnie Jordan, who has served as the band’s vocalist as well as its guitarist, piano and synthesizer player, and percussionist, said that they selected their name during the height of the Vietnam War, looking to make a statement that resonated with many of their audiences.

“Think of us like the group Rage Against the Machine, except we were raging war against wars. Our weapons were our instruments…Instead of bullets, it would be musical notes. It would be through rhythms, melodies, and most of all harmony, bringing people together instead of killing people and making mothers cry,” Jordan explained, adding that times haven’t, unfortunately, changed much since their debut.

“We can come up with a new message every day until we turn purple in the face; nothing’s going to change. It seems like all we were was just ahead of our time. It was something going on then that we were thinking was going to get better and it just turned into a fiasco. It’s just another movie; it’s just the characters have changed.”

While people can sometimes focus too much on all the negativity in the world, Jordan said that War has always tried to turn that into something positive. While the members have rotated over the years, “the vibe” of the act has always stayed the same.

“We still feel that our music has some of the best grooves in the world, so we basically call it grooves and messages,” he said.

“We are the people, for the people, by the people. We’ve always believed that.”

Jordan feels proud of all the music in their extensive catalog, finding each to have a distinctive message along with an individual sound.

“I don’t have one particular song at all that sticks out more than the others. I have a lot of fun playing all of them, and I notice the people also give me that same vibe back because we’re just a reflection of the people,” he felt.

Their song Why Can’t We Be Friends? was played across the world during the first joint space mission by the United States and the Soviet Union, and much of their music has been sampled by other artists and used in countless commercials, television shows, and movies.

“I am honored…I didn’t think that any of this music would be heard after it was recorded. I’m still amazed. As I’m growing older gracefully, I realize that the music does make sense today because it has a unique style of its own that stands out over a lot of other music that’s been played over the years. I’m happy for that.”

One famous single, Low Rider, actually helped inform the world about the unusual car style. Jordan said they sang about lowriders because no one else was talking about them, and when they filmed a movie about rival lowrider groups and traveled the world with it, they solidifying even more fans through the cultural phenomenon.

“People were freaking out when they saw these cars that we filmed hopping up and down and scraping. They never saw anything like that. We actually introduced lowriders to the world,” he recalled.

While the groundbreaking ethnic band was nominated unsuccessfully for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, Jordan is more appreciate of his fans than any physical award he could receive.

“My fans are my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Every time I go play in my own house, which I call my own church, and I see those smiling faces on new and old fans – that is my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can’t beat that with a bat,” Jordan related.

“We’re still giving you some messages, whether it’s new or old, and sharing those messages with other people, the new generation. Our book is never closed in music. I just want to be known as one of those humble bands with, still, a unique sound.”

Some of War’s most famous fans even saved his life, he claims. The band would be the last to jam with guitarist Jimi Hendrix the night before he died, Jordan said.

“The reason why I’m still here today, alive and breathing and still playing for my fans is because they all steered me back on the path. Jimi Hendrix died at 27. And then I had the chance to meet one of Eric’s biggest fans of all, Jim Morrison of The Doors, who loved (original singer) Eric Burdon…and he was 27 when he died. Janis Joplin loved Eric, and she was 27 when she died,” he explained, also noting the recent passing of Amy Winehouse at 27.

As the band prepares to release a single in January with an album to follow, Jordan is also contemplating his own book with his many tales from the road. His days of touring, and finding enjoyment from that life, however, are far from over.

“We get people out of their seats…Most of the people at the Jazz Festival that listen to us play are having a flashback from before they go into jazz back in the early days. They enjoy something different at the same time they’re hearing the music that became jazz on the hard jazz stations,” Jordan said.

“People have a good time every time we show up and we always bring sunshine.”

When Alan Masters started working independently as a painter, he had already come a long way in his life. In August of 2010, he decided to make a bold move that would take his career to the next level.

Masters, 30, now serves as the president and founder of TradesBowl, an online database that quickly connects homeowners and craftsmen looking for work. The company also has a charitable element, working with contractors and troubled youth programs to give youngsters a fresh start through learning a viable and sustainable trade.

“For the homeowner, it’s fast, free, and easy. It’s as simple as that,” Masters said.

“Homeowners know that by using TradesBowl, and the contractors know that by being a part of TradesBowl, it’s helping inside communities through troubled youth.”

The concept of the website is crafted to help all three parties involved. For homeowners, they can not only locate reliable contractors, Masters said, but they can also give back to their own community by helping kids get their lives back on track and out of gang activity and other societal ills.

“This actually goes towards something that completely benefits the community. It’s about having a homeowner having somewhere to go to find these contractors that want to be recognized as a face in the community. It’s also about helping the contractor gain a better face in the community,” he explained.

