D   E   N   N   I   S

D   I   K   E   N

DRUMMER /PRODUCER

with

T H E   S M I T H E R E E N S

SPECIAL GUEST on

INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS

with RAY SHASHO

Founded in New Jersey in 1980, The Smithereens have been creating electrifying, original rock’n’roll for 39 years. Jim Babjak (guitar,) Dennis Diken (drums,) and Mike Mesaros (bass) grew up together in Carteret and lead singer, the late Pat DiNizio, hailed from Scotch Plains. The band paid its dues in clubs all over the NYC tri-state area from Kenny’s Castaways in Greenwich Village to the Court Tavern and Stone Pony in NJ. As The Smithereens’ fame escalated, they were in heavy rotation on MTV and appeared on The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien, and Saturday Night Live. They’ve since performed on stages coast to coast from the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to the Meadowlands Arena in NJ to Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, and internationally from Europe to Australia. Tour mates have included Tom Petty, Squeeze, The Pretenders, Lou Reed, and Ramones, among others.

​The Smithereens’ take no prisoners sound, reflecting their Garden State roots, has resonated with fans worldwide over the course of 17 albums and 2500+ live shows. Their most recent release, COVERS, features 22 of the bands favorite songs first recorded by other artists. They've also inspired generations of musicians, including Kurt Cobain, who counted The Smithereens as a major influence on Nirvana.



And with the 2017 passing of Pat DiNizio, the surviving members have decided to persevere and carry on their shared musical legacy. Using guest vocalists including Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms and Marshall Crenshaw, they continue to entertain and rock fans all over the U.S. and the world!  

Purchase the most recent album from The Smithereens entitled ‘Covers’ at amazon.com

C O V E R S 

BY THE SMITHEREENS

TRACK LISTING

1. The Game of Love (Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders)
2. The Slider (T. Rex)
3. Ruler of My Heart (Irma Thomas)
4. Wooly Bully (Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs)
5. Let’s Talk About Us (Otis Blackwell)
6. Girl Don’t Tell Me (Beach Boys)
7. Up In Heaven (The Clash)
8. Time Won’t Let Me (The Outsiders)
9. Gloomy Sunday (Billie Holiday)
10. Yer Blues (Beatles)
11. One After 909 (Beatles)
12. I Want to Tell You (Beatles)
13. It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
14. Well Alright (Live) (Buddy Holly)
15. Rosie Won’t You Please Come Home (The Kinks)
16. World Keeps Going ‘Round (The Kinks)
17. Downbound Train (Bruce Springsteen)
18. The Seeker (The Who)
19. Something Stupid (Frank and Nancy Sinatra)
20. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop)
21. The Stroll (The Diamonds)
22. Shakin’ All Over (Johnny Kidd and the Pirates)

UPCOMING SHOWS

19 Sat Oct

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in Pawling NY

Daryl's House Club

26 Sat Oct

THE SMITHEREENS: A NEW JERSEY HALL OF FAME CELEBRATION AT THE STONE PONY

The Stone Pony

27 Sun Oct

THE SMITHEREENS NJ HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

Asbury Park Convention Hall

01 Fri Nov

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in Natick, MA

The Center For Arts In Natick

02 Sat Nov

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in East Greenwich, RI

The Greenwich Odeum

15 Fri Nov

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in Port Washington, NY

Jeanne Rimsky Theater

30 Sat Nov

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in Tarrytown, NY

Tarrytown Music Hall

 20 Fri Dec

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in Scituate, MA

River Club Music Hall

18 Sat Jan

THE SMITHEREENS w/ROBIN WILSON in New York City

Sony Hall

07 Sat Mar

THE SMITHEREENS w/MARSHALL CRENSHAW in West Long Branch, NJ

A less than ideal childhood ultimately prepared Karen Sherbut for the role of her life as a role model, mentor, and humanitarian. In this capacity she provides what she so desperately had once needed; ultimately improving the lives of many young women, their families, and loved ones. Karen’s dream of providing for homeless girls came to fruition in 1996, when alongside her husband John, founded Safe Haven Foundation of Canada. Volunteering at the helm of the Foundation, Karen’s steadfast commitment continues to shape a better and brighter future for all of us.

