Conversations With Calcaterra

Thumbnail art by Alex Johnmeyer “One of my favorite quotes that I have read is your future self is talking shit about you.” – Steven Walden as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra “The argument is if Leonardo DaVinci was alive today would he be making film.” – Henryk Ptasiewicz as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra “Every artist should be on Critical Mass. If you don’t know what Critical Mass is then get your ass on there right now!” – Alex Johnmeyer as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra “That’s all I care about is looking at my earlier work and saying I can do better than that.” – Lindsay Wanner as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra How does a passionate creator make a living producing art? This episode features a group of artists living in St. Louis who make a living from their creations. On top of that they donate a significant amount of their work to help raise funds for charities. What percentage does marketing play into their workflow and when did they determine fine art was thei

“I hate to write but I love having to have written…that’s the biggest bunch of crap I’ve ever heard.” – Craig Hawksley as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra “I wish I would have had guys like me now to help me write then. To give me advice that it took me 40 years to learn…the hard way.” – Craig Hawksley as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra Who is Craig Hawksley Get me Craig Hawksley Get me a young Craig Hawksley Whatever happened to Craig Hawksley Who is Craig Hawksley This is an old show business adage which sums up the stages of one’s life in entertainment. Craig Hawksley is a retired St. Louis based comedian who was a part of the inaugural “Blue Collar Comedy” tour. His success is defined by his great family, a career in comedy and a career as a writer. He is debt free and does what he wants, and has a lot of love in his life. Visit Ken @ www.kencalcaterra.com and on various social media outlets and please share and comment on this episode. Sign up to our maili

“62% of all bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical bills.” – Tim James as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra “You have all the power to turn your health around, to get your energy back…to lose the weight. It’s not some mystical deal. You just drink water, clean out your gut and your organs and you put some good nutrition in you. Start off simple and you’re gonna get better.” – Tim James as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra What is the amount of fecal matter packed in your colon? How long has it been there? This is a scary question, but the answer is important to your health. Tim James is the founder and CEO of Chemical Free Body. His mission is to educate people on the dangers of manmade chemicals, harmful organisms and nutrient deficiencies. He teaches the importance of daily cleansing, whole food supplements and consuming fresh organic plant-based food. After growing up on the “Standard American Diet,” Tim found himself thirty-eight pounds overweight, tired, not sleeping we

“The idea of starting tomorrow is a lie.” - Adrian Todd Zunica as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra “Do not move to LA unless you have a project.” - Adrian Todd Zunica as stated on Conversations with Calcaterra Adrian Todd Zuniga is the author of the debut novel, Collision Theory (Rare Bird Books), which will release on April 17, 2018. He’s the host/creator/CCO of Literary Death Match (now featured in over 60 cities worldwide) and host of LDM Book Report on YouTube. A WGA Award-nominated screenwriter, he co-wrote Madden NFL 18’s interactive movie Longshot (EA Sports). His short fiction has been featured in Gopher Illustrated and Stymie, and online at Lost Magazine and McSweeney’s. He lives between London and Los Angeles. His debut novel “Collison Theory” is a rollercoaster ride, a quirky tale of discovering one’s self during the time of losing of a parent. A page turner filled with elements of comedy, drama and mystery. The novels ending smacked Ken in the face and stimulated a series of emotions.

“Tomorrow is the busiest day for everybody.” – Sylvester Chisom as said on Conversations with Calcaterra “Never let laziness be the reason why you didn’t get something done!” – Sylvester Chisom as said on Conversations with Calcaterra “You don’t have to be great to get started but have to get started to be great!” – Sylvester Chisom as said on Conversations with Calcaterra Sylvester Chisom is a public speaker and author of the book “Manifest Greatness” and has been recognized as one of Ebony Magazine’s Top Young Entrepreneurs. His books and online courses are used in school districts, colleges and companies all across the country. https://www.sylvesterchisom.com/ Visit Ken @ www.kencalcaterra.com and on various social media outlets and please share and comment on this episode. Sign up to our mailing list to receive a discount code for Blue Planet Eyewear products. Special Thanks to show sponsors: Steve Ewing – Steve’s cover of The Beatles “Baby You’re a Rich Man” opens up the show and defines Sylveste