It is also a cost-effective advertising solution for contractors, as TradesBowl’s most expensive plan breaks down to $1.64 a day for a year, and contractors can write advertising costs off as a donation.

“I’m a painter by trade, so I know what it is to go into homeowners’ homes and work and work only to catch a bad rap for one or two contractors who do something wrong. For all the good contractors that work hard for a $350 seven line, 14-day little ad, a one-year subscription is a better option for them,” Masters noted.

For the youth, Masters feels that they can be trained with a skill set on which they can build a sustainable career.

“Instead of breaking into homes, they’re building them. It’s a destructive mind being put to constructive use,” he said.

“Welders can make anywhere from $60-100,000 a year. Masons can make anywhere from $80-130,000 a year. These are actually trades that pay, that give back to the laborer, to the person that knows that knowledge….They can come out that training with full time jobs.”

Masters described himself as a “troublemaker” in his youth, growing up in Revere, Pa. This was one of the catalysts behind his mission to “give back” to Bucks County, and he is currently working with the criminal court system in the county to helps others down the same path he eventually took.

“I was misguided growing up, and if it wasn’t for some people who really took my under their wing and taught me a trade that allowed me to branch off, start my own business, and be successful at my own business, I wouldn’t be here, when I decided it wasn’t for me and got into TradesBowl. In my misguided youth, I was able to find guidance through structured trade and at that point was able to jumpstart my life and hope for better things,” Masters recalled.

“If I wasn’t given a second chance, who knows where I would have ended up? I wouldn’t have been educated the way I am today.”

He hopes that TradesBowl will instill others with a similar autonomous, go-getting attitude that has helped his website succeed thus far. Reactions from the community, he said, have all been positive, and supply industries from outside the area have called to advertise.

“Everything that has come my way has been a success as far as finding new clientele, obtaining homeowners’ awareness, actually implementing troubled youth and getting people on my side, like the community service agents that want to be a part of it,” he added. “Whether we made a dollar or $10,000 to put back in the community, that’s a success to me.”

Plans are already in place to expand into Lackawanna County, hiring his friend Lauren Brasted as a regional solution specialist and later a district manager just a few weeks ago. Upon hearing about TradesBowl, the Scranton resident immediately felt the company was a good fit for the city’s issues.

“Scranton needs a lot of help. I saw where TradesBowl could really be implemented into this community, where the growth could help stimulate the economy and help rebuild some of those homes that just tarnish the area,” Brasted said.

She cited the “beautiful architecture” of buildings in downtown Scranton as a history that she hopes the city can return to.

“If we can help teach youth how to continue this amount of professionalism and craftsmanship and skill, we can really make this area beautiful and shine again,” she said.

“I believe in it. I think it’s a great cause.”

Both employees made their debut in the county with a tent at the Drawcore Skate Park Mural Block Party on July 16 and 17 in West Scranton, and Masters said that he has appointments set up with Scranton Police Chief Dan Duffy and members of city council to see how he can expand more effectively in the area.

The concept of TradesBowl could go nationwide, Masters feels, but is satisfied with his company’s current rate of growth.

“I’m not looking for nationwide coverage. I’m looking for nationwide community growth. It’s one community at a time,” Masters said.

“TradesBowl is built off the power of positive thought in its entirety, on the power of helping people.”

For business inquiries, contact President Alan Masters at (212) 272-9542 or alan@tradesbowl.com. For sales, contact District Manager Lauren Brasted at (267) 884-6665 or info@tradesbowl.com.

Heavy metal icons Motley Crue are known worldwide for embracing the wildest of rock n’ roll lifestyles, but all that founding guitarist Mick Mars wants to be remembered for is his diehard dedication to his craft.

The infamous Los Angeles rockers will be stopping at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Sunday, July 31, with fellow ‘80s glam act Poison and special guests the New York Dolls.

As early as the age of three, Robert Alan Deal knew what he would be doing with the rest of his life. After playing in various small bands throughout the ‘70s, he decided to dye his hair black and change his name to Mick Mars, advertising himself in a local paper as “a loud, rude, and aggressive guitar player.” Bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee immediately hired him as singer Vince Neil rounded out the group that would soon be known as Motley Crue, a name that Mars also coined.

“I was bored with my other life. I don’t know…Change is good,” Mars said. “But I’m still me.”

Clad in heavy make-up and a colorful wardrobe, the band burst onto the scene in 1981 with a rebellious attitude that quickly gained them both media attention and animosity from concerned parents and political leaders. Their lives of sex, drugs, and rock n’ rock may have thrust them into the spotlight, but Mars said his primary concern was always the music.