In addition, for the past 22 years, Karen has been employed as the Vice President of Marketing at Britgary Properties. In recent years, Karen’s expertise has expanded to include operations and strategic planning of some of the Britgary’s newest endeavours

Karen has stood and fought her way through every challenge life threw at her; turning her adversity into a fire that would go on to change the world. It was this passion that drove Karen and her husband John to start the Safe Haven Foundation of Canada. She has empowered not just the 80+ girls that have gone through the program, but impacted countless others as an inspiration, mentor and beacon of light in what can be a very dark world.

HENRY PRIEST

Henry Priest is a Educator, Motivator, Producer of film, TV and live events, actor, and Co-Founder and Festival Director of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) Film Festival.

Known for Veritas (2007) and Beyond the Mat (2013).

Having produced many film, TV and live events, Mr. Priests work has been showcased all over the world including some of the most prestigious film festivals as Festival De Cannes in France, Tribeca Film Festval in New York and AFI Fest in Los Angeles. Henry began his career in the film industry in 1989 when he was featured as an actor in Walt Disneys feature wrestling film titled Spooner, starring Robert Urich and Jane Kazmarik. The film called upon Henry’s knowledge of collegiate wrestling as he choreographed wrestling scenes for the production team.

Since then he has established himself as the go-to person to produce scenes that require Collegiate, Greco-Roman, or Freestyle wrestling. He has written, directed, choreographed, and cast wrestling scenes in international and national commercials for companies like Nike, Adidas, SBC Global and others. Henry recently served as a wrestling consultant to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His film “Legendary,” stars WWE superstar John Cena, Oscar nominated actors Danny Glover and Particia Clarkson; Devon Gray and Tylor Posey. Early in his career Henry produced the awrd winning film titled UnderDog. The comedic wrestling film has been featured in the prestigious AFI Fest and in many festivals across the country including the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

With the success of UnderDog, Henry received an award as an Outstanding Producer during the 2004 National Association of Latino Independent Producers Conference (NALIP) in February 2004. Recently, Henry Produced the wrestling Documentary titled Veritas. The story of NCAA All American wrestler John Trenge. His latest film titled American Identity received a standing ovation on closing night at Festval De Cannes in France, considered to be the most pretigious film festival in the world.

In November 2010 Mr. Priest served as executive Producer of the 44th Annual NWCA All-Star Wrestling Match. The event was broadcast in 40 million homes on the Big Ten Network in an effort to raise funds to save the Cal State Fullerton Wrestling team. Thanks to many supporters that participated in the event such as actor Billy Baldwin, UFC superstars Randy Couture, Uriah Faber, Hector Ramirez, Mark Munoz and the cast of the new wrestling movie Beyond the Mat, the event raised over $200,000 for the struggling program.

Henry also serves the industry as a film festival director of the Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles. With his knowledge of film in front and behind the camera Henry serves on the Screen Actors Guild Diversity Committees, nationally and locally. He serves on the advisory board of the Silverlake Film Festival, American Latino Film Festival and Skid Row Films. He is also the executive producer of National High School Coaches Associations Productions. Mr. Priest is an advocate for the arts. He is has been a guest speaker and panelist at events hosted by the Screen Actors Guild, Showbiz Expo Los Angeles, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and many other industry organizations.

He has appeared on radio shows on ESPN Radio, Radio Disney, KPFK Radio, 92.3fm and many more promoting his various films and events. He has also been featured on LATV, The Disney Channel, SiTV, TV Guide and many other TV spots. As an advocate for education Mr. Priest created and produced the Future Estrellas Young Latino Performers Conference, an event presented by The Walt Disney Company, Latin Heat Entertainment, Nostros and the Ricardo Montalban Foundation.

