Far From Reach is a band out Waco, Texas that has talent, energy, and impact wherever they perform. With Cassie and Candice on vocals, Lenny and Mike on guitar, Nacho on bass, and Gary on drums, the magic gets created and hits the ears of the audience!
The fan wrote, “Here is my name and number, please call me the next time you guys have a show!”
This band started in 2018 and remembers using three-hundred dollar PA equipment from either Walmart or a local pawn shop. Now they are further along than they ever thought they would be. Their new album “Struggle” was released in late 2022 and has gained a lot of attention.
One of the biggest compliments Far From Reach ever received was a note that was left on a band member’s front door from a fan who missed their recent performance.
To be great, you must be greatly committed, and these talented people are just that! Gary says that their intensity is what sets them apart from other bands. Even when Covid-19 plagued the social scene and prevented venues from allowing crowds to gather, Far From Reach put on two back-to-back shows in their own backyard, paid 8 other artists to perform, and called the shows, “Rock the Rona”.
Each band member agrees with the idea that you can’t keep Rock and Roll down. With this belief in mind, combined with their passion and talent, one of their goals is to become 100 percent self-sufficient from music alone by the year 2024.
Ashley Stone started Footprintz Dance Company in 2009 after being offered a job by her theater arts teacher to become a dance instructor. The name was inspired by her grandma’s favorite poem, “The Footprints in the Sand”. Her favorite scripture mentions being fearfully and wonderfully made, and she likes to include it on her T-shirts and dance merchandise.
Ashley says she wants to give girls an outlet for them to be confident, be themselves, and learn the art of dance.
Footprintz Dance Company teaches
Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Liturgical, Contemporary, Cheerleading, as well as African dance. The team has an upcoming performance scheduled for January 16th in the Martin Luther King march, and then on January 28th they will be competing at the MCC dance competition. Lastly, on their calendar, they are set to perform at the Praise Extravaganza at Lakeview Baptist Church. Ashley believes dance is a great way to express yourself, meditate, and draw closer to other people. Her goal is to put on a huge dance camp where all the various dance schools in town can participate in and become a more closely knit community.
She also feels that dance is a form of art that can tell a story, express a song, and convey someone’s feelings. The ultimate goal for Footprintz is to become a full arts academy that offers piano, guitar, theater arts, painting, and dance classes to all kids.
Parents can sign their kids up on the Footprintz Facebook page, which is Footprintz Dance Co, or on the website, www.FootprintzDance.com.
Sega is one of the outstanding photographers who make up the great Experience Photography team. She started photography in her sophomore year of high school. Fortunately, Sega had the opportunity to be involved in the school yearbook. The first year was as a business manager. The second year, she became the co-editor. Then in her final year, she became the business manager and co-editor. This artistic photographer says her reason for joining Experience Photography was because the owner of the company came to her job at Starbucks and spoke to her about taking pictures. In that short conversation, the decision to join became definite and everything seemed to just ‘click’.
Sega loves photography because it allows her to capture moments that can last forever. The ability to see an old photo and relive the memory that it represents is great in her opinion because a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Deep down, Sega feels that collaborating is important because you can learn from others in the process as well as build new relationships. You can find Sega’s work on Instagram: Sega._.Suchecki
Juanita is a unique chef, who happens to be the co-owner of Harvest on 25th, which is a restaurant in Waco, Texas. She started doing independent cooking in 2014 selling meals to go out of a small kitchen. Her education came from attending A&M University for nutrition followed by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas. Initially, the first challenge she had to face was to show people that the healthy food she cooked was nutritious and delicious. The second massive challenge was having to persevere through the shutdown caused by Covid, along with an unexpected electrical fire that caused the restaurant to temporarily close. In 2021, the restaurant reopened, and has remained open ever since.