“I really do focus on music. When I was three years old and I decided that I was going to be a musician, a guitar player – that’s the same way I think today. I don’t care what kind of consequences might come or get in my way…This is what I chose to do and I’m not going to let anybody or anyone or anything mess it up for me. I just love music. That’s all I want to do,” Mars said.

“I have to admit that some of the guys like that media attention. I don’t. I’m about the music. I skip the bullshit.”

Now age 60, Mars also confessed that he thought at least one member of the band “would be dead by now,” but he feels that maybe a few hard lessons were learned to bring them to this point in the careers.

“I think I would say that we’re probably a bit more educated after a couple of overdoses. You know what I mean? It’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that again.’ I think everybody goes through that, really.”

While the band was often trashed in reviews when they started, Motley Crue has since gained respect and its own place in the music industry, which the ax man thanks his fans for.

“Our fans grew up and took over…It’s pretty funny, you have to admit. I think that any new band that comes out gets rejected unless you’re very, very poppy and commercial. Anything new and different or whatever you want to call it has to get respect. You have to earn it, I guess, paying your dues,” he explained.

“Notice every time a new band comes out it’s ‘the devil’s music.’ Imagine if there was no change and we were still playing ‘Hound Dog’ by Big Mama Thornton or Elvis. I guess that people are accustomed to gradual change, but radical change? No.”

As the songwriter behind some of the bands more recognizable riffs, Mars credits his unique style to a wide variety of influences, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Alvin Lee, and Johnny Winter, and playing in many cover bands early in his career that allowed him to combine and learn parts from many different types of musicians.

While that may be obvious to careful listeners, what many fans do not know is that Mars suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic form of arthritis that causes inflammation of his spine and pelvis. He said that he takes anti-inflammatory drugs to help him get through sometimes grueling tour schedules, but mostly he is forced to work through the pain.

“It still hurts. It still grinds now and then, but like I said, music is my whole passion. It’s what I do. It’s what I live for. I guess it keeps me alive,” he said.

“I’m just happy to be here, to be able to make people happy, to make people smile and give them what I feel inside from my music…I hope you like this, and if you don’t, oh well.”

Those who think that his career may be winding down may also be surprised to learn that his musical aspirations are just beginning.

“I think Motley was a giant stepping stone for me. I’m far from being over. I am going to do a solo album, but I am also going to make sure that it’s the right people that I want to play with. A lot of people will look at this record that I want to do and go, ‘I didn’t know Mick could do that.’ If it doesn’t come off that way, I won’t do it,” Mars said.

“I don’t want to repeat what I’ve been doing.”

On this tour, Motley Crue is offering audiences the chance to witness a 360 degree roller coaster drum solo and pyrotechnics that are “stupidly over the top,” but through it all, the quietest and most humble member of the group also hopes that fans will turn out for the music.

“This is probably one of the biggest and best shows we’ve done since quite a long time. Even with Red, White, & Crue and Carnival of Sins, this is even better than that.”

Alternative rock group Sick Puppies traveled all the way from Australia to California to pursue their lifelong passion for music, and the band shows no signs of slowing down as they continue touring in support of their latest album, Tri-Polar.

The band will be stopping in the area again next week at Eleanor Rigby’s, 603 Scranton/Carbondale Highway in Jermyn, on Monday, August 1.

Singer/guitarist Shimon Moore’s musical journey began when he met bassist Emma Anzai in high school in 1997, who shared similar tastes in American rock. On a train ride to visit his father, he had wrote “Sick Puppies” down as a possible name for the band he was forming, only to coincidentally find his father was reading a book called “Sick Puppy.” The name stuck despite the fact that the band’s sound has developed greatly since its inception.

“When we started off, we were a lot more punk rock than we are now, and it really fit the musical direction of the band. But I think we’re lucky because it’s sort of a catch phrase that people use anyway, so it’s easy to remember. It’s always interesting to hear what some people think of the name after they hear our music,” Moore said.

Their mix of both soft and harder harmonies gave them a wider audience, a sound that Moore said came naturally as they grew.

“I think that the sound sort of evolves as you play more. We knew that we wanted to sound like Rage Against the Machine and Silverchair and Incubus and all those bands that have really good rhythm sections and melodies, but how you actually achieve it, I think, is just by playing all the time. Eventually, you become your own band,” he explained.

Their first big break came in 2006 when Moore met Juan Mann while working in a mall. He watched as Mann held up a sign offering “free hugs” to strangers as a way to promote random acts of kindness. After they had become friends, Moore filmed Mann’s Free Hugs Campaign with his father’s camera and made a video for Mann as a “get well card” after his grandmother passed away, with Sick Puppies’ song “All the Same” playing over the footage.

