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After more than 15 years of drumming in math rock, post-rock, and post-hardcore bands, William Covert began experimenting with live-looped synths alongside acoustic and electronic drums. This experimentation birthed two full-length solo albums characterized by post-rock and krautrock-inspired synth loops and melodies, all performed solo with loop pedals and sequencers. “I wanted my third solo album to go in a different direction with different instrumentation,” – explains Covert discussing the process behind the creation of ‘Dream Vessel’.

The band's inspiration springs the fearless genre-blending of John Zorn’s and bands such as Naked City and Painkiller alongside the pioneering live improvisations of King Crimson and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 1970s. “’Dream Vessel’ is more of a full rock band feel for much of it while going into uncharted musical territory.” – explains William stating that this album serves as a vessel to “experiment with combining abrasive noise rock with free-jazz textures in a band format.”

Find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/wmcovert/

Rich Boerner is an Award-Winning podcast and radio Audio Creator / Producer / Talent / now Author, whose successful journey has taken him to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Orlando. His resume includes working for and with A-List talent and major networks, including Spotify, Audacy, FOX, and CBS Radio.

Rich has also been the voice of several regional and national ad campaigns. Boerner also directed and co-created a film-fest honored web TV series, and as a youth, cohosted the first national Cable TV Pay-Per-View Concert, featuring Ozzie Osbourne.

He's most proud of, and impressed by, his three children and grateful to be able to spend his days with his golden-hearted wife. Rich also co-founded The SandBox Network, a private podcast network and curriculum for middle-school-aged students to help them find their voices and build self-confidence.

Finally, as a champion of the underdog, Rich continues to be deeply obsessed with The NY Mets, NY Jets, and LA Clippers. His debut novel is being published by Yourstorybyyou.com.

My name is Sharifah, and I created Read Me Live to offer the guidance I once searched for myself. As a third-generation tarot card reader, I believe that we are all psychic. Some people are born with natural gifts, while others dedicate years of practice to master their craft. Being psychic is no different. Just like music or athletics, it can appear as a natural talent or be cultivated through training and hard work. I have worked hard, trained, and practiced to perfect my craft so I can use it to help others. Whether you are seeking love and relationship guidance, career clarity, financial decision support, or spiritual growth, this is a space where intuition becomes a tool for transformation.

THE FUTURE IS NOT FIXED

The future is not written in stone. It is created by the choices we make each day. Tarot does not decide for you, it sheds light on possibilities, lessons, and opportunities surrounding you. With that guidance, you can move ahead with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

A tarot reading is like a GPS for your life. Just as navigation shows you the best routes, the timing, and possible detours, a reading reveals insights into your current path. You always have free will, but with awareness you can travel forward with more confidence.

DISCOVERY, GROWTH, AND UNDERSTANDING

Readings are not about YES or NO or RIGHT or WRONG. It is about uncovering truth, understanding the bigger picture, and finding the lesson in every experience. Challenges hold wisdom, and difficulties often open doors to new opportunities. Every reading is a step toward clarity, healing, and empowerment. Whether you are facing transitions, questions about relationships, or seeking direction on your personal journey, the cards can illuminate your path.

From an early age, Amanda has been aware and in tuned with her Psychic gifts and with the spirit world. As she grew up listening to sound of her own drumbeat. She borrowed her first book on Wicca when she was 13 and first tarot deck at 16. Then, at the age of 18 she was free to truly study her Spirit Lead path of Witchcraft, Psychic Development, and Energy Healing at a local shop that was located in Indianapolis, IN.

In 2006, Spirit lead Amanda to move down to Birmingham, AL. While living there the Spirits lead her to connect with her Southern roots and began doing professional readings at a local shop. This began her journey of being not just a high demand Psychic/Medium/Tarot Reader, but she started teaching classes on the Tarot and becoming a leader in the community. As well learning and practicing Hoodoo/Root working. In the Fall of 2009 Amanda came back home Indianapolis area. While helping her grandparents in their transitions of live she continued her journey. She started to see her gifts of communing with the dead was also an aide to help those in end of live transitions. This began her services of being a Death Doula and finally got certified in 2020. While, her path grew when her love and respect of Haitian Vodou called her to Kanzo as a Mambo Sou Pwen.

Today she is a Student of the Mystery School in The Temple of Witchcraft and is focused on helping others all around the world, with clients ranging from the United States, Canada, the U.K. , China, Australia, Japan, Puerto Rico, India, Mexico, Cayman Islands, and Denmark to name a few. People come to her for spiritual guidance, love, relationship, career, and business guidance.

“The first time I heard Pat Benatar’s version of ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot,’ I was almost arrested for loitering,” laughs internationally lauded Canadian songwriter, producer, performer, and rights advocate Eddie Schwartz about the song he penned that became Benatar’s first Top Ten single in 1980. “I was walking down Yonge Street in Toronto when I heard it blasting out of a renowned hair salon and stopped dead in my tracks. I even think I started to drool [laughs]. As I stood there in a state of shock, a salon stylist called the police because of my strange behavior. When they arrived, they ordered me to move or face arrest. When I tried to explain to them that I just heard my song on the radio for the first time, they said, 'Sure, buddy. Move along."

