Brevard Live Live February 2020 - 1 2 - Brevard Live February 2020 Brevard Live Live February 2020 - 3 4 - Brevard Live February 2020 Brevard Live Live February 2020 - 5 6 - Brevard Live February 2020 Contents February 2020 FEATURES FIT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL TRACY BYRD The 14th annual International Festival The Hurricane Creek Saloon has some- Columns held at Florida Tech offers food and thing very special on their Valentine’s Charles Van Riper Day menu - an outside concert with drink, unique merchandise, live enter- 22 Political Satire tainment and information-filled display country legend Tracy Byrd. Brevard The Turing Test booths representing nations and cultures Live’s Matt Bretz had the opportunity to conduct an interview with the artist who from around the world. Calendars turned out to be a super cool guy. Page 11 25 Live Entertainment, Page 14 Concerts, Festivals GRANT SEAFOOD FESTIVAL Free admission, parking, over 125 craft- Brevard Love ers exhibiting, live entertainment, along IRON WILL Will Walsh had a good year. A really by Matt Bretz with a scrumptious menu of succulent 30 good year. 2019 would prove to be a Human Satire seafood makes this a weekend no one year where the Brevard native stepped wants to miss. This is Grant’s 54th an- in to the limelight with Iron Will. Steve Local Lowdown nual festival, and it is the biggest fish fry Keller talked to the band. by Steve Keller in the south-east. 32 Page 18 CD Review Page 11 TRAVIS GIBB 35 by Rob Pedrick Classic art forms are alive and well in SIGFEST The Dope Doctor The music community remembers two the new decade. Take comic books for Luis A. Delgado, CAP men that were great supporters of our example. The age old story telling me- 42 music scene - Shawn and David Siga- dium is thriving thanks to dedicated fol- foos. They are gone, but not forgotten. lowers and people like Travis Gibb. Florida Arts by Steve Keller Page 12 Page 20 44 Brevard Live Live February 2020 - 7 8 - Brevard Live February 2020 BREVARD LIVE BREVARD LATELY The largest and most popular free entertainment magazine on the Space Coast and beyond for 28 years. PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GRAPHIC ART/ SALES Heike Clarke STAFF WRITERS Matthew Bretz Rob Pedrick Steve Keller CONTRIBUTING GRAPHIC ARTIST Ronald (RJ) Strantz PHOTOGRAPHY Chuck Van Riper Brad Martin Amy Kellum COLUMNISTS Chuck Van Riper Florida is known for beautiful sunsets and the many waterways in Brevard make them Luis A. Delgado even more spectacular. This was the end of the first day of the year 2020. We can look Richard Henry forward to many more light shows on the horizons. Photo by Chuck Van Riper Bill Stanley Reproduction of any portion of Brevard Live Magazine is strictly prohibited without the written permission of the publisher. ADVERTISEMENT/ SALES Phone: (321) 956-9207 [email protected] COMMENTS & LETTERS Brevard Live Magazine P.O. Box 1452, Melbourne, Fl 32902 Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved We are not responsible for photos or scripts sent to Brevard Live Magazine. Published photos and articles become property of this publication. We are not responsible for wrongful advertised or canceled venues. Download a pdf file SpaceX took a giant leap forward in its quest to launch astronauts. The private space- flight company intentionally destroyed one of its rockets on Sunday, January 19th as BREVARD part of a crucial test of its new Crew Dragon capsule’s launch escape system. The FLORIDA uncrewed test, known as an in-flight abort (IFA) test, is the last major hurdle SpaceX needed to clear before Crew Dragon can begin to carry astronauts to and from the Inter- LIVE national Space Station (ISS). Photo by Brad Martin at www.brevardlive.com Brevard Live Live February 2020 - 9 10 - Brevard Live February 2020 Brevard Live Feb 29 & Mar 1, Grant Community Center Grant Seafood Festival Feb. 16, Noon-4pm Panther Plaza, Melbourne ree admission, free parking, over 125 crafters exhibiting, FIT International Festival Flive continuous entertainment, along with a scrumptious menu of succulent seafood makes this a weekend no one eld on Sunday, February 16, 2020 from noon to 4 pm. wants to miss. This is Grant’s 54th annual festival, and it is Hon Panther Plaza on the Florida Tech campus in Mel- the biggest fish fry in the south-east. bourne, the 14th annual International Festival offers food What sets this seafood festival apart from others is that it and drink, unique merchandise, live entertainment and runs through a 100 percent volunteer effort. All preparation, information-filled display booths representing nations and whether it be on the grounds or with the purchasing, cook- cultures from around the world. The festival is open to the ing or serving of the various menu items is accomplished by public. It will be held in the Clemente Center