Shane Foxx Talented Independent French Musician

Shane Foxx
Shane Foxx

Some time ago I came across a young man from France that captured my attention. I remember that it wasn’t his music that first captured my attention but rather the fact that I was witnessing a young man who was marching to the beat of his own drum. As I got to know him better I found out that he was not looking for immediate fame or to be discovered by a record producer. Instead, he was just enjoying his ability to express himself through his own musical style and producing his own CD as an independent artist.  You can find an article that he wrote and was published to The Skykid.com entitled “How I Made My Self-Produced EP”. Because most of the featured articles I have published here are for the purpose of helping a youngster find his way to a record label, I thought it might be refreshing to have one that is here solely for the purpose of introducing a young talent who desires to make it on his own.  While this is not always the easiest way of being discovered I have to say that I greatly admire his tenacity, dedication and passion for his musical talent. holly-border-hShane Foxx was born and raised in the French Riviera by his Spanish father and French mother.  Through his early youth, Shane often preferred being alone and frequently lived a solitary life not interacting much with his peers. At the same time, Shane seemed to enjoy the company of older friends and adults, because he could hold better conversations with them than with youngsters his own age. He confessed that many times he became lonesome, lost in his dreams and thoughts, and lacked attention to his studies in school, finding them boring.  Continue reading “Shane Foxx Talented Independent French Musician”

Sam Verlinden Singer, Showman, Actor, Star!

sam profile picSam Verlinden of Auckland New Zealand has been a featured regular on Rivenmaster’s Place almost since its conception.  In fact, Sam was featured for the entire month of October in 2009.  Since that time Sam’s popularity on YouTube and at home in New Zealand has grown exponentially and now his acting prowess has captured the eye of both media professionals and a film graduate.

Sam is an amazing young man with exceptional musical skills.  His vocals caught my attention long before his voice showed any signs of deepening.  Sam’s greatest musical influence at an early age was Michael Jackson and he quickly learned and performed  exceptional covers of Michael’s earlier songs like “I’ll be There”, and “Ben”.  The whole time, Sam was simultaneously developing his stage acting abilities appearing in musicals at some of the larger venues in Auckland along with performing at a variety of singing engagements and shows in the city.Red Letter Band

Most recently, Sam and his newly formulate band “Red Letter” entered the Battle of the Bands Competition where they performed to screaming young fans.  I was very impressed by this young bands performance.  Not only were the guitar solos dead on, but each of them played like professionals bringing everyone in the auditorium to their feet!  While the band did not move into the final’s this year Sam still captured “Best Vocalist” and was invited back to sing with another band at the Bruce Mason Theatre where he received a standing ovation for his performance of “Stairway to Heaven”.  Sam’s immediate passion is to keep working with the band, polishing their act and abilities in order to obtain more gigs during these coming summer months in New Zealand. Continue reading “Sam Verlinden Singer, Showman, Actor, Star!”