Wake up with El Vez

El Vez

El Vez

El Vez is the Latin sensation that is sweeping the Nation, and the world! A modern multicultural hybrid of Americana & Mexicano, he is more than entertainment, he is a thinking man's Elvis, a post-modern King with a Latin twist, the Chicano experience presented and told through the songs of Elvis. He has appeared on The Tonight Show, Oprah, MTV, HBO, CNN, and Live with Regis & Kathy Lee. He has even been a question on Jeopardy!

Uke Jam

King Kukulele

King Kukulele

King Kukulele is a comedian, actor, and ukuleleist with inexorable energy who has performed around the world, singing hapa haole and novelty songs at all kinds of shows from Hollywood movie premieres to Disneyland. He composed a promotional song about tropical fruits and fish for the Orange County Fair, as well as "I Don't Eat Poop," a song written for the California Board of Public Health. The latter song was not used.

The Art of the Matchbook: Tiny Artifacts of Mid-Century Nightlife

Stephen Coles

Stephen Coles

Stephen Coles (he/him) is Associate Curator & Editorial Director at Letterform Archive, a nonprofit library and educational center in San Francisco. As an editor and community builder who seeks to connect font makers with font users, Stephen co-founded the websites Fonts In Use and Typographica, and wrote the book The Anatomy of Type. In a past life, he funneled his furniture and architecture interests into the blog, The Mid-Century Modernist.

The Exotic World of Les Baxter

Jeff Chenault

Jeff Chenault

Jeff Chenault is an author, producer, music historian, and exotica DJ. He has written for various publications including, Cool and Strange Music Magazine, Tiki News, Bachelor Pad Magazine, Tiki Magazine, Exotica Moderne, and a host of others. Chenault has produced three albums of rare exotica music for Dionysus Records, including The Beachcomber Trio, Live at the Kahiki, The Exotic Sounds of Jerry Sun, and The Hawaiian Spotlighters. He was one of the co-authors of the Kahiki Supper Club book, and his latest book, Ohio Tiki, documents every known Tiki establishment in the state of Ohio from 1934 to present.

Tropirobics

MeduSirena the Fire Eating Mermaid

MeduSirena the Fire Eating Mermaid

Swim shows, fire-eating, dancing on broken plates, and laying on a bed of nails are MeduSirena’s forte. With beginnings at the Hawaiian Inn Daytona Beach and The Mai-Kai, her work has led to worldwide recognition -- being one of the last models photographed by Bunny Yeager. When in Fort Lauderdale make sure to catch her underwater swim show at the legendary Wreck Bar at B Ocean Resort Fort (Formerly the Yankee Clipper hotel circa 1956).

Potions of the Caribbean

Jeff Beachbum Berry

Jeff Beachbum Berry

One of Imbibe Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century,” Jeff “Beachbum” Berry is the author of seven award-winning books on Tiki drinks and the owner of Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29, a New Orleans bar-restaurant, which Esquire and Playboy named one of the USA’s best bars. Food & Wine calls Jeff “one of the world’s leading rum experts,” while the New York Times cites him as “the Indiana Jones of Tiki drinks.” Jeff has been profiled in the Washington Post, USA Today, and Wine Enthusiast magazine. He’s also been featured on PBS Television and National Public Radio. I www.beachbumberry.com

Make Your Own Tiki Mug Shelf

Typhoon Tommy

Typhoon Tommy

Typhoon Tommy is a former Universal Creative Scenic Artist in Orlando Florida. During his 10 + year career he has worked on projects for theme parks and various museums and restaurants across the country. Most notably the Harry Potter parks across the world. He is now a full time home and commercial bar Designer and Fabricator. He is currently Art Dr. and Designer for the Mai Kai. His previous projects include The Suffering Bastard in Sanford and Tahiti Gil’s Mananui AirBnB in Kissimmee. His love of creating and painting fits perfectly with his love of the Tiki Culture and History.

Tropical Tasting #3

Mid-Century Signs of Tiki

Heather M. David

Heather M. David

Heather M. David is a California-based cultural historian and freelance writer. She is the author of the books Mid-Century by the Bay, Motel California, and numerous articles on American popular culture and historic preservation. She is an advocate for the preservation of mid-century modern architecture, art, and signage – with a focus on California Modernism.

History of Rocksteady

70 U.S. Tiki Bars in 12 Weeks

Adam Demerath

Adam Demerath

Adam is a Southern California Native and Tiki bar expert and mixologist with over 20 years in hospitality. After moving to New York he fell for craft cocktails, especially tropical drinks. Adam used his background as a scenic designer to host lavish Tiki parties with his wife, Trista, in their one-bedroom apartment in Queens. This brought attention of the New York Tiki scene and soon Adam began designing and bartending recurring Tiki pop-ups throughout the city. Adam now works behind the bar at the new Sunken Harbor Club in Brooklyn.

Tiki: Stirred, Not Shaken

Jason Asher

Jason Asher

Jason Asher is a founding Partner of Barter & Shake. A native Phoenician, Jason began working in restaurants throughout his academia years. Graduating with a Culinary Arts degree from the California Culinary Academy, and with over 20 years of hospitality experience, Jason specializes in mixology, spirits, and restaurant and bar operations. He has been featured in numerous national publications, including Esquire, Imbibe, Tasting Pa nel, Food & Wine, GQ and Saveur. He’s also racked up a few accolades along the way, including “Top 100 Culinary Trendsetters” by the Scottsdale Culinary Festival, “Best Mixologist” by Arizona Restaurant Association’s Foodist Awards, GQ Bombay Sapphire’s Most Inspired Bartender and Food Network’s Chopped “Champion.”

Calypso Craze on the Silver Screen

Domenic Priore and Vanessa D'Amelio

Domenic Priore and Vanessa D'Amelio

Domenic Priore is a writer and television producer specializing in pop culture and music. He is the author of Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood (foreword by Arthur Lee of Love), Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier (with Christopher Merritt), the biographical text for the art book Shag: The Collected Works, Beatsville (with Martin McIntosh), Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film and Fashion From the Bohemian Surf Boom (with Brian Chidester) and Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece (with forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks). As a result of that project, Domenic wrote the liner notes, sourced photographs and helped sequence the music for The Beach Boys: Smile Sessions box set (Capitol Records), which won the 2013 Grammy for Best Historical Album. He was also the main writer on the AMC documentaries Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The Early Years 1955-1970 (hosted by Ringo Starr) and Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The 1970s (hosted by David Bowie). A Los Angeles native, Priore has returned to SoCal after living in New York City and San Francisco.

Tiki Oasis Bookclub

Karen Finlay

Karen Finlay

Karen Finlay lives in Vallejo (aka Vallejoasis), CA, with her husband Jon Burchard and two tiny dogs named Dorothy Parker and Dino Martina, and owns a small independent bookstore, Alibi Bookshop. Books, Tiki Oasis, and Tiki Oasis Book Club are her favorite things.