Southern Soul Daily

                                                   ( picture link:  https://www.deviantart.com/ash0r) The rock band Queen, was an unparalleled musical group and it’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, a force to be reckoned with. I recently saw the movie based on Queen’s phenomenal rise to fame, Bohemian Rhapsody, and I was profoundly moved by it. Based on the real-life events of the iconic band, the film chronicles their inspirational journey from humble beginnings to world-famous rock stars. Bohemian Rhapsody follows singer Freddie Mercury's life, from his initial meeting with Brian May and Roger Taylor to Queen's Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium in 1985. It debuted in movie theaters across the country on November 2, 2018, with fans lining up by the thousands, eagerly awaiting to see the film based on the legacy that is Queen. The film was directed by Bryan Singer, written by Anthony McCarten, and produced by Graham King and former Queen and manager Jim (Miami) Beach

Today I had the great pleasure of interviewing the amazing and talented journalist and photographer, Andy Hutchinson. Andy, a 51 year old artist from the South Coast NSW in Australia, has been on DeviantArt for about 17 years now. When first joining the site, he went by the gamer tag, Dokt, but now goes his real name on there. His photography can only be described as breathtakingly beautiful. Andy first became interested in photography when he was only 11 years old, taking a photo of a small brook near his childhood home. He recalls, “It was a black and white shot that I developed and printed myself.” That first photo had a huge impact on him and he hasn’t put his camera down since. Andy’s been a photographer for 40 years now. When asked what inspired him, he replied “Since I started working long before digital technology, I enjoyed the science aspect of it. The actual developing and printing of a photo, and working in a darkroom.” His favorite subject to photograph a

I just had the awesome privilege of seeing the group Thrown Together perform at the York Chop in Coushatta, La. The band consists of Ali Greer, Austin Cooper, Nick Narvaez, James Phillips, Randall Dame, and supporting band member Christi Singleton. Thrown Together is a cover band that performs a mixture of pop, rock, and country. Ali Greer, age 12, performs lead vocals, keyboard, and guitar. Austin Cooper, age 13, is on drums. Nick Narvaez, age 15, is the lead guitarist for the group. James Phillips, age 13, plays rhythm guitar. Randall Dalme, age 14, plays bass guitar. Christi Singleton, supporting band member and bass guitarist. Their performances are a fun-filled, energetic, can’t help but sing-along, good time. Not to mention, their setlists are filled with all of your favorite songs. You can’t help but want to hoop, holler, and cheer when you hear them perform. Being a self-taught guitarist, Ali Greer sings and plays with her whole heart. The group members, ha

      Lots of people these days collect sea glass and sea shells. I personally have a huge collection of seashells, but would love to find more sea glass. Sea glass, even broken pieces of pottery that have washed up on the beach, are considered very valuable. Not to mention, they make beautiful jewelry.      They are several places in California that have beaches full of sea glass, but unfortunately there are not many in Louisiana. But I have managed to find three beaches here where you can find all sorts of beach treasures. Those three places are Holly Beach, Cameron Jetty, and Grand Isle. Holly Beach, where I’ve visited twice, is a treasure trove for beachcombing if you go right after a huge storm. Cameron Jetty is just up the road from there. Grand Isle is a bit further on from there, about a five-hour drive east of Holly Beach.      Sea glass has often been referred to as “mermaid tears”, and it’s understandable as to why. Colorful pieces of round-edged g

Losing a best friend is never easy. You're upset that you and him/her are no longer friends, but the sooner you get past all of it, the sooner you can move on with your life. You have to allow yourself time to heal your broken heart. You'll never forget your friendship with them, but it's important to stay positive and allow yourself to move on to new and better things. First, allow yourself to grieve the loss of your friendship. Write a letter to him or her, but don't send it. Express to them how they made you feel by ending their friendship with you. Here's your chance to tell them everything you didn't get to say before. Say everything you need to, everything you're feeling right now. When you're done writing it, either keep it or burn it. Second, accept some of the blame, but not all of it. Consider the fact that you may have contributed to the loss of your friendship. Even if you did everything you could to try be a good friend, you might have d

