West Pittston council approves adoption of 2016 tentative budget

web1_barkley-leap.jpg

Barkley, Godwin earn 2nd-team All-Big Ten nods

<p>Kingston native Alicia Sikorski has lived in Los Angeles for eight years and is steadily working on making original music and music videos. In a town where it&#8217;s difficult to get noticed, Sikorski, who creates under the name Alicia Sky, took production into her own hands on an independent level, and she has just finished her biggest project.</p><p>On Nov. 21, Sky released a music video for her latest single, &#8220;Beautiful Disaster,&#8221; which premiered on YouTube. The video was produced by a small, tightly knit crew and funded by donations from fans, friends and family. The end result is what Sky believes is a production with universal appeal and big budget aesthetics.</p><p>&#8220;I created this video with my two best friends on a shoe-string budget, with no record label,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We started out with nothing and ended up with everything we ever wanted.&#8221;</p><p>The daughter of Karen Sikorski of Kingston and Brian Sikorski of Drums, Sky has been dancing since she was 2 and is trained in ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop. She took choir classes throughