♪ Beryl Dakers: Hello, I'm Beryl Dakers.

Welcome to Palmetto Scene.

We're here in historic downtown Charleston to bring you a look at some very unique places in the low country.

First, we'll visit Awendaw Green , a musical sanctuary where young talent can develop and express their artistry in a vibrant atmosphere.

Founder Eddie White has used his love for music and community to transform farmland into a venue for independent artists.

Dr. Eddie: Edie white, and I'm a full time dentist, my daughter actually just joined my practice.

I've been a dentist for 35 years.

And this is kind of my Wednesday, throughout the week life and a lot of fun.

It's 11 or 12 years we've been doing Awendaw Green, which is kind of a collective of Music and Musicians and people, we kind of started around the edges when my son was getting out of middle school and had a little indie rock band called the Whisper Jets, which is one of my dental tools, by the way, little fun fact for you.

And we were in a compound a couple of doors up, we were conveniently not zoned commercial.

We had a big Music Festival here on the grounds on the Sewee Outpost.

And I think about nine years ago, we moved it out here.

And we've been here ever since.

Just a bunch of volunteers to come together, and the artists that make this possible.

But we could not do it without the Sewee Outpost, which is the best store in America.

We built Sewee Outpost about 17 years ago as my whole family was involved.

And we bought an old farm and converted it into the place you're seeing today.

Part of the outpost and why we are so open to community gatherings is my grandfather ran a Woolworth at the local dime store.

And it was a big part of the community and where people saw each other and then got to share news and just be part of the community together.

And, and so that was a big part of what we wanted to do here at Sewee Outpost.

And luckily, it's worked out decently well.

Every Wednesday we've we missed like three or four Wednesdays until COVID hit.

And then we took up a little pause.

We did a couple of live, live streams.

And back in November, we started back up again, we've been at it ever since Ken: We moved to Mount Pleasant from West Ashley probably four, four and a half years ago.

And we just heard about it from somebody else.

And we showed up and it's amazing.

Got bluegrass, rockabilly, little bit of every type of music.

To someone who's never been here, I would say that it is probably the best time you can have in the Charleston area for $10.

a head, kids get in free BYOB, you bring your appetizers.

They have food trucks if you need something to eat, but it is a fantastic time on a Wednesday night.

If any place exists like this in any other state, I will be definitely shocked.

So yep, it's it's one of the hidden gems of South Carolina.

Dr. Eddie: I've kind of stumbled on this.

And it's kind of like in my, in my DNA now.

But all the people I'm around are musicians, and my kids are musicians and my wifes family had a piano.

I think we were told we couldn't play music early.

And so we didn't.

Desiree: How do you think this event has impacted your life since you started?

Dr. Eddie: The thing about this is it just opens up your heart and you meet new people.

It's not any single thing.

It's kind of everything.

It's just kind of part of that fabric that makes it all work.

It's just fun, give you something to do.

And you got kind of like to do things.

Desiree: No, no, we are especially after having been inside for almost a whole year.

I understand.

Kevin: Not only am I excited about playing here, but I am very excited about playing here.

Absolutely gorgeous.

There's these two beautiful oak trees behind us.

And I don't know, I mean, this place is really unique.

So I love playing at neat places like this.

It's kind of my M.O.

Lang: This crowd here was really attentive and can really tell that people are paying attention and that really makes a difference to a performer.

To feel like people are really giving you they're ear very, welcoming staff that run this place.

All the way from the sound man who took time to really make sure the sound was right to Eddie who kind of organizes all and greeted me and so on.

So just everybody's really nice.

Danielle: The Barn Jam has a life of its own.

And we just service it.

It's sort of a location, and an opportunity for musicians everywhere to come enjoy South Carolina meet the artists that we have available in South Carolina mixed with them.

And then everybody gets to know each other and tours and relationships have occurred and they continue.

So it's a small hub in a in a vaster network.

Desiree: It looks like there was a need for a place like this for the community to gather kind of just in fellowship and friendship and with music.

Mark Bryan: I gotta be honest with you.

Eddie first told me the idea that he was gonna let anybody come in and play My thought was, you know, that's going to lower the quality of the music that's involved.

Somehow the word got out about this place.

And a lot of national and even international acts that are touring around the southeast, will make their Wednesday night stop over at the Barn Jam, opening it up to everybody did not lower the quality and actually raise the quality, we seen some incredible young or unknown acts come through the Barn Jam that wouldn't have probably come to Charleston.

Otherwise, I've never heard anybody complain about it.

Never heard anybody get this sucks.

Everybody really loves to be outside around a fire or listening to music talking with their friends drinking a cold beer or wine or whatever.

Maybe it's brick oven pizza.

Grocer: We've been kind of playing, dive bars and random restaurants, things like that venues.

And this is such a real change of pace.

It's like kind of beautiful out here.

And it's like a place dedicated to music.

And that feels kind of special so close to Charleston also.

And we love playing Charleston when we go on the road.

So to stop by here and have like a cool night of like outdoor music, it feels like a no brainer.

Johnny Chops: Very unique.

It seems very driven by independent artists we do you play around Texas, a whole bunch, but we haven't really done much on this part of the world.

So I'm out with my buddy, Kevin Daniel, opening some shows for him.

And just spreading the music around.

There's already a great crowd here.

And, you know, none of us are on big labels or, you know, have like a lot of money behind us.

We're all just out here doing our thing.

So it seems like a nice grassroots place to check out new music.

Dr. Eddie: It's multi genre, we always try to try to find the new artists that don't normally get to play and try to feature them.

The real cool thing is when a bands never played before, or an artist has never played before.

So that's the kind of music I like, I like something fresh, something people are trying out the most important thing for us is just to continue to try to find a best way to do it better.

And so we can continue to enrich the community and really provide the opportunity for the artists in the original music genre.

Beryl Dakers: June teenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved Africans, was officially declared a federal holiday, June 17 2021 by President Joe Biden, originating in Galveston, Texas.

It's been a celebration of black culture, freedom and empowerment.

Since 1865.

We traveled here to Charleston to catch up with Tory Liferidge, founder of the inaugural root of Soul, J 19 festival.

♪ Tory: This is the root of Soul j 19.

Versus the Juneteenth festival that we have been working well over a year in planning and trying to bring to life our major goal for this is obviously to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday and also highlight the history of African American culture and history here in the low country.

What better place to do that, then in the port of Charleston, which is where the majority of enslaved persons came in to the United States.

Looking at the history of Juneteenth and 1863, when Emancipation Proclamation was actually in effect, it just because it went to effect it did not reach the masses, and so it was full two years later, were in Galveston, Texas, General Wood that came in and on behalf of the United States, and informed the people that you are indeed free.

That is why they look at Juneteenth liberation holiday as opposed to the Emancipation Proclamation, or the fourth of July.

Joe: June Teenth is a federal holiday.That's huge.

So we're out here at fairgrounds, you know, we got a lot of enthusiasm, got a lot of people showing up, show their support.

Paula: Juneteenth celebration is so important.

Why because you don't know where you're going if you don't know your past.

And you have to know what we have gone through to get this day.

156 years later, it's so important for me to be here today in Charleston for this wonderful federal holiday of Juneteenth.

Joe: Here's great that Judy, there's a federal holiday.

But let's back that up a little bit more actually.

Tory: We have to be intentional about how we educate not only our culture, but allow education from other cultures about our culture.

Because we talked about unity, we talked about working together, that is always going to be surface level unless we actually do the work of understanding each other as cultures and we can't do that if our culture is not ever really on display.

With that being the backdrop Additionally, we wanted to create an economic engine.

Everybody talks about doing community work, affordable housing can't happen without free money.

And they're not pots of free money out there.

And so we wanted to not have anybody else appropriate, our history and our legacy.

And we want to be able to create the economic engine.

So now, resources can flow right back into our communities.

Sharon: Last year, we didn't even know what June Teenth was a lot of people did not even know what Juneteenth was.

So now that we're actually having a wonderful celebration about it, I really wanted to be a part of that.

African American entrepreneurs are coming forth and are doing so well.

And I just I want to be able to fellowship and learn from these people and glean from them.

And I've met some wonderful, brilliant people, some innovative minds, some very successful entrepreneurs.

And I'm just grateful to be here.

Tory: This is our first year in an inaugural Year you have to be creative as to incentivizing people to come and be a part of.

And so we wanted to have the big picture the entertainment and national artists to come and provide that value.

But we also wanted to be intentional about our workshops, panel discussions are HBCU college fair.

We've partnered with UNCF and Department of Education to make sure that they are providing live virtual sessions for parents and students.

We partner with federal health care network, and they're providing vaccination clinics.

So we wanted to make sure that everything that we do with this festival is intentional about empowering our community, and exposing other communities to our culture.

Our vision for this is for it to be an annual festival.

we've modeled this early on after the essence festival, and what that has done for the city of New Orleans and surrounding municipalities.

We want to do the same thing here.

If you look at the Juneteenth flag in the colors is an expectation that it will be the red black, the green, but it's very white and blue and the intentionality of that flag.

You look at the star for Texas for Galveston, but also you look at the exploding star, which represents a new beginning and then the horizon which was a new beginning for the newly emancipated African Americans.

But the colors were important because it said that we are also Americans.

And I think that that's part of the empowerment that we don't have to be always be at war against.

The powers that be.

We know that there are challenges that we're always wanting to fight, but we can fight them and still own we are true Americans and the empowerment for that.