“You heard of people who are farm strong? You start by picking up a calf every day and then at one day you’ll be picking up a cow.” – Eric Grossman “A 1000 mile journey starts with one step.” – Eric Grossman “Eating is one of my joys in life and I’m not going to deprive myself, but I put in the work!” – Eric Grossman Eric Grossman has always been fit but didn’t really focus his mind on the science of fitness until dealing with some serious pain while on break from touring the world as a musician. He still plays out every now and then but has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their health and wellness goals. Visit Ken @ www.kencalcaterra.com and on various social media outlets and please share and comment on this episode. Sign up to our mailing list to receive a discount code for Blue Planet Eyewear products. Special Thanks to show sponsors: Sarah Bettens – Sarah’s song “Come Over Here” opens up the show and features the dynamic bass playing of Eric Grossman who toured with the band. Check out

“I ain’t complain, I’m explainin.” – The Smash aka Asher Benrubi “The best education is from the University of Doing It!” – The Smash aka Asher Benrubi “Honor God, help people. If you’re helping people you’re honoring God.” - The Smash aka Asher Benrubi Join Ken on this milestone episode as he travels with Asher Benrubi on a journey through Rock and Roll history. The legendary Smash spent 50 years in the entertainment industry as a front man of the Smash Band and as a radio disc jockey in markets throughout the United States including the famed KSHE95 in St. Louis. He filled in as host of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball and was on hand when Guns N Roses destroyed the set. Learn more about this storied guest at www.asherbenrubi.com The classic KSHE parody co-written by Craig Hawksley “Knights at White Castle” - https://youtu.be/6cYHnpFuEG0 Thumbnail photo courtesy of Karl Lund Visit Ken @ www.kencalcaterra.com and on various social media outlets and please share and comment on this episode. Sign up to our maili

“You’re only as good as your last meal.” – Joe Sanfilippo “You can’t qualify your life as successful just because of finances.” – Joe Sanfillippo Joe’s career in the restaurant business began at the age of 11 when he filled in at one of his uncle’s restaurants on New Years Eve as a busboy. He enjoyed the tips and working with family, a group of brother and sisters who immigrated from Sicily to St. Louis. The older generation has mostly retired but the family empire is in good hands with Joe and his cousins who own a handful of restaurants in the region. Find out more about Joe on his website and connect with him on social media. https://jfsanfilippos.com/ Visit Ken @ www.kencalcaterra.com and on various social media outlets and please share and comment on this episode. Sign up to our mailing list for updates about the show. Special Thanks to show sponsors: Steven Walden – The 3D painter utilizes vibrant colors to make his subjects jump off the canvas. Check out his sports and pop culture renderings at w

“A large cross represented a person who had died of cancer and a small cross represented those who were battling cancer. There were way to many crosses out there.” – Tony West “People said you’re a television cameraman, what do you know about nuclear waste. Well I’m learning. You have to learn.” – Tony West How much industrial waste has been dumped into our environment the past 100 years? Are companies concerned about the well being of their employees or is it all just a facade? These are a few of themes discussed with Tony West, director of the documentary The Safe Side of the Fence. Tony began his film career assisting his 11 year old brother Marlon West who now supervises animation effects for Disney (Moana, Frozen) and when not busy working sports broadcasts Tony is busy touring his film all across the United States. See the film for free on Amazon Prime. http://www.thesafesideofthefence.com/ Visit Ken @ www.kencalcaterra.com and on various social media outlets and please share and comment on this

Baseball is as American as apple pie is the old saying and people all over the USA are excited for opening day especially St. Louisans who pride themselves for their sports fandom especially for the beloved Cardinals. Opening day in St. Louis feels like a holiday and it highlights the change of the seasons to spring. This nuanced sport, America’s past time connects us to spring, summer and fall as these gladiators of the diamond grind out 162 regular season games and a long postseason. There is something for every baseball fan in this extended episode. Our esteemed panel includes: Steven Walden – Friend of the show and most featured guest. Steven’s amazing artwork can be seen at https://www.stevenwalden.com/ - The thumbnail for this episode is one of his renderings Jeff Ritter – Has appeared on the Star Wars themed CWC episode and is a reviewer at http://www.criticalblast.com/ and https://www.stllimelight.com/ Steve Flowers – Cohost of the popular weekly St. Louis Cardinals podcast Two Birds on a Bat along