“Beyond the Mat,” releases early 2011 as part of Tribeca Film festivals All Access program. The film is edited by Academy Award winner Scott Conrad (Rocky, 1976) with the former Paramount Pictures senior marketing executive Susan Wrenn spearheading our marketing team. In her 20-year tenure at Paramount she constructed the campaigns for 300+ feature films, including for Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart and Mission Impossible. Beyond the Mat stars Sara Fletcher, who is currently hosting her own TV show on Comedy Central titled Secret Girlfriend. You may have seen her in Maxim Magazine too! Also, Mark Hapka who plays one of the male leads, and is a regular on TV shows such as the Ghost Whisperers and Days of Our Lives. The lead actor John Wynn, was host of the hit TV show CD USA. Beyond the Mat also features UFC Hall of Fame member and World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Ken Shamrock and US Olympic Wrestling Champion and TNA Superstar Kurt Angle!

RYAN MOORE

Producer Ryan Moore is the founder of Experience 360°, a Burbank-based Virtual Experience Design Studio that has been creating branded and narrative immersive content since 2015.

In the spring of 2017, the company produced its first feature Speed Kills VR with John Travolta and TopDog VR.

Mr. Moore’s career within film production experience includes experimental branded content (Disney, Toyota, GoPro), TV commercials (Pepsi, Jack In The Box), music festival coverage (Fuse Media), and Reality TV (Bachelor/Bachelorette).

DTLA FILM FESTIVAL DOME SERIES – OCT 23-27, 2019

“Someday, in the not too distant future you’ll be able to go to a movie and the movie will be all around you. The movie will be over your head, it will be 360 degrees around you.”

– Steven Spielberg, TIME Magazine in 2006

Predicted 13 years ago by Steven Spielberg, we know what the next ‘Big Thing’ in film presentation is: Dome Films. Using 360-degree camera popularized by VR and AR productions, dome filmmakers create a unique, immersive experience by screening the films in specially built dome theaters (not unlike planetarium theaters that can be found in observatories around the world).

In the DTLA Film Festival’s Dome Film Series — the first-ever in Los Angeles — we’ve selected the best films across the globe with a focus on narrative storytelling. Co-Presented by Vortex Immersion Media, the series includes several Dome Film World Premieres of narrative features from internationally known filmmakers including Randal Kleiser, Lena Herzog, Robot Koch, Darcelle XV, James Hood, Grammy-winner Jacob Collier, as well the first feature-length dome-film documentary to be released in the U.S

All screenings will take place October 23-27th at the Vortex Dome Theater at L.A. Center Studios in DTLA and the Wisdome Immersive Art Park in DTLA’s Arts District.

GIADA VALENTI

Singer and songwriter Giada Valenti is born and raised in Venice, Italy. Her career started in Europe where she was signed as a young singer with record label Sony BMG and had hits climb directly to the top of the charts. She has received critically acclaimed awards such as the prestigious San Remo Giovanni Talenti Nel Mondo and Festival di Castrocaro. 

In the United States she is most known for her stunning music special aired by PBS, entitled “From Venice With Love”. Because of the success of this television special, she has performed at theaters and performing arts centers all over the country. 

In November 2017 she made her debut as a headliner in Las Vegas with a concert at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. In October 2018 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

One of her recent career highlights is being asked to perform with Andrea Bocelli. She sang several duets with him at a concert benefitting the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. 

For the past eleven years Giada, currently a resident of Las Vegas, has released her CDs “And I Love You So, “Italian Signorina” and “My Lullaby”, “From Venice With Love”, garnering rave reviews. She is currently working on new recordings with multi Grammy-winning producer Cheche Alara and Jorge Calandrelli.

Giada is also a Tiramisu expert. She has been featured on morning shows of ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC television doing cooking demos on how to make this famous Italian dessert. Giada is very passionate about food. She is a longtime member of the Accademia Italiana Della Cucina, a by the Italian government recognized cultural organization that checks out Italian restaurants around the world. Giada loves to go out for dinner with friends but can also be found in her kitchen experimenting with recipes.