And that is what what empowers us as we engage in our nonprofit work as we engage in ministry.

For me as a pastor, ministry, this work all of this is one in the same because this is just who I am.

And I believe that our lives have to be given for purpose of empowering other people.

That's about the work of community building is is making sure that we are able to see one another and actually be seen by each other.

♪ Beryl Dakers: When you think of South Carolina, the last thing that comes to mind is a kazoo.

But did you know that one of the largest number one manufacturers of this quirky instrument is right here in Beaufort, come along to Kazoobie kazoos, where we'll check out their kazoo museum and reminisce about a childhood fun time.

Sarah: So we're Kazoobie kazoos.

We are a place that spreads joy around the world a kazoo, is a Merlotone instrument.

So it works off of vibration.

It needs a little resonator in there.

So you've got to make a lot of noise.

You can sing, talk or laugh, because you want that little resonator to shake around and give you that vibration.

Naration: So if you go that ooooo.

That is how you get your sound.

We make about a million Kazoos a year, and then we ship them all over the world.

Stephen: I got my kazoo business.

I just I just lucked out.

My background was in theater.

I grew up in Beaufort, South Carolina, got connected with a guy who was the king of kazoo Rick Hubbord.

I was Rick's production manager and Rick had this custom motorcoach that we traveled around the country in he had everything from a whole stage.

Bubble machines to confetti cannons to lights and lasers.

It was really a rock show for kids and for adults, but all through music and all through using the kazoo to really bring people in, have a good time and celebrate together.

I got tired of living out of a suitcase and living on the road wasn't as glamorous as I thought it was going to be.

So I made an offer to take over the e commerce business.

I was 19 years old at the time.

So the partners that I worked for they flew me to Detroit, so we bought all the assets moved it to Hilton Head Island, and we just celebrated 20 years in the kazoo business.

Sarah: So the history of the kazoo is a bit unsure.

Since we don't know how the kazoo was invented.

We've had people come up with their own ideas, we truly think that it's probably been around for a really long time.

In 1850, Ancient Aliens introduced them to speak to humans through music.

Most likely, it's kind of originated from ancient times where tribes and things like that would take things like gourds and bone hollow them out the kazoo was developed as a homing call for air and donkeys use things like leather, or even the egg sack of a spider as a medieval torture device.

For that merola tone, that resonator or that vibration part.

To seduce women and men so seductive, almost like Kenny G. on the sax.

Stephen: One theory about how the kazoo got its name was that George Smith had bought the rights to the kazoo, taking it to his factory in New York.

It was called the down south submarine at that point, and they had filed a patent for the downsouth submarine.

And the patent office came back and said as submarines already taken, you got to come up with some other name.

And so sitting around the factory, someone said, How about kazoo, that's what it sounds like, let's call it let's call it a kazoo.

Sarah: They've always kind of been used for both music and mainstream music, professional music, and they've also been kind of a novelty toy at the same time.

So even from the turn of the century, we would get little kazoos looking like little fish for kids all the way up to a kind of more modern day where they were adapting them into fast food, happy meal toys, things like that.

Stephen: It is a fun business.

And most of the people who come and want to give us their money to buy kazoos are really fun cool people.

What would not make me come to Kazoobie Kazoos.

I'm going to get the very loud horn.

Naration: I'm going to toot it the whole way back to Maryland.

He's going to be walking back to Maryland if he blows that loudest kazoo.

♪ Kazoos playing tune.

♪ Sarah: The Kazoo love it out there.

Stephen: The demand is good.

We do a little over a million of our basic plastic kazoo, and then several 100,000 of other noisemakers, accessories, in adaptations that we've manufactured over the over the years, and we are a global company.

We have customers in 30 countries now.

Sarah: So our kazoos are made of polypropylene, polyethylene, which is heavy duty durable medical grade plastic.

The melting of the plastic happens down in Tampa, Florida.

It's in St. Pete.

That's where they have our mold.

It is our patent but they're melting it.

They're so still made in the United States.

They send all the parts and pieces to us here and we hand assemble every kazoo here in Beaufort.

The museum really starts from what we could find on the beginning of the kazoo history, which starts in the late 1800s.

So we've kind of collected kazoos that have spanned over the last probably 140 years, Stephen: we just completed a major renovation of the museum.

So it's been here a little over a decade, really proud of the museum because the Kazoo is a part of American Heritage, American legacy, and we think it's our responsibility to help promote that.

Sarah: So we got to do kazoos from the first patent to kind of handmade kazoos and just showing you different styles and how they've evolved over the decades.

♪ I think i'm good at it.

But I think alot of us are good at the kazoo.

It's an instrument you can pick up quickly and you know, it's you making the noise.

So the more passion you have behind that instrument, the more passionate your kazoo sounds.

