GARY V Announces "INSPIRED" North American Tour

Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano just got on Showtime today to promote his upcoming tour in North America, specifically in Yaamava Resort in Highland California on June 14, Thunder Valley Resort in Lincoln California on the 19th and Heinz C. Preacher Educational and Performing Arts Theater in Taylor Michigan on the 21st and Durham Convention Center in Durham North Carolina on the 27th. 

INSPIRED is Gary's musical journey designed to uplift hearts no matter what age and showcase Filipino talent on the global stage as he's been doing in the past decades. 

Gary will also be doing this tour with SUPER talented son Gabriel Valenciano. He will also be releasing a video on the 8th at 12 noon called UNSHAKEN with GARY V so there's a lot to watch out for on this tour!

Gorgeous daughter Kiama will join in on a few dates, on the 14th and 19th which you have to see. Her awards speak for itself so that's another thing to see. This will be directed by Mon Faustino. He will also be performing with Alyssa Quijano, Elke Saison Ortiz, and drummer Jonathan Regalado. Aside from that, he's also appearing on The 700 Club with Gordon Robertson on June 24th in Virginia. He is being supported by PAL, TFC, ABSCBN, ASAP XP, Tancino Law Offices, Sendwave. If you want to get tickets, call 9096802905 or email allaccessconcerts@gmail.con or thundervalleyresort.com/entertainment/events/gary-valenciano#gsc.tab=0 or call 7348469552, 5178851340, 7345162960, 7348650999 or via buy tickets.at/garyv/2180534. You can also inquire at 14158121372 or info@garyv.com. 

Become a World Class Talent at STAR MAGIC's School for the Creative and Performing Arts

If it's about stars getting workshops, there's no other reliable organization to do that in the Philippines and in some parts of the world than Star Magic Workshops. This year, there's going to be a huge change because they've gone the mile, made it even BIGGER... and now call it STAR MAGIC SCHOOL FOR THE CREATIVE & PERFORMING ARTS. This means they'll be catering to folks, kids to adults and hone them in multiple disciplines, including acting, singing, dance and more. 

 What I've learned from the press conference is that they've managed to already do good in the workshops, but wanted to improve and grow. This is why they made sure to get different subject matter experts so that they wouldn't be boxed up in just the ABSCBN grounds. They wanted folks who are excellent in their fields and have them instruct in the workshops too including master classes, character building, music production, and train more directors for live events too. The launch was graced by Star Magic and Production Head Direk Lauren Dyogi, Business Unit Head Raymund Dizon, acting coaches HB Benitez III, Alecx Lorica and Marcel David, theater coach Meann Espinosa, ABSCBN Show Director Jon Moll, Kirby Balagtas, Dale Recina, Troi Bautista who are producers from You Me Us MNL, plus veteran Voice Coach Julie Anne Reyes. They also had coaches of BGYO and BINI Anna Graham, Jerwin Nicomedes, plus dance coaches Mickey Perz, Reden Blanquera, Matthew Almodovar, Aennon Tabungar and Josh Junio. They also had the very talented Talia Concio, BGYO perform on stage so we could have a taste of  what could happen if we have undergone their workshops. It was a sight for sore eyes!

If you want to be part of this, they have onsite enrollment on March 29 and 30, April 5 and 6. Just fill up the form at this website forms.abs-cbn.com/starmagicscpa and follow the directions. You may also follow their social channels at facebook.com/starmagicscpa or @starmagicscpa on IG. Come prove your talent is world class by joining one or more of their classes. Information about the courses are also there. I'm so interested in the Music Production and the Directors course.

Meet the Band Called FIREFLIES

Took time out of my busy schedules for a night out on my neighborhood in Quezon City. Pretty dark out there, but I've seen something glow from afar, it was lights from a local bar where I saw FIREFLIES was playing.

It's a band formed in 2016, who now decided to get re-launched with new members in tow. If you're a little observant, you probably know most of them are from bands Cueshé who's had remarkable success in the early 2000's. Jay Justiniani does Lead Vocals, Jhunjie Dosdos on Vocals , Guitar and Keyboards, while JC Del Rosario IV does Vocals and Bass Guitar, RM Tolentino who does Percussions and Pat Galut does the Lead Guitar. They've been working hard the past few months taking a shot at writing songs, doing covers and performing in different locations across the Philippines.

Here's our short chat with them after a set, apologies as it's quite noisy in the bar we were in that evening. 

Jay says "Actually, this group is easy to work with. Jhunjie is a former band member of Cueshé (like him) so we do really know each others dynamics. Our other band members are also good songwriters, so it was easy to work with even though we have different ideas. It was easier to make songs if you guys understand each other. Jhunjie and I are good friends, and good friends are hard to come by."

JC adds "Jhunjie and I started to work with Fireflies, and we now have new band members, we just didn't have a vocalist then, Jay agreed to join later on and that became a positive direction for the Fireflies band."

Jhunjie adds "I remember Jay was having doubts joining us a few years back. He was very busy and was based in Cebu. It was a bit difficult because we were playing in Manila most of the time. Some of the former Fireflies got a little tired working with us in the band because of the pandemic as income was really tight because we didn't have gigs during the lockdown. He had to go back to Davao. I was the only one left, I knew I had to do something. I'm thankful Jay agreed even if we haven't seen each other for a long time."

They named themselves Fireflies because it's like a spark in the dark. They're raring to perform in company parties, concerts local or foreign. They are currently being managed by Ms. Grace who previously worked in ABSCBN. You may get in touch with them through 09923150106 as it'll be surely busy during the holidays. They're bringing their new brand of music, some covers, and some old classics that 90's kids, Millenials and Gen Z's would absolutely love. They're going to release a few singles soon, so make sure you follow them also on their social channels at https://www.facebook.com/fireflies.ph because they're going to post updates of their gigs on that page.

Cheers to more music from FIREFLIES! Hope you shine brighter in the darkest hours and share your love of music even more!