The Las Vegas-based auteur is an acclaimed writer of books, plays, and more, a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, arranger, painter, musical comedian, producer, interviewer and show host, director, lecturer, and animator.
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Born in Los Angeles in 1966, Rhoden took up guitar and began songwriting at age 11. He did little else until his second year at Berklee College of Music in 1985. The writer of over 600 songs, Rhoden also began scoring, culminating in the soundtrack for the American Heritage Award-winning videos THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS 1 and 2. In 1997/98 Rhoden produced and starred in WRITER’S BLOCK and THE MIGHTY THREE, two radio feature programs which reached 1.5 million people each, twice weekly . Also in 1998, Rhoden worked as a story board artist for Warner Brothers’ preshow production for DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24TH 1/2 CENTURY IN 3D. In 1999 he wrote and illustrated the fact-based novella, THE TRIAL OF DAVY CROCKETT (Trafford), called, “A must read...thoughtful yet riveting from the first page to the last,” by Midwest Book Review. The book was widely praised elsewhere and is featured on many Alamo “recommended reading” lists. Also in 1999 Rhoden wrote and directed the one-act play SOUL CANCER, which played to SRO crowds in Los Angeles. The subsequent video was featured in the New York International Film and Video Festival, among others, and the play was performed live in excerpt at Madison Square Garden. The hour-long video was broadcast in TV markets throughout the United States and is was made available on dvd. In 2000 Rhoden wrote and directed the dv short subject THE CHRISTOPHER WALKEN ECSTATIC DANCE ACADEMY, which followed SOUL CANCER to the NYIFVF and was also presented at Cannes and MIFED, picking up several honorable mentions at other festivals. NEW TIMES LOS ANGELES called it, “Hilarious...rivals the best of SNL...” One of many projects to feature Rhoden’s music, THE CHRISTOPHER WALKEN ECSTATIC DANCE ACADEMY included the single CAN’T STOP TALKIN’ LIKE CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, called “Immensely hummable,” by New Times’ Gregory Weinkauf. The short became an internet staple, making a recent debut on Youtube, along with a live video performance of the tune by Rhoden. This short, with extra material, was also available on dvd from Rhoden’s home site and in rental shops across the LA area. Rhoden has also worked as a writer for interactive projects from leading toy companies and film studios,including Warner Brothers and Mattel, Inc. Rhoden began producing animation in 2005, producing 6-8 animated projects per year in 2005 and 2006, including celebrity impersonations of Christopher Walken, Paul McCartney and others. 2006 also saw the release of STUMP THE BAND, (Boathouse Studios). Rhoden earned ‘story by’ credit on this slasher about an all-girl rock band terrorized by ax murderers with an unfortunate foot fetish. The film, produced and scored by BRADY BUNCH/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES actor Robbie Rist, has screened in Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, picking up seven awards, including 2 for best feature. STUMP THE BAND is available to buy from Amazon.com or to rent from Netflix.com. That same year Rhoden introduced BALLOONZEE, an animated children’s program (books also available), for which he also penned and recorded several new tunes, released to rent or own on DVD. In February 2008, Rhoden directed the world-premiere run of his two-act stage play LAST TANGO WITH MARLON, about the lives and friendship of Marlon Brando and Wally Cox. The play was called, "Funny and touching... fast-moving... fascinating..." and its actors, "Intensely comedic ... deliciously funny," by the Tolucan Times and other published reviewers. Trafford published the novella in August, 2008, called, "Amazingly well written... dialogue is incredibly believable throughout..." by goodreads.com and, "Entertaining and enlightening and well worth the read," by Midwest Book Review. The DVD of the play was hailed by LivelyArts.com as, "A welcome release...a theatrical dance to remember," and is available on Amazon.com in April 2009. That month Rhoden also returned to comic books with THE REBELS OF OZ, a dark sequel to the L. Frank Baum books, available as a digital download graphic novel. Susequently, THAT'S RUDE, JUDE!, as well as three short novels, were published in ebook form. Spring of 2009 saw the CreateSpace DVD releases of 8 of Rhoden's major works, including new Director's Cuts, new commentaries and more. Rhoden created the childrens' book IMAGINE NATHAN ON SUPERMARKET SAFARI, available for download in 2009, and released all four childrens' books in paperback in 2010. The same year, Rhoden produced and directed the world premiere run of REDHEAD CUBAN HAUSFRAU HUSBAND, a stage musical in two acts about the making of television's first great sitcom. Called, "...Filled with wit and inspiration..." and more by local and online press, the musical will soon be available to publishers and producers, with Original Cast Recording CD and World Premiere Edition DVD available online. A CD collection of his best musical and live performances from the last half of the decade was released as THE FIVE & DIME: BEST OF 2005-2010. In 2012, Rhoden wrote and published two books, FIFTY SHADES OF TRAILER PARK BOYS: TPB in the Great Comedic Traditions, and SANTA & ME, a novel for middle readers, based upon a story written by Rhoden and long-time collaborator Robbie Rist. The same year saw the re-release of his acclaimed novellas, THE TRIAL OF DAVY CROCKETT and LAST TANGO WITH MARLON released in a single volume, THE NOVELLAS, featuring excerpts from Rhoden's four published novels. In 2013, Rhoden released the first of a series based on the work of Sun Tzu, THE ART OF WAR, THE FIGHT FOR LOVE and launched a public speaker tour to support the book. The end of 2013 saw the release of SCHOOL XING, Rhoden's return to fiction with a daring and scathing satire about school shootings. In 2014, Rhoden launched FletchTALKS, a Skype-based web series.