Stephen: For me, it's about being able to make something creating some joy in the world.

And then I've got this really great team of people that come in every day, work really hard and really proud of the product that we that we produce.

So I don't intend on getting out of kazoo business anytime soon.

As long as people are still willing to buy our products.

Beryl Dakers: In the Charleston area, there are more than 400 homeless people, veterans, seniors, individuals And families.

A Resource Center for people experiencing homelessness uses telehealth to provide medical care to one of the state's most vulnerable populations.

Let's take a look.

Marie: We get over 24 families a month that are homeless.

And if we really started knocking on the hotel doors, we'll probably find more.

It's really hard to get out of homelessness.

Otherwise, they just live in a crisis mode, and do what they configure to keep a roof over their heads and just keep doing the same thing over and over again.

Cristin: More than 4000 people in the state of South Carolina are experiencing homelessness.

In the low country, it's more than 400 people.

And about 80% of those in the low country is just in the Charleston area.

Marie: For the last five years or six years, we've been serving homeless veterans then the mayor asked us to take over this this resource center for the homeless.

But a lot of people can't get into a shelter.

There's no family shelters here.

There's people that just can't be in a confined place.

Because of a lot of the medical and mental health issues that we're addressing what the navigation Center does, is coordinate that really look at the root causes of why they're homeless, and really the navigation center where we want it to be a medical and a mental health model to address the homelessness of these folks.

Lane: What you think of when you think of telehealth, you think, okay, the provider has a screen, and the patient has a screen.

But here we have use of two rooms, this room actually still is the room where we check in the patients, we get their vital signs, a medical student, volunteer or other health professional student is here to do that.

We get their kind of chief complaint, why they're here and some of their past medical history.

And then we go across the hall, where we have a camera setup, the provider can see them and there's a large screen, and they can see the provider at MUSC.

Marie: We'll see everything from someone that comes in with a burn or to someone with diabetes that's having trouble managing their blood sugar.

It's a really wide range of sort of acute issues, as well as kind of more chronic everyday diseases.

Lane: There's a stethoscope where, you know, the volunteer in the room, places it on the patient's chest or belly, whatever it is, and the provider is actually hearing that.

So it's as if the provider was in the room.

We have OTA scopes, which is just a fancy word for a camera that we can use to look in people's mouths, eyes, ears.

But with the help of the student volunteers, this telehealth really works.

And we can see a large amount of patient complaints because we have this technology, Marie: Telehealth is it's an amazing technology for us, they can just walk in and meet with MUSC and start their their diagnosis, whether it's just prescriptions, or if it's maybe they need to go, we refer to a psychiatrist, maybe they need an operation, it's a way for them to start getting back healthy.

So they can make the right decisions and the right choices for their next steps.

Cristin: This population is used to basically waiting until it's an emergency to seek care, emergency room utilization among the homeless as you know, way beyond what it is in the general population.

And so what we try to do is capture patients before things become emergent.

And we're providing this care at a place where they already are.

So there's no transportation barrier for the patient.

And probably most importantly, they're at a place where they where they have trust.

So this is often stigmatized and marginalized population.

And often there's a lot of distrust with the medical system.

Understandably and and so we're we're providing this care at a place where they've already developed relationships and they have trust, and it's us coming to them in their space as opposed to vice versa.

Lane: This navigation center is the home for them.

It's not just a medical home or a mental health home.

It's also you know, they have laundry services, they help people get connected with resources.

So this is a really supportive environment and a springboard for for them to get what they need.

Cristin: Every individual is different, just like every individual that has secure housing.

So it's so important to recognize that and to listen to whatever part of their story they want to share.

And beyond that, to just do the best job caring for them based on the situation that they're in.

The caveat to that is being really careful to assess social determinants of health.

You know, do you have transportation?

Are you getting access to regular food sources?

Do you Have a job.

Those things are really important to assess for all people, but definitely in this population in particular, because it will affect the medications that you're able to give.

It'll affect the follow up appointments, you're able to make.

Lane: You know, your health, your mental health, all of it is intertwined with sometimes things that are out of your control, and sometimes things that, that you can work work toward.

As a healthcare provider, you really need to be cognizant of where your patients are coming from, what their beliefs are, in order for you to partner with them to improve their health and also in order for you to give them the resources that they need.

And you won't know that unless unless you ask and you try to work toward being culturally aware of what's going on in all of your patients lives.

So it's a lifelong learning process.

Beryl Dakers: For more stories about our state and more details on those stories you've just seen, do visit our website at palmettoscene.org.

And of course, don't forget to follow us on social media whether Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at SCETV hashtag, Palmetto Scene.

For all of us here at Palmetto Scene.

I'm Beryl Dakers.

Good night, and thanks for watching.

♪