if it rains. volunteers of the community. No regular food vendors have Through performances, food and hands-on experienc- ever been on site. All booths are run with volunteers: many es, attendees will experience the rich cultural variety that booths are made up of family members, often times having enlivens both the university, home to students from more several generations working along side one another. It is this than 100 countries, and the broader Space Coast commu- complete volunteer effort that makes this festival unique. nity. Participants in the previous festival included the Shik The total commitment of the community and all their volun- Shak Belly Dance Club, Florida Tech student associations teers make the Grant Seafood Festival a time honored tradi- from Africa, the Caribbean, Oman, India, Latin America tion unlike any other. and Saudi Arabia, and cultural performers from the com- All proceeds from the Grant Seafood Festival are put munity, such as accordion player Klaus Kolb, St. Katha- back into the community of Grant. The various projects rine’s Grecian Odyssey Dancers, Melbourne Capoeira and include the Grant Seafood Festival scholarship fund, Grant Panama Suenos y Tradiciones. Community Library, Grant Historical House and The Grant Many of those student associations, and other Florida Community Center; so come and enjoy some of the best Tech and community groups, presented cultural displays, as seafood in Florida and help out the community of Grant at well, including those representing Brazil, Iraq, Oman, the the same time. Grant is located in South Brevard along US United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Korea, Taiwan, Iraq, Saudi 1. The festival is open on Saturday from 9am to 7pm and Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Qatar, the United States and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. China. There is always a stage with ongoing live entertainment. Dance and vocal groups, bands and other performers Every year the festival begins with an opening ceremony (including martial artists) fill the afternoon with live enter- including prayer by Patrick Pittenger, Star Spangle Banner tainment on Florida Tech’s outdoor stage, the Panthereum, performance by Chloe Chase and a Flag raising by the BSA while local eateries sell a variety of delicious ethnic foods in Troop 37 Honor Guard. On Saturday George to Play per- the Panther Plaza courtyard. Children’s activities span from forms at 9:15am, followed by Absolute Blue at 11:15am, the educational - Passport to the World Program to simply Nightfly 1:15pm, Eli Mosely 3:25pm, Sub Groove 5:15pm. fun - face painting and bounce houses. Sunday’s line-up: 9:30am John Nugent, 11:30am Robbie A, For more information or to be a volunteer at the event 1:30pm Tumbleweed, and 3:30pm Jay Valor. www.Grant- go to www.event.fit.edu/international-festival SeafoodFestival.com. Brevard Live Live February 2020 - 11 Brevard Live Sat, February 22, 1pm-close Siggy’s American Bar, Palm Bay Feb 12, Lou’s Blues, Indialantic Feb 15, Sandbar, Cocoa Beach SIGFEST he event was created by musicians ALLY VENABLE SWEET 16 PARTY Tto honor David & Shawn Sigafoos revard Music Group has pre- ebruary is birthday month for the for their commitment to support local Bsented some intimate concerts at Finfamous Sandbar Sports Grill musicians and charities. Lou’s Blues in the past. This month in Cocoa Beach. This year on Satur- David’s legacy started in 1979 Roland Guilarte brings a young aspir- day, the 15th, they will celebrate their with the opening of The Holiday Inn ing blues artist to Lou’s stage - guitar- “Sweet 16” with an all day party, Oceanfront, now Crowne Plaza. Da- ist and vocalist Ally Venable. Doors drink specials, give aways, and lots of vid was committed to book the high- open at 7 pm, show starts at 7:30 pm. live music with rock and dance band est levels of live entertainment and Ally Marie Venable is a 20-year- Spanks starting at 4 pm. Then at 9 pm brought in name acts with Ray Charles, old American blues rock guitar play- Billy Bones and The Bullet Dodgers Jan & Dean, Spiro Gyra & more. Sig- er, singer, and songwriter. She is the take the stage for some young, funk, gy’s American Bar opened in 1990 and 2014, 2015 ETX Music awards fe- punk, reggae party music. has been Palm Bay’s “family affair” male guitar player of the year, and Whatever the Sandbar does, they where many local bands had their start. she and her band were the ETX Music do it longer, harder, louder, and that’s Amy Sigafoos took charge of the Awards 2015, 2016 blues band of the just what made them the number one family business after the sudden pass- year. Venable’s debut album, No Glass party scene in Cocoa Beach with a res- ing of her husband David and her son Shoes, with Connor Ray Music fin- taurant in the front that rescues people Shawn almost a decade ago.