Rhoden returned to recording music in 2013, resulting in a series of free digital download covers albums, including the COVERDOWN series in 2014. The end of 2014 brought a new non-fiction book series, called BLUJESTO PRESS KNOWS, with volumes interpreting the legacies of various historical and contemporary phenomenon, from Bob Dylan and Nicholi Tesla to Ebola and Disneyland. 2015 opened with a quadrology of full-length digital release albums of "masup" covers, BANGERS & MASHUPS. The resultant 50-song collection became the basis for MAX MAASHUP, a live performance presentation of those mashups intended for lounges, private parties, and cruise ships / resorts. Rhoden would be the first Max Mashup performer in late 2015. Rhoden released BOONDOGGLE in 2016, a brand new album on CD and digital download reuniting him with Dance Hall Racket horn master John Docter, in the fall of 2016. November of 2017 also saw the release of Rhoden's fifth book for kids, WHY OH WHY? MY OH MY! The hand-illustrated book teaches lessons of humility, gratitude, and positivity for kids and their parents, available in paperback and Kindle formats. Rhoden's own vocal performances of Redhead Cuban Hausfrau Husband found a long-awaited CD release in March, 2017. Rhoden and John Docter reuinte again for 2017's ELIJAH ROCK a new record of gospel classics, released for Easter, 2017. Just one month later, Rhoden wrote and illustrated the kids' book follow-up to WHY OH WHY? MY OH MY! entitled SALLY SPLITTER, a lesson of honesty, loyalty, and selflessness which Rhoden described as, "What a kids' book might look like if John Lennon had written and illustrated it." It was followed only a month later with a third such book, FRANCIS O' FANTASY, a lesson in fantasy and honesty, and a fourth by year's end, WIGGLEFOOT, the first book for kids about restless legs syndrome. 2017 also saw the release of new Rhoden CD/digital download album HOUNDSTOOTH. BOONDOGGLE, THE FIVE & DIME: Best of 2005-2010 and FLETCHER RHODEN SINGS REDHEAD CUBAN HAUSFRAU HUSBAND: Songs from the Stage Musical join HOUNDSTOOTH on iTunes, Spotify, Googleplay and many more, along with a new single recording of Rhoden's classic GRIDLOCK! 2018 saw the release of a new kids book, SUNNY SUE'S 'THE ART OF MORE' and a new CD of original music, NIGHT SEASON. The summer of that year Rhoden began taking lounge, casino and resort bookings for live mashup act MAX MASHUP, setting up a new website, maxmashup.com. The end of 2018 brought two new political novelty song, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THIS SH*T? to support an all-new stand-up tour for 2019. Rhoden began the new year with a slew of workshop stand-up performances of new songs released on a pair of CD-only releases: MODERN NOVELTIES Vol. 1: All Ages, and MODERN NOVELTIES Vo. 2: 21 & up. Most of the new songs were recorded and released as digital download singles. Also in 2019, Rhoden released 2 frull-length pop albums, IT'S RAINING PIANOS in the electrronica/progressive style, and I AM THE STORM, a sparse acoustic collection. Both albums included new and reworked older material. I AM THE STORM closes out the now-fabled "Portland Trilogy", which followed the "Boondoggle Trilogy". Traveling abroad that year, Rhoden had no plans for further recording. 2019 also saw the new edit and release of Rhoden's seminal novel for middle readers, THE PRINCE OF CLOUDS, in paperback and for kindle. The 2021 saw the release of the romance novel SUNRISE IN SALINAS, inspired by his travels. Rhoden released a new comedy single, THE SEXIEST GUY IN THE WORLD in late 2020 when he took his modern novelties sets to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he currently performs. 2021 sees a new residency in Las Vagas in support of the full-length modern novelties CD/download release THE SEXIEST GUY IN THE WORLD and the folk covers act in support of EMBARCADERO VOL. 1 & VOL. 2 on CD. 2021 also saw the launch of FLETCH, ME ANYTHING a Q&A YouTube LIve series available on his YouTube channel under his name, Fletcher Rhoden. After 15 years, Rhoden returns to painting with a new series of works available for purchase on this site and elsewhere. Also toward teh end of 2021, Rhoden began his first serialized novel by publishing CHAPTER ONE of WET MOUNTAINS MASSACRE, the first book of THE WETS SAGA. January 2022 saw the launch of a new paintings series, BUBBLES 2022. By March of 2022, a roll-out of ANIMATED NFTs of some of the new BUBBLES 2022 paintings began through Open Sea. Aminated NFTs, Bubbles 2022, a 10-item collection, went on sale May 1. Cancelled DVD videos began rerelease via download through THIS SITE in spring with LAST TANGO WITH MARLON and SOUL CANCER. Livestream concerts begin with a Max Mashup concert via ACE MUSIC BOOKING. New recording studio in Las Vegas, Blujesto Music Vegas, allows new recording for slew of releases in 2022/'23. June 2022 saw the beginning of a series of audio books from Blujesto Press, produced by Fletcher Rhoden.
Copyright 2012 Fletcher Rhoden. All rights reserved.