Juanita wants people to eat her cooking and experience joy from it. That objective came from her mother. Often, she would flashback to memories of eating foods that she grew up enjoying as a child. This acts as motivation to keep cooking. One thing that this chef loves is when she sees people of different ethnicities eat her food. Juanita believes that having a meal with someone is an opportunity for connection. Her favorite food to make is various types of pizzas using vegan cheeses, and pancakes as well as fermenting foods.
This talented chef thoroughly enjoys being creative and experimental when she cooks and loves to highlight flavors of produce that is in season. She confesses that it is a thrill for her to take different ingredients and put them together without knowing for sure how the meal is going to turn out. A chef superpower that not everyone has is the ability to smell or taste test something and be able to say exactly which ingredient is missing. Juanita has this superpower, and her top three ingredients that she must have no matter what is vinegar, alliums, and lemons. Above all, she considers herself a people pleaser but an artist first. That keeps her culinary artistry alive!
AB Recordings. His primary goal is to help as many artists as possible. He says, “There’s no greater feeling than leaving the studio knowing you accomplished something great, and everybody in the room goes, ‘Wow!’
One thing that Abel plans on doing soon is to release a new album by the end of this year. A notable musical influence was Michael Jackson to him. Some of the sounds Abel gravitates to that vary from day to day are jazz, saxophone, Heavy Metal, and Latin styles. He says he is big on culture, and being from Mexico, he strives to move in such a way that shows he is proud of where he came from. Having recently been on tour with The Huser Brother Band, Abel has travelled around and remained motivated to perform live and engage with his fans. Also, his love for creativity and collaboration is what caused MAP Digital Magazine to take notice.
Abel
Barrientos is a musician, singer, songwriter, and producer who started recording music in 1998. He would record bands and vocalists on the weekend while he was off work. It started as a hobby for him until his clientele grew to a substantial amount. Abel says he remembers the first time he recorded anyone. His uncle’s band was the first band, and that was special to him. He began his producing career with a 6-channel mixer and taught himself how to work his own equipment.
When Covid hit, he eventually got laid off from his day job. Shortly after that, a close friend asked him for his engineering assistance at a studio in Austin, Texas. So, a lot of his learning experience took place in Austin as he learned new techniques and skills on the fly while producing high quality work. As time passed, Abel decided to go full time with his recording services and really pushed his energy into the development of
At AB Recordings, the belief is that a song will create itself, and that the artist is there to just mold it. Putting music in a box is the one thing this studio doesn’t believe in. Abel says, “Songs should be authentic!” Impressively, he has over 100 finished and unfinished songs stored in several notebooks inside the studio. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night with a melody in his head and quickly use his phone to record it so that way he didn’t forget it.
Isaac Martinez is the musician, engineer, and creator of The Shack Studio in Waco, Texas. The name came to him in a very interesting way. He used to have an old shack in the front of his house that him and his friends used to practice in. After eventually knocking the structure down, Isaac built his studio in the back of his house and automatically thought of calling it The Shack.
His studio has been in operation for nearly 12 years. He used to use Pro Tools while in other studios prior to starting his own. Isaac started with clientele that mostly consisted of rap and Mexican style music. Soon after his reach expanded to the point where musicians and vocalists from Rock, Gospel, Heavy Metal, Country, Blues, and other genres routinely made their way through his studio doors.
The passion that he has for engaging with people led him to start doing podcasting. Later, podcasting became his main priority. When big fights are set to air on television or Pay-Per-View, he will host his show, “Fight Night at the Shack” The other special podcasts that he hosts are “Broke Down at the Shack” and “2 Guitars and a Mic”.
Isaac grew up playing instruments in church, and eventually wanted to be a Rock-n-Roller. Country music and Hispanic music became a strong interest for him. Then, his musical palette enhanced and completely diversified. He also has a band called “Los Roachez” that produces great music. All and all, if you are in the Waco area, swing by The Shack Studio and see for yourself how incredible it is.
Be sure to look for Isaac Martinez and his podcasts on YouTube and Facebook!
