STAND-UP IS A SIDE GIG FOR MORTGAGE BANKER KEVIN DWYER
STORY: Michael Jacobs
PHOTOS: Sara Hanna
Interest rates, property values and down payments don’t build the laughs of many Saturday Night Live skits, but mortgage banker Kevin Dwyer has crafted a comfortable home in the comedy world. “There’s a lot of humor in mortgages,” jokes the 44-year-old Brookhaven resident.
The lifelong Atlantan poured the foundation for his double life early […]
CHOIR TEACHER JONATHAN PILKINGTON HAS BELTED NOTES FROM GEORGIA TO NEW YORK
Jonathan Pilkington has had professional choral gigs with major groups like the New York Philharmonic and American Symphony Orchestra.
STORY: Muriel Vega
Jonathan Pilkington was born in Georgia on a Wednesday night during church choir rehearsal. While that may seem like a random fact, it marked the beginning of Pilkington’s career in music. “Apparently […]
Radio hosts Kevin Avery and Taylor Scott prove that good, clean fun still has its place
PHOTO / JASON GETZ
STORY: Ann Hardie
With Kevin Avery and Taylor Scott, the longest-running morning show hosts on Atlanta music radio, what you hear is what you get. Over a cup at Dancing Goats Coffee Bar in Buckhead, not far from their station, 104.7 The Fish, the conversation goes […]
A comedian’s podcast pursues happiness with money
Paul Ollinger brings deep curiosity and observations about the absurdities of life to both his stand-up and his new podcast.
STORY: Michael Jacobs
Photos: Mike Carano
Being one of Facebook’s first 250 employees seemingly resolved Paul Ollinger’s lifelong stress over money. But after he left his job as the social network’s vice president of West Coast sales after four years […]
From playing violin to teaching children to composing with whales, Juan R. Ramírez Hernández hits all the right notes
STORY: Ann Hardie
Juan R. Ramírez Hernández performs, conducts and composes. What does he love most? Teaching kids. “The children are like vessels, and you put into those vessels what they need,” says Ramírez. “It’s always interesting to see what they can do with the information.”
On top of more […]
A local makeup artist sings a different song on stage
STORY: Kevin C. Madigan
Lahcen Boufedji Photography / Wardrobe courtesy of Tootsies
Latin jazz singer and songwriter Sarai Mateo can be found most Friday evenings and various other dates throughout the month performing at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Buckhead, but she took a long, circuitous route to get there.
Mateo is Puerto Rican but started life in Nicaragua in […]
Film critic Stephen Michael Brown shares his search for the creative and different on the big screen
STORY: Michael Jacobs
Stephen Michael Brown started writing movie reviews as a third grader in Greenville, South Carolina. His parents regularly took him to the theater and movies, and the storytelling of stage and screen hooked him. He brought monthly HBO guides to kindergarten for show-and-tell, joined the Boy Scouts for […]
BRIAN BRASHER’S MUSIC STARS IN BIG-TIME MOVIE TRAILERS AND MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
STORY: Muriel Vega
PHOTO: Loli Lucaciu
Musician and composer Brian Brasher first dove into the music industry during his college years in Tallahassee, Florida, when he was a founding member of the rock band Creed. Collaborating on two of their number-one hits (“What’s This Life For” and “One”) made him realize he was passionate about the other side […]
BUCKHEAD’S MOMENT IN BOXING HISTORY
STORY: Art Jones
PHOTO: Sam Massell photo courtesy of Atlanta History Center
One of the most exciting sports events to ever take place in Atlanta occurred on Oct. 26, 1970, when a highly anticipated boxing title bout was waged between Muhammad Ali and Jerry Quarry. It had been more than three years since Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title. Convicted of draft evasion, […]
Theater pro Shuler Hensley helps launch new Sandy Springs playhouse
STORY: Jim Farmer
PHOTO: Sara Hanna
When he moved back to the Atlanta area in 2012, Shuler Hensley’s goal was to be with his family but continue a career in entertainment that has taken him around the world and brought him plenty of acclaim. And he’s managed to achieve that goal.
A Broadway veteran who won a Tony Award for […]
