Scott Tady: Attend local band's Pirates video shoot; or TV star's Ellwood premiere party
Let's talk Pittsburgh Pirates baseball, with a Beaver County entertainment angle.
Aliquippa drummer Rich Sample sends news his band The Subclass had a song chosen by AT&T SportsNet to be used during Pirates telecasts this upcoming baseball season.
That song, called "Believe," will be featured as part of the Pirates' "Friday Night Rocks" segments.
The Subclass will film a music video for it March 3, in front of a live audience as part of the trio's full set at The Smiling Moose on Pittsburgh's South Side. The 21-and-older show begins at 8 p.m., with doors open at 7.
"See a great show for free to get yourself on TV," as The Subclass says on its Facebook page.
There's no registration; just show up ready to root, root, root for the hometown band that also includes bassist Matt Winwood of North Huntingdon and vocalist-guitarist Jason Shimkoski of the North Hills.
"Believe" will be released March 1 on streaming platforms. I'm digging the 15-second promotional clip on Facebook, where the band touts its "euphoric, hard-driving energy and explosive sound."
Watch TV with Joanie
Beaver Valley-bred TV personality Joanie Sprague will host a premiere watch party Feb. 24 in Ellwood City for her new Outdoor Channel TV series "Renovation Hunters," where she serves as a carpenter and cabin renovator.
Flying in from California, Sprague will welcome the public to gather 'round the numerous TVs, including a 150-inch one, at The Time Brewpub, which opened in December in a former elementary school at 600 Mount Vernon Drive.
"I chose there because it's a new place and I've never been there before and a lot of my family and friends live in Ellwood now," Sprague said.
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Time Brewpub partygoers, and the rest of a nationwide TV audience, will see Sprague and New Brighton native/cabin renovator Christy Miller helping "Renovation Hunters" host Hal Shaffer fix up a Nebraska hunting cabin.
The show debuts at 8:30 p.m. on Outdoor Channel, available on Xfinity Comcast, Roku, Hulu and Sling TV.
Miller will attend a cast party premiere that same evening in North Carolina.
Sprague's advice to people attending the Time Brewpub premiere, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is to arrive early to ensure a good seat.
Sprague hosted a similar premiere party in 2018 at Kelly's Riverside Saloon in Bridgewater when the reboot of "Trading Spaces" debuted, featuring her as one of the on-screen carpenters. Her national TV debut took place in 2006, when she was still a Patterson Township resident who ended up finishing in second place on "America's Next Top Model." She set aside fashion runways for closet installations as she transformed her TV career as a carpenter on DIY Network's "Run My Renovation."
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Good times at Beaver County's newest brewery
Beaver County's newest craft brewery, Big Sewickley Creek Brewing, is off to a strong start.
I finally found time to visit last weekend, enjoying its cozy, creekside ambiance in a cool-looking, unpretentious metal, wood and cement brick structure in Economy, across the creek from Allegheny County. Open weekends, it's dog-friendly, with photos snapped of visiting pups to be streamed on the big-screen TV and hung Polaroid style in the foyer.
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The German-style beers were tasty, ready to wash down the tacos from that Friday's Mexican food truck.
Also important: The brewery is booking musical entertainers, mostly of the singer-songwriter and duo varieties.
Upcoming shows include Art Michaud, Feb. 25 and March 18; John Stangry, March 4; Rust Project, March 11.
Aliquippa soul-blues stalwart Dan Bubien will perform March 25 at Big Sewickley Creek Brewing, with his full band, the Delta Struts playing a residency there two Fridays per month from May through September.
Pulaski man on a mission
Pulaski Township singer-songwriter Stephen Rubinosky has released his first self-produced cover album "Hymns/Worship Volume II."
The 10-track collection of gospel songs includes a multi-vocal layered "How Great Thou Art," acoustic selections like "At The Cross," a ukulele-powered, pop-rock-ish "Once Saved, Always Saved," and an original instrumental from Rubinosky, who credits friends at Sylvania Hills Baptist Church in Rochester Township for creative support.
I've long admired Rubinosky's earnestness and work ethic, from his days booking pop-punk shows at the Pulaski Fire Hall, to performing pop-rock songs as a warmup act for national artists, to his busking outside Ed Sheeran stadium shows.
Now steadfastly a contemporary Christian singer, he's going grassroots with his marketing campaign for his new album.
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"I’ll be giving out CDs outside of Snyder's Flowers (in Beaver) Mondays around 12:30 p.m., weather permitting," he said. "Listeners can tune into the album either through my YouTube page, or through popular streaming sites like Spotify and Apple Music. If anyone wants a physical CD and cannot make it to Snyder's, they can email me at stephenrubi@yahoo.com and I’ll mail it to them free of charge."
For last year's "Hymns/Worship Volume I" album, "I gave out well over 100 CDs to passing crowds," Rubinosky said. "I plan to do that with this one. I stand outside PPG Paints Arena a lot and hold up Scripture signs so maybe I’ll give them out to the crowds up there."
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Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Attend local band's Pirates video shoot; or TV star's Ellwood premiere
