Good Day Atlanta viewer information April 21, 2020
Athens business battle “board”-om with new games: If anyone understands how to make the best with the hand they’ve been dealt, it’s Kyle Key.
“I was born with a bad heart,” says Key. “I found out from my cardiologist during just a normal checkup that I needed to have a third open-heart surgery. So, it was about a six-month period of prepping, doctors meetings, and stuff like that, and you kind of assess what you’d doing in your life, of course, with any major news like that. I started looking at what I was doing as a job, and I realized, is it really what I want to do? What would I really want to do?”
The answer was board games. Kyle Key created Keymaster Games just more than five years ago, launching the Athens-based company with a card game called Control.
“It took off. And I think some of it was timing, some of it was just that it’s a small game, it was $20 at the time, and we tried to make it look nice. And the board game community as well as general people just picked up on it.
Other games followed, like the two-person strategy game Caper and the ghoulish Campy Creatures, inspired by the b-movie monsters of the 1940s and 1950s. One of the company’s crown jewels is Parks, a board game celebrating National Parks and featuring artwork by The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series.
“We made a game called Space Park, which was about, what if there was National Parks in space? And so we made this whole system…and they approached us and said, we’ve got all this artwork, about the real National Parks, let’s make a game.”
Of course, all of the aforementioned games hit shelves before the new era of social distance and sheltering-in-place — leading to families around the world buying new board games to pass the hours at home. And Key says he’s proud to be part of something that can help bring some joy and entertainment to these uncertain times.
“These experiences that these games provide are magical.”
For more information on Keymaster Games and ordering the company’s merchandise, click here.
WEB LINK:
Catching up with acclaimed musician Rudy Currence : Rudy Currence may be a talented singer, songwriter, and producer -- but right now, he's just an Atlanta guy staying inside the house.
"I've cleaned my house...I've binged on Netflix and Disney+, you know," he says, laughing. "But as an artist, I really have tried to maximize this time at home."
The award-winning musician -- last seen on Good Day Atlanta during our 2019 Christmas morning music show --is perhaps best known for his gospel single "Testimony," which peaked in the Top 20 of the Billboard Gospel Airplay chart in early 2018. That song directly reflected the South Carolina's native's musical roots, growing up as a pastor's son.
"I started singing and playing in the church. And my parents kept us grounded, I went on to play and sing in the high school band and choral program, got a scholarship to Furman University, majored in music, and from there I kind of segued into the music industry as an artist, and also as a writer and producer."
Currence's work as a writer includes the Grammy-nominated song "Sunday A.M." by Karen Clark Sheard, and cuts from the Grammy-winning album Gravity by Lecrae. But right now, it's Currence's own voice that's comforting fans around the world.
"Literally, before our call, I was on IG and someone from South Africa, but currently based in Switzerland, and she watched a video and was like, 'Hey, you know, this video is exactly what I needed right now during this lockdown,' so...it just continues to motivate me and encourages me to keep going and give more content because there are people that really need to be encouraged right now."
That encouragement comes through frequent live performances on social media -- a way for the artist to reach out to people in a time when reaching out seems more important than ever. "My engagement, even via social media, with my fanbase is going through the roof because musipeople want to feel connected, you know? And music does that for all of us. It's the universal language of love."
Rudy Currence's upcoming single is called "I Belong Here" and will be available for pre-order April 28th.
WEB LINK:
https://www.youtube.com/rudycurrence
https://www.instagram.com/rudy_currence/
https://www.facebook.com/RUDY-CURRENCE-170751313812/
https://twitter.com/RUDY_CURRENCE
PK and Denise from "PK in the Morning" talk to Good Day Atlanta's Sharon Lawson about cheering on healthcare worker and first responders on Midtown balconies. For more information on PK in the Morning or Power 96.1 click here.
Solidarity Food Pantry in Sandy Springs is helping families of Lake Forest & High Point Elementary; Ridgeview Middle & Riverwood High Schools. For more information to volunteer, make donations or if you are in need of food contact them via Facebook here.