Daniel Dae Kim, Kate Micucci give key voices to animated films
and expanded its cleaning and disinfecting procedures before, during and after all events to ensure patrons’ safety.
I recently spoke with Hoey about his upcoming Lehigh Valley performance.
James Wood: As an artist, what’s it been like for you adjusting to the lockdown requirements?
Gary Hoey: It’s been quite a year navigating … but like everyone else, we’ve been dealing with it one step at a time. Early on, I decided to go online and do more livestreaming to try to connect with the fans in a different way. It worked out well because it exposed me to a whole new fan base. I also do a coffee time with my mom where we hang out live on Facebook and have coffee. I also do a “Hang Out With Hoey” where we play songs and do whatever we can to keep people engaged.
What can fans expect from your upcoming SteelStacks performance?
In this business, it’s about reinventing yourself and finding ways to take a difficult situation and make it better. The thing about doing these limited capacity shows is that the venue doesn’t make as much money and neither do I, but what’s important to me is to support these venues. So I decided to put together a solo tour. It’s an intimate show where I’ll do a little bit of storytelling and a retrospective of my 22 albums. There will be early stuff, surf, blues, metal, shred and acoustic. I want to give everyone a taste of my career and make it an interesting night.
How would you describe your style of music?
I would describe it as guitardriven. What I try to do is give people a night of not just shredding, but of song, substance and covers they know. It’s also about connecting with the audience on a personal level with a story behind the song that makes it all the more interesting. I want them to hear a wide variety of music and get to know me better.
How did you approach choosing material to do for these shows?
At first, I wasn’t sure what the fans would want to hear. Since I was online, I told them what I was planning. Then I wrote down four songs and asked the fans how they would fill in the rest. They gave me so many good ideas from different albums and deeper parts of my career.
Are there any projects you’re currently working on?
Right now, I’m working on my next album, which is the follow-up to “Neon Highway Blues.” This one is going to be broader and more diverse as opposed to being all blues. I’m also working with Lita Ford on her new album. She has Max Norman mixing. He’s worked with Ozzy [Osbourne] and Megadeth. It’s a different time in her life and she is stronger in so many ways.
Her longtime writing partner, Michael Dan Ehmig, passed away recently but had left behind some of the most incredible lyrics I’ve ever heard between the two of them. It’s gripping. There are some cool arrangements with the guitar sounds and her vocals are powerful. I can’t wait for people to hear it.
Speaking of Ozzy, you once auditioned to be in his band back in the ’80s. How did that opportunity come about?
Ozzy was out on the road and doing promotion on the radio saying he was looking for a guitar player. I happened to be in Boston and called the radio station and started playing ‘Crazy Train’ over the phone. I told the people on the phone that I wanted to send in a demo tape. They told me where to send it and I actually got a call back.
They told me they liked my demo and offered to fly me to Los Angeles to audition. It was a true Hollywood story: I flew out, they picked me up at the airport in a limousine and then proceeded to drive about a hundred miles an hour down Sunset Boulevard [laughs].
They brought me to a rehearsal studio where there was a line of guitar players, who all looked like me, wearing leather jackets. I was lucky enough to perform with Ozzy and his band that day. I was a huge fan of Black Sabbath and Ozzy growing up, so it was a dream come true. I wound up getting a call back the next day and played again. They really liked me, but Zakk [Wylde] was the perfect man for the job. Ozzy was the one who suggested I move to Los Angeles, and I did.
What happened after that?
When I first went to L.A.,
I did a lot of auditions. Then one day I decided that maybe I wasn’t meant to be a touring guitarist. Maybe I was supposed to do my own thing. I started doing solo records and scored ‘The Endless Summer II’ movie.
I began carving a niche as a guitarist and got to tour with guys like Brian May and Ted Nugent. The coolest thing is that my 19-year-old son plays guitar now and I think he’ll take on my legacy in the years to come.
What excites you the most about his next phase of your career?
I’m excited to get past this virus, putting out new music, seeing all the fans and re-experiencing everything we’ve taken for granted.
After all we’ve been through, I’ve discovered a new appreciation for what I’m able to do. The little things now mean a lot. As far as Bethlehem goes, I’m looking forward to giving everyone a good night. It’s going to be intimate but very powerful.
GARY HOEY AT MUSIKFEST CAFE
What: Guitar pioneer’s intimate Retrospective Solo Show and Q&A session
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 13
How much: $40-100 per table Tickets and info: www. steelstacks.org or www.facebook. com/SteelStacks
James Wood is a contributor to The Morning Call. jimmywood@gmail.com
Lehigh Valley-native actors Daniel Dae Kim and Kate Micucci are starring in a trio of crowd-pleasing treats.
A former Bethlehem resident, Kim lends his voice to the animated “Raya and the Last Dragon,” premiering Friday in theaters and on Disney +, while Micuccui, a one-time Nazareth resident, toplines “Flora & Ulysses,” now streaming on Disney +, and “Scooby-Doo!: The Sword and the Scoob,” an animated feature released on digital and DVD last week.
If for no other reason than it features Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess, ”Raya” would be worth tracking down. Kelly Marie Tran (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) plays the title character, a warrior who teams up with the world’s last surviving dragon (Awkwafina) and assorted misfits to help defeat nasty, dino-destroying monsters called the Druun.
Kim co-stars as Raya’s father, Chief Benja, but he’s not the only notable in the supporting cast. There are also Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Alan Tudyk and Gemma Chan.
The filmmakers might have set the action in the fantasy world of Kumandra, but they made every effort to celebrate the cultures of Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Before production began, Disney set a creative team to Southeast Asia to study the region’s different cultures. According to the film notes, among the consultants were anthropologists, linguists, choreographers and musicians.
Kim, who was born in Pusan, South Korea, moved to Palmer Township when he was 8 years old. Ten years later, in 1986, he graduated from Freedom High School.
In addition to being the first Asian actor to star in back-toback hit series — “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O” — Kim also produces “The Good Doctor” and played a supporting role in the hit series. Next up for the actor is “Stowaway,” a sci-fi yarn that co-stars Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette.
Directed by Lena Khan, “Flora & Ulysses” is based on a Newberry Award-winning novel by Kate DiCamillo about a young girl (Matilda Lawler) whose cynicism begins to drain away when she makes friends with a squirrel that has superpowers.
“Flora” co-stars Ben Schwartz and Alyson Hannigan as Flora’s about-to-be-divorced folks. The rest of the cast includes Anna Deavere Smith,
Danny Pudi and Bobby Moynihan. Micucci is a scene-stealing delight as a waitress who is petrified by Ulysses.
Micucci has a much bigger role in ”The Sword and the Scoob” as Velma, one of a team of crafty teen crime-solvers. In the movie, it’s Velma who sets the plot in motion by discovering that Shaggy is the true heir to Camelot.
When an evil spirit sends Scooby (Frank Welker), Velma and company back in time to the Middle Ages, they have to figure out a way to help King Arthur save the throne, defeat a witch and get back home, all without disturbing the space-time continuum.
Micucci was born in Jersey City, New Jersey but moved to Nazareth as a youngster. After graduating from Nazareth High School, the actress studied puppeteering at Pennsylvania Youth Theater before moving on to Loyola Marymount University.
Micucci voices Velma on most of “Scooby-Doo!” projects, including the series “Scooby-Doo and The Guess Who?” She also voices characters for TV’s “Duck Tales” and “Nature Cat.”