Who we are: Laurelann Porter and Mike Anderson. Collectively we have decades of experience in music and live performance as musicians, performers, songwriters, directors, photographers/videographers, documentarians, sound & media designers, podcasters, and writers. Additionally, Mike has extensive experience as an audio engineer and Laurelann has a PhD in Theatre where she developed research skills in ethnography and auto-ethnography.
What we do: We make music. Together they are the musical duo, The Rhythm and The Flavor. Their musical style incorporates sultry bluesy vocals with an acoustic groove based aesthetic and socially conscious lyrics. We make Performance. We have produced and helped produce live theatrical performance in a variety of genres and settings. From improvised comedy in bar restaurant settings to fully staged plays. We make movies. To date Rhythm and Flavor has made several short films and music videos. We look forward to stretching our wings and entering feature length film production. We make podcasts and live streaming events. We started podcasting before the pandemic and have gone into high speed making podcasts and Live stream events for our fans and public. We design sound and media for live performance. We have together and individually designed sound and media for South Mountain Community College, Tempe Little Theatre, and Rising Youth Theatre. We write. We have several plays and screenplays completed and several more in the works. We have worked both collaboratively and individually.
Why we do it: We enjoy telling stories and entertaining people. We find the artistic process to be inherently rewarding, satisfying, and even therapeutic. We believe the way we tell our stories helps determine how those stories are remembered and passed on. We love creating experiences for our audiences that take them on a journey that is unique and meaningful.
We believe that artistic expression of the human experience allows us to find connections with our fellow travelers. We believe artists are the creative people that ask questions of society and demand that we face ourselves. We believe that the arts should be accessible to all persons. For this reason we aim for transparency and accountability in all of our practices.
