PANELISTS

The Women Behind the Beatles - Inside and personal stories by women who knew the Beatles best. May Pang, Nancy Lee Andrews, Kathie Molland, Louise Harrison, Moderator: Chet Flippo

Performing and Recording with the Beatles - Inside stories about the music from those who performed and recorded with the Beatles.
Joey Molland, Gary Burr, Chris Huston Moderator: Robert K. Oermann

Beatles Journalists - Some of the most interesting and provocative stories from journalists who covered the Beatles.
Seth Swirsky, Neil Jeffries, Ed Salamon, Moderator: Joe Johnson

Musicians In-The-Round - Long Players’ Bill Lloyd leads a group of songwriters in acoustic performances, songs recorded by or influenced by Beatles. Participants include Marshall Crenshaw, Gary Burr, Joey Molland and Buzz Cason.


Confirmed panelists include musicians, journalists and industry insiders connected to the Beatles:


May Pang, author of INSTAMATIC KARMA and LOVING JOHN, was John Lennon's companion, production assistant and coordinator in the mid-70s. She assisted with production and promotion of albums by John, Ringo, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon and Yoko Ono, and has worked with music marketing and artist promotion. It's her voice you hear whispering "John" in "#9 Dream." May also has a fashion jewelry line, the May Pang Feng Shui Jewelry Collection, and has acted in several television series, movies and music videos.

Nancy Lee Andrews, author of the book A DOSE OF ROCK AND ROLL, was Ringo Starr's fiancée and companion in the 70s. She was a model for the Eileen Ford Agency before becoming a respected photographer. The world famous Milton Greene became her mentor after recognizing her photographic abilities during fashion photo shoots at which she was his subject. She has captured many of the rock and country world's most famous faces in her work, which was recently displayed at the Tennessee State Museum.

Gary Burr, one of pop and country's most recorded/honored/popular songwriters since his first cut, "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me" in 1982, was in Ringo's Roundheads group for several years. He wrote, recorded and performed with Ringo on albums from 2003-2008, on VHI's "Storytellers" series, on quite a few talk shows and in special concerts. A fixture at Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp in various cities, Gary also performed with Carole King on her recent tours. His chart-topping music is too numerous to list, and he has released some great solo albums, as well.




Buzz Cason is co-writer of “Soldier Of Love”, recorded by the Beatles and released on their “Live At The BBC” album. He is also the co-writer of “Everlasting Love” recorded by Robert Knight, Gloria Estefan and U2, among others. His career , which includes the top twenty hit “Look For A Star” (as Garry Miles) and stints in Brenda Lee’s back up band The Casuals, the Statues and The Crickets, is chronicled in his autobiography “Living The Rock And Roll Dream”.

Marshall Crenshaw After a stint playing John Lennon in the cast of Beatlemania, Marshall Crenshaw burst on to the pop music scene with his incredibly tuneful debut album in 1982 showcasing his talents as a songwriter, singer and guitarist. Following his Top 40 hit, Someday Someway, Crenshaw continued to record reliably catchy and smart pop music for a cult of followers as well as scoring hits for movies and tv (Walk Hard theme).



Chet Flippo is a former Senior Editor of Rolling Stone magazine, for which he regularly wrote from 1970-1981, and an author of dozens of music books including “Yesterday; The Unauthorized Biography-Paul McCartney”. He was Nashville Bureau Chief for Billboard Magazine and is currently Editorial Director of CMT/CMT.com. Moderator.



Louise Harrison, sister of George Harrison and manager of the Liverpool Legends.



Chris Huston was lead guitar player for The Undertakers, one of the top three Liverpool groups in the early 60's (along with the Big 3 and the Beatles).
He got to know the Beatles when they both backed Liverpool vocal group The Chants and brushed shoulders playing in Hamburg and Liverpool.




Neil Jefferies, Ghostwriter of Norman ' Hurricane' Smith's autobiography 'John Lennon Called Me Normal'.




Joe Johnson is the host of Beatle Brunch, a weekly radio show syndicated by Westwood One Radio Network and heard on 100 stations. He is also the Morning Air Personality on Magic 102.7, WMXJ, Miami’s Oldies station. Moderator.




Bill Lloyd Twenty years ago Bill Lloyd was half of chart topping country music duo Foster and Lloyd and since then has followed his own long and winding road as a solo artist, session player (Steve Earle,Buck Owens and Ringo Starr, Glen Tilbrook, Ray Davies), songwriter (Trisha Yearwood, Hootie, Martina McBride), producer (Carl Perkins, The Secret), and sideman(Cheap Trick, Poco). He is a founding member of The Long Players, a group who perform classic albums in their entirety with guest vocalists.

Joey Molland A great guitarist/songwriter/singer, Joey is the last surviving member of BADFINGER, known best for the group's several huge hit records on the Beatles Apple label . A Liverpool native, Joey continues to perform steadily (including concerts at Liverpool's famous Beatles Week and the popular HippieFest tour) and to record acclaimed solo music. Joey has been a big hit at Fab Four at Belcourt and Fab Four at TPAC, and has built an enthusiastic fan base in Music City, where he plans to relocate as soon as his and wife Kathie's home in Minnesota sells. Joey is author of the soon-to-be-released autobiography, WHEN I WAS A BOY. He just returned from Europe, where he was performing and recording.

Kathie Molland A Minneapolis native, Kathie was a model and commercial actress before marrying Joey. She toured with Badfinger and attended all their recording sessions, coming into contact with various Beatles and also getting to know members of the Beatles "extended family", like Mal Evans and May Pang. The mother of two sons (Joe and Shaun) with Joey, Kathie is working currrently on a couple of coffee table books with her art and photos. Her art was displayed last year in a gallery in Minneapolis.



Robert K. Oermann is a multimedia figure in Music City. He served as a judge during season 1 of Nashville Star. He has written seven books on the music industry, is the Editor-at-Large of Country Music magazine, a weekly columnist for the trade publication Music Row, and has been published in more than 100 other national magazines.

Ed Salamon is the former President Programming of the Westwood One Radio Network. He has interviewed Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Pete Best and dozens of other Beatles people for radio.

Seth Swirsky, is author/producer of the upcoming documentary A YEAR IN THE LIFE (interviews with those who knew or had encounters with the Beatles), as well as the popular books EVERY PITCHER TELLS A STORY, SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT and BASEBALL LETTERS. An award-winning songwriter ("Love Is a Beautiful Thing" and "Tell It to My Heart" and more), singer/musician (with his own CDs INSTANT PLEASURE and SHE'S ABOUT TO CROSS MY MIND), artist and Beatles fan, Seth has an fascinating website (seth.com). He'll be previewing A YEAR IN THE LIFE right here at our Fab Four Festival.