By: Courtney Glover Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Gavin Michelli of DeviantArt. Gavin is a 35 year old father of two from B aton Rouge, Louisiana. He has a BFA in Fine Arts from Louisiana State University. He’s been working as a professional artist since 2005. I had first met him a couple of years ago at Anime Con in the Shreveport/Bossier area in Louisiana. Watching him draw, you could see the joy in his eyes as he put pencil to paper. It was truly inspiring. Gavin does a little bit of everything. He’s a comic book artist, colorist, inker, digital artist, and illustrator. He also works as a graphic designer for a marketing agency. When asked what other type s of art he’s dabbled in, he replied “I’ve also dipped my toe in the swimming pool of hand lettering, video editing, and sculpting.” As I’m sure you can tell, Gavin doesn’t believe in specializing. You could say he’s the original jack of all trades artist. When asked how long he’s been creating

By: Courtney Glover First, stop crying. If you’re anything like me, you’re a very emotional person. And you cry, a lot. You cry when you’re sad, or when you’re angry, or even when you’re happy. You have no problem expressing your feelings or emotions. Some people just can’t handle that. But that’s their problem, not yours. But you have to stop crying. You’re emotionally distraught right now and the one you love the most just ripped your heart out of your chest. He just ripped it right out, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. But you still love him, with all the broken pieces of your heart. You can’t help it. He’s the love of your life, you’re best friend. You’ve already gone through a whole box of tissues, looked at every single photo you have of him, and probably even ate an entire half-gallon of chocolate ice cream. And you just can’t stop crying. No matter what his reason is, and it’s always something lame or stupid, you just can’t comprehend why he did it. And if

By: Courtney Glover McElwee   Today I interviewed the deviantArt artist James Chaney. James, or JcoolArts on dA, was born in Arizona. He’s been drawing since he was about 3 or 4 years old. James told me that he didn’t really start intentionally practicing until 2012. There was a long period in his life where he didn’t draw much at all. “I regret that in hindsight, but everything has its reason, I suppose.” The first type of art he was able to draw consistently were mazes. Big 8.5 by 11 mazes that looked like squishy brains, according to James. “I still will make one every now and again if bored, but people never really want to tackle my mazes though because of their extreme difficulty. His very first inspiration was Bob Ross. Other inspirations of his include Tim Burton and a few other artists from deviantArt. “One day I was sitting in the car drawing a Tim Burton inspired graveyard on some scrap paper. I looked down and I saw something I actually liked personal

This is one of my daughter's friends from high school, Chris McCullough. He's an up and coming, one heck of a rising star, musician and singer. Check him out! https://www.facebook.com/cdmccullough94/videos/vb.100013957122362/402016060273628/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

By: Courtney Glover McElwee  Today I interviewed the artist Connie. Connie is a 13 year old artist known as Cursed-Image-420 on DeviantArt . She’s been drawing since she was 10 years old and eventually moved on to digital art. The first thing she ever drew were stickmen and her technique has improved over the last three years. I asked her what inspired her to start drawing, “Just needed something to do with my free time, but eventually it became sort of an escape for me in general.” Her favorite thing to draw i s Anthro. Anthro, refers to the G reek word anthropos meaning human. Anthro art refers to humans, human-like, or humanoids, especially with regard to sentience. Anthro art can be an animal with human characteristics or a human with animal characteristics. She uses a Wacom Intuos Draw to create her anthro art. Connie has been on DeviantArt for only four months and if you visit her page you can’t help but notice her unique sense of humor. “I've alwa

By: Courtney Glover McElwee Today I interviewed the artist, Liz W. Izzy4Anime, as she is known on Deviant Art, is a 37 year old traditional and digital artist from Missouri . She grew up listening to classical music. Classical music is what inspired her to become an artist, “I was inspired by what I heard in the music itself.” The first thing she ever drew, ” It was of two hills coming together at the horizon with a river in  between them. The drawing also had a sunset with a few birds.” Liz has been drawing ever since she could hold a pencil. Her favorite type of art to create, “Anything environmental and fantasy design.” Liz loves to read and write, mostly poetry, fan fiction, and fantasy. Her tools of the trade include a graphite pencil, acrylic paints, and oil paints. Liz excels at her anime art and I really enjoyed her Yu-Gi-Oh artwork. Go check out Liz W. and her wonderful art @ https://izzy4anime.deviantart.com/ gallery