“I love the pull yourself up by your bootstraps philosophy but that implies that you have boots.” – Jason Cleaveland “We've created so many barriers to entry for the for these low-level entry-level jobs that were people are really doomed to life a life of poverty.” - Jason Cleaveland “So many times what happens is they lose that hope after going to 10, 15, 20, 30 job interviews and being denied that it's very attractive to go back down to the corner and sell dope” – Jason Cleaveland What type of job opportunities are available for formally incarcerated individuals? They can be few and far between but there is one job title which attributes to many success stories in the tech industry…Entreprenuer. Jason Cleaveland is the founder and CEO of Obodo and a Just Leadership USA - Leading with Conviction Fellow. He is an entrepreneur, teacher and speaker dedicated to creating new opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to develop into the people they want to be. Jason believes that access to tools, t

“For me the idea that I was wanted in life is to be a sports voice of the city. In my profession of sports writing, few things are more enamored than the guy or girl who writes something that everybody reads. Who says something everybody hears, that’s pretty cool.” – Benjamin Hochman “In the Willie McGee chapter in The Big 50 Cardinals I interviewed an old player that not a lot of people remember the name of, David Howard, he was kind of there. Played for a couple of years with the Cardinals in the late 90s and was teammates with Willie. Their lockers were near each other and he went up to Willie after the final game in 1999 and asked if “there was something I can have of yours. I revere you, you’re one of the best teammates I have ever had.” He's thinking he can get an autographed ball. Willie gives him the game worn jersey from Willy's final game and just gives it to this guy. Howard is like, “Willie, no man this is way to much.” Willie says, “no man I respect you as a teammate,” and that's Willie McGee. W

“The whole origin for doing this project was…it gives us an excuse to explore the city. Learn more stuff around us and hopefully be better St. Louisians or just people in general because were going out and exploring something.” – Matt Sims “Well it's important to think about that the "24 hour news cycle is a new thing in journalism. It used to be there was actually a gap of time. If the 5 o'clock news and the 7 o'clock news came on five days a week you had to wait a full 24 hours before you could get any development on a story and I'm not saying that the journalists of old were necessarily some paragons of virtue who absolutely should be trusted…no. You absolutely should be skeptical within reason and that's the tricky thing.” – Lucas Yochum “…you gotta go get those facts. Opinions are a dime a dozen. We've all gotten an opinion and were all allowed our opinion, which is fine but I don't ever put anything out onto the airwaves without having first said like, can I prove this. It’s one thing when we have con

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear. It takes a couple of attempts to push through the fear to realize you can!” – Matt Hodel “If you don’t know where to start…it’s forward. Just go! Start…continue!” – Matt Hodel “On working with other people – “I think a lot of times it’s just planting seeds and the weird thing is that just because you have a vision and you see things your way doesn't mean that when you plant the seed in someone else there going to grow the same tree or flower. You throw it out there and then it's amazing what other people under different circumstances but the same idea and same intent come up with.” – Matt Hodel “Perfection is almost a demon a certain point. The best work of your life will not be recognized as the best work of your life until later. Until you have the perspective to even appreciate what you did. Nobody says this is going to be my masterpiece. Take the pressure off.” – Matt Hodel When one enters Ragtime Tattoo they will not only walk out with fresh ink but

This episode is dedicated to Ken Calcaterra Sr. “I believe that we are here to contribute love to the planet each of us in our own way.” – Bernie Siegel “Mother Theresa said that she would not attend an antiwar rally, and the people who invited her were very upset, but she said to them, “If your ever have a peace rally, call me.” – Bernie Siegel “I’d say, unfortunately, for the majority of people, most of whom are the authors of multiple books that I interview, they have to have a tragedy to get them to wake up. And I always say, that’s what’s so sad, because what they’re saying has already been written and I say the same thing about my books! I can’t write anything new. I mean over the last thousand years there’ve been a hell of a lot of wonderful, inspiring people who have said it all! But yes, I will modernize it!” – Bernie Siegel Bernie prefers to be called by his given name and not Dr. Siegel. For over 40 years he has been helping patients by treating their symptoms to help them overcome dis-Ease. Th