Stepping out from behind the curtain and into the spotlight, Schwartz will be physically releasing his full-length studio release on CD, FILM SCHOOL, on November 12, 2025. His songs have been recorded by an astonishing roster: Carly Simon, Joe Cocker, America, Donna Summer, Rita Coolidge, Rascal Flatts, and Mountain, among many others. As a producer, his credits include the Doobie Brothers’ Cycles, Carrack’s Groove Approved, and his own albums, all resonating with an unmistakable blend of craftsmanship and soul. This six-song EP finds the storied songwriter who authored such classics as Paul Carrack’s "Don't Shed a Tear" (1987), The Doobie Brothers’ "The Doctor" (1989), the aforementioned “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” (among hundreds of others) on the other side of the studio glass.

“It’s a difficult time right now and I freely admit to struggling with how to cope with the daily insanity,” says Eddie about the current political and socio-economic climate. Instead of subjecting himself to the barrage of news, he opted instead to return to the studio and write songs. “The moment of writing ‘We Win’ was profound for me because I found a way to a more hopeful place that helped with anger, sadness and bewilderment at how we got here,” he explains. “I felt the message of ‘We Win’ offered some sanity that I needed to cling to, that I needed to find for myself. And I wanted to share it in the hope it might work for others as well.”

Born in Iran, raised in India, and now based in Los Angeles, Azam can’t help but be vocally in tune with the events unfolding in the U.S. as well as the Middle East. “Society often expects artists to remain silent on politics, as though our only duty were to create beauty untouched by the world’s wounds,” she says. “Yet history shows otherwise. Artists have always stood at the frontlines of social and political transformation. My own life has been shaped by war, displacement, and the relentless weight of politics, realities that cannot be separated from my art. How could such experiences not weave themselves into my music, when the essence of art is honesty of expression?”

Described by Billboard as “enchanting,” Azam is a storied musician who has received two Canadian JUNO Award nominations and one HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Award) for her bold artistry, She has collaborated either in-studio or on stage with Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, The Crystal Method, Mickey Hart, among many others. She’s contributed to film and television soundtracks, working with some of Hollywood’s most renowned composers. Some select film titles in her resume include John Wick: Chapter 4, John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabelum, Thor-The Dark World, Sandman, Matrix- Revolutions, 300, John Carter, Fight Club, Dawn of the Dead, True Blood, Alias, The Agency, and Prison Break. She is also a well-known musical force in the videogame world. A cross section of titles she’s contributed to include Uncharted 3, Call of Duty, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Darksiders, and Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow for which she won “Best Original Song” at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards in 2007.

My love for reading began at a young age—curled up with a book, a fluffy blanket, a warm candle flickering nearby, and a cup of London Fog tea from Harney & Sons in hand. There’s nothing quite like escaping into another world, especially a good dystopian novel (bonus points if it’s by Tahereh Mafi, my favorite author).

When I moved to Yuma, Arizona, in 2023, I was surprised to find how limited the local bookstore scene was. Aside from a small, soon-to-close shop downtown and the ever-reliable Barnes & Noble, there weren’t many spaces for readers to gather, connect, or simply exist in the cozy, book-loving atmosphere I’d always craved.

That’s what inspired me to create Sage and Story—a place that’s more than just a bookstore. I wanted to offer the community a true literary haven: a welcoming, peaceful space to read, chat over tea, join a book club, or just browse without the pressure of big-name retail.

I started small, selling used books from home with a dream of one day opening a storefront. For now, it’s all about small steps and shared stories. By this time next year, I hope to be running Sage and Story from a cozy, shared space—turning a passion into a full-time purpose.

Don Cusic is one of the premier historians of country music and an internationally known scholar and writer. As an author, teacher, historian, songwriter, producer, and executive, Cusic has been actively involved in the music business since 1973. He is a 2022 inductee in the Western Music Hall of Fame.

Cusic is the author of twenty-five published books, including the biographies Roger Miller: Dang Him, Elvis and Nashville, Eddy Arnold: I'll Hold You In My Heart, The Life and Career of Gene Autry, The Cowboy Way: Riders In The Sky, James Weldon Johnson: Songwriter and The Trials of Henry Flipper. He wrote an encyclopedia of cowboys, Cowboys and the Wild West: An A-Z Guide from the Chisholm Trail to the Silver Screen and edited (and was the primary writer of) The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Other books include Johnny Cash: The Songs, The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel and Christian Music (re-published as Saved by Song), The Cowboy in Country Music, Music in the Market, Baseball and Country Music, Poet of the Common Man: Merle Haggard Lyrics, Willie Nelson: Lyrics 1959-1994, Hank Williams: The Complete Lyrics, Reba McEntire: Country Music's Queen, Randy Travis: King of the New Traditionalists, The Poet as Performer, and Sandi Patti: The Voice of Gospel. Cusic is also the author of two novels: Sharecropper’s Son and Dressed in Grey and Blue (a Civil War novel). 

Website: https://www.doncusic.com

Joan Slonczewski is a leading author of biological and feminist science fiction.  Slonczewski's books combine fully imagined ecosystems with exploration of artificial intelligence.

Slonczewski publishes research with undergraduates on bacterial pH stress, funded by the National Science Foundation. She also studies cold-adapted microbes from Antarctica. She authors science fiction novels, including her latest, Minds in Transit, The Highest Frontier and A Door into Ocean, both of which earned the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. 

She teaches courses on microbiology, virology and biology in science fiction. Two of Joan’s books won the Campbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel: The Highest Frontier, and  A Door into Ocean.

Besides writing books, Joan teaches microbiology at Kenyon College, authoring with John Foster the textbook Microbiology: An Evolving Science. She contributes to the nation’s economy by employing students to conduct research on bacteria in extreme acid or base, like the stomach or pancreas respectively. For arts and humanities majors she teaches the notorious course Biology in Science Fiction.