Chris Volak and Stanley “Flesh n Bone” Howse on Late Night

Chris Volak

On Wednesday November 2, 2011, 8pm-11pm/PST we are happy to have two great guests. We start off the night with guitarist Chris Volak. After Chris, musician and famed rapper Stanley “Flesh n Bone” Howse of Bone Thugs n Harmony joins us. After our guests we’ll be taking on all topics, and of course our regular Brewskis, sports, and any other news of the day segments. Tune in at Swoopsworld.com.

Chris Volak

Chris specializes in fingerstyle classical guitar. His live performances feature classical and Latin guitar repertoire, arrangements of popular songs and standards, and his own classical- Latin- and folk-influenced compositions. He also plays electric and steel string guitars and is comfortable playing in a variety of different styles.

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Chris Volak has been playing classical guitar for more than 40 years. He has studied with some of the country’s best teachers and played in venues of every size, from concert halls to small restaurants.

Chris comes from a musical family and began classical-guitar lessons when he was just six years old. He studied classical guitar with Loris Chobanian at Baldwin Wallace College in Cleveland, where he was a member of the Baldwin Wallace Guitar Trio. He continued his classical-guitar studies with Bruce Holzman at the Florida State University College of Music.

In addition to many years teaching and performing as a classical guitarist, Chris has played steel-string and electric guitars in a variety of bands and acoustic groups.

In recent years, Chris has been composing and recording his own music. He is currently studying film scoring and media composition at California State University Northridge.

Flesh N Bone

Flesh n Bone

As dominator of his own category, the Cleveland, Ohio hip-hop veteran is an undisputed originator. Making his worldwide debut in 1993, Flesh n Bone is best known as one of the five members of top-selling rap group, Bone Thugs n Harmony. Proving true to his enterprising attitude, the ambitiously driven Howse channeled his tough upbringing to fuel a seemingly impossible yet unstoppable mission to propel the Grammy Award winning group into fame and fortune by working at KFC and hustling part-time in order to purchase one-way bus tickets from Cleveland for all members of the group to make it to Los Angeles and prove their talents to their favorite rapper, Eazy E. After Flesh making that move, the rest was history.

Over the years Howse, the self-proclaimed member of “Hip Hop Royalty” released numerous legendary, hit-making albums with Bone Thugs n Harmony that continue to make sales in the millions all over the world. He has worked with the likes of Eazy E, Tupac, Notorious Big, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Scarface, Jam Master Jay, Rev Run, B-Real, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Willie D, Bushwick Bill, 5th Ward Boyz, AMG, Rappin’ 4 Tay, Ricco Barrino, Damon Elliot, Dionne Warwick, and many others. Flesh n Bone was the first Bone member to catch the acting bug, making his debut in the 1999 urban crime drama, Winner Takes All. Flesh had additional appearances in Thicker Than Water (1999), with Fat Joe and Mack 10 and in The Breaks (1999), with E-40 and George Clinton. On his opinion about acting, Howse takes the form of art seriously saying that “If you’re not doing it for the craft, I’m willing to bet that you are in it for the wrong reasons”.

The pioneering rapper was also the first Bone member to release a solo effort. T.H.U.G.S. Trues Humbly United Gathering Souls (1996), which was released on Def Jam and his subsequent solo effort, 5th Dog Lets Loose (2000) was released independently on Koch. Howse’s success, however, was followed by a series of hardships which led him to a stint in a California penitentiary after assaulting a former acquaintance with an AK-47. In regards to the incarceration, Flesh was quoted saying, “Good or bad, everything happens for a reason and there isn’t anything in this life that has happened to me that I haven’t been able to bounce back and benefit from”. Following his release, the famed rapper proved not only that he really had it in him to bounce back but also that he was still very much on top of his game. Flesh n Bone did not miss a step returning to his rightful place in hip-hop history by rejoining Bone Thugs n Harmony, which finally enabled the group to release their reunion album, UNI5: The World’s Enemy (2010) on Warner Brothers Records.

One of the accomplished rapper’s current undertakings is self-producing his third solo project, Blaze of Glory, which was slated for released September 13, 2011. After spending a few years in post-secondary study of screenwriting, Flesh n Bone is also currently working on completing his second screenplay.In addition, Flesh is presently working on his mixtape; Hip Hop Royalty, clothing designs, real estate ventures, and a record company; FBG.

After our interviews with Chris Volak and Flesh n Bone, we’ll be up to all of our usual fun including beer tasting, sports and food during “Brewskis” Beer Tasting sponsored by DrinksWinesSpirits.com, Taylor’s segment of T-Bones Timeout, and Chris’ CLiv’s Real Estate Report.

This week on “Brewskis” Beer Tasting sponsored by DrinksWinesSpirits, we are tasting Lighthouse Ale From Fire Island Beer Company located in Saratoga Springs, New York.

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