Step into the world of Songbird Café a unique St. Louis listening experience modeled after the Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café. Ken sits down with Songbird founder and curator Steve St. Cyr to discuss some of Steve’s favorite moments from the past five years of Songbird Shows on the eve of the events sixth anniversary. Check out what listeners have to say about this heartfelt event in a video created by Ken - https://youtu.be/PRbCZTTZgrE Songbird Playlist featured in Conversations with Calcaterra Morgan Nusbaum of Bruiser Queen – I’m Yours (May 2014) - http://bruiserqueenmusic.blogspot.com/ Brian Henneman of the Bottle Rockets - Monday Every Time I Turn Around (Oct. 2012) http://bottlerocketsmusic.com/ Pokey LaFarge - Far Away (Dec. 2014) - http://pokeylafarge.net/ Emily Wallace - Roller Coaster Man (Jan. 2015) - http://www.rawartists.org/emilywallace The Henningsens - Jesus or a Bullet (Dec.

“Everybody knows us, the Molina brothers in the Major Leagues…this man, this dad we had was our Hall of Famer!” – Bengie Molina “All of us were pulling for each other, and we battled our butts off out there! We wanted to be very special, we wanted to do it! Sometimes you don’t have that in the family – Bengie Molina on three brothers as World Series winning catchers. “I think that’s why we made it to the big leagues because he sacrificed his own life for us.” - Bengie Molina on his father's dedication to little league. Bengie Molina has accomplished a lot in his life as a major league baseball player; 2 World Series Championships, 2 Gold Gloves, has hit for the cycle, caught multiple CY Young seasons and as a catcher was the leader on many teams. Now retired he continues his father’s legacy of helping youth become better ball players and most importantly upstanding men. Check out Bengie’s regular appearances on the Two Birds on a Bat Podcast - http://www.twobirdsonabat.com/ Bengie and his wife Jaime have

“We’re going to raise hell…responsibly! – Jeff Stevens (Entrepreneur/Creative) – Well Being Brewing Company “Because of the speed of communication the standard of perfection really isn’t there. It’s more about trying shit! – Jeff Stevens (Entrepreneur/Creative) – Well Being Brewing Company Jeff Stevens is one of the forces behind America’s first non-alcoholic craft brewery. The longtime advertising creative has teamed up with St. Louis’ O’fallon Brewery to fully brew the beer and then gently remove the alcohol. This is a fascinating journey of a creative turned entrepreneur and Jeff is excited to create his brands via his company The Well Being Brewing Company. Ken Calcaterra is proud to discuss the new venture with one of his mentors on this crossover episode with The Creative Stickup - https://soundcloud.com/jeffstevenscreative You can learn more Jeff’s experiences as a creative via http://jeffstevenscreative.com/ and feel free to email him to land a spot on his podcast The Creative Stickup - jcstevens2

“Music along with love is probably the most powerful force in the universe and I think it has the power to change lives!!!” – Connor Weinstein (Singer/Guitarist) – Next Door to the Moon “The most meaningful aspect of being a musician is making an emotional connection with someone who hears your song!” – Connor Weinstein (Singer/Guitarist) – Next Door to the Moon “How can you convince a whole consumer audience to go backwards and buy music when they have access to it for free?” – Connor Weinstein (Singer/Guitarist) – Next Door to the Moon What is the best way for a budding musicians to make their start? Connor Weinstein of the indie band Next Door to the Moon shares some tips for up and coming musicians/bands and converses about his parents influence on his musical tastes and how working in the family business (Blue Planet Eyewear - https://shopblueplaneteyewear.com/) has helped him hone is social media skills to effectively promote his musical endeavors. Connor is the father of a three year old daughter a

“The theory behind it all is to shine a light on the St. Louis music scene. I’m of the mentality that if one succeeds we all benefit.” – Shane Presley – Rock Paper Podcast “People hit me up all the time…how do I do a podcast? I want to do it and I’m like, do it! Grab a mic and do it and have some fun.” – Shane Presley – Rock Paper Podcast How does a city develop a successful music scene? It’s takes people like Shane Presley who is beyond passionate concerning St. Louis musicians and comedians. The first quote states it all and Shane is working hard to introduce his listeners to the entertainers who make St. Louis rock. This is a special crossover episode with the first episode on Shane's show - http://www.rockpaperpodcast.com/episodes/episode-413-ken-calcaterra/ Shane is in the process of promoting his 3rd Annual Rock Paper Podcast Birthday show https://www.facebook.com/events/436915049989767/ and continues to put out a calendar highlighting a nights entertainment offerings. This episode of the podcast is