Once the video was shared on YouTube, it went viral and launched the band into the spotlight. While it is challenging for anyone to break out in the American music industry, let alone an act from Australia, Moore and Anzai didn’t hesitate to move to California to start their career in earnest.

“We didn’t think about it, and we didn’t look back,” Moore recalled.

The viral video wouldn’t be the only way the band used modern media to gain attention. Sick Puppies provided the theme song used to promote the release of Street Fighter IV, a popular video game, and WWE used “You’re Going Down” for a pay-per-view event and SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 video game.

Additionally, they appeared in Rock Prophecies, a 2009 documentary about the career of famous music photographer Robert Knight, who took a liking to the band and followed their development. The movie ended up serving as “a time capsule” of the group’s career.

“I think it’s definitely necessary to use all of the avenues now. I think we’re lucky because we have a slightly broader demographic than a lot of other rock bands,” Moore explained.

“(Knight) had some stories and stuff, but after a while, you start being more interested in making your own stories.”

Moore was also interested in feedback from his fans, which he said led to the creation of their 2009 album, Tri-Polar. In March of this year, Sick Puppies released an accompanying acoustic EP called Polar Opposite with unplugged versions of their songs. When he is able to perform acoustically live, he said that is when he feels closest to his listeners.

“It’s better for me because people actually listen more…and you can connect more. There’s a different vibe that you create, and then also the fans wind up being very respectful of the music. At some other shows and festivals and things, people are like, ‘Oh, you’re in that band.’ They don’t really hear what you’re saying, just the fact that you’re in a band. Those acoustic shows are always really special,” he said.

“There’s always that goal to connect to the people that listen to you, to make them feel something.”

At their upcoming show in Jermyn, Moore just hopes that fans “leave the room feeling better than they did when they walked in.” Having been warmly received in the area before, he’s confident that the show will be a success.

“I think there are just some places that catch fire and some places that don’t, and luckily, that’s one of the places that really caught fire.”

Northeastern Pennsylvania has its share of local flea markets, but the city of Scranton hasn’t seen an event quite like WFTE-FM’s Punk Rock Flea Market, set for Saturday, July 30 at 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the radio station at 930 Meadow Avenue.

While its namesake implies that the merchandise may be related strictly to music, it’s actually more closely associated with the do-it-yourself attitude of the punk lifestyle. Over 20 vendors are booked to sell crafts, clothes, vintage items, CDs, purses, jewelry, house wares, crochet and knitted items, homemade and handcrafted goods, and more at the event. Local bands Think Big!, Down to Six, Down a Lifetime, and Call Me Out will also perform throughout the day.

Stephanie Ogozaly, music director of WFTE, was inspired by similar large-scale punk flea markets held in bigger cities like Philadelphia and thought Scranton, and subsequently the station, would benefit from the unique cultural event.

“I was interested in that, so I was doing some research online and I saw that people were putting them on all over the place on a much smaller scale, so I thought, ‘Why can’t Scranton have that?’ So I just started the ball rolling and here we are,” Ogozaly explained.

“We want to do a lot of community events and really become involved with the community. We want to be a presence out there…I hope this will bring in some people who maybe haven’t heard of us yet. Maybe this will be how they hear about us.”

Ogozaly is known in the area as the filmmaker behind The Metro, a documentary that chronicled the final days of popular Wilkes-Barre concert venue Cafe Metropolis. As WFTE’s music director, she has been contacting bands and labels to build up the station’s library, organizing it, and guiding their overall musical direction.

The independent, non-profit station, found at 90.3 FM in Lackawanna and Wayne counties, has been relying mostly on volunteers to run their operation and has been raising money since last year to offer the area community-oriented programming with content rarely offered by mainstream outlets.

“We mostly hear one-on-one from people, saying, ‘I listen to the station,’ ‘Good job,’ stuff like that. We’re on a smaller scale right now, but we’re building our way up. Our original programming is created locally, so we’re getting there,” Ogozaly said.

Currently at half its potential power, she said that at least 70,000 people can tune in right now, but WFTE hope to eventually reach out to five surrounding counties with more funding. The station hosts concerts and occasional poetry slam nights at the Irish Wolf Pub in downtown Scranton every Sunday to offset their costs, and they plan to hold movie nights and concerts in the studio itself as they continue to expand.

The Punk Rock Flea Market seemed like another natural fit to benefit the progressive station, and Ogozaly believes its distinctiveness will be an added draw to the event.

“I think we should get a good turnout. People are excited that we’re doing something a little bit different in Scranton. We’ve had a good amount of interest, and the vendors are excited too. I know a lot of them are eager for it to happen, and hopefully, if this one goes well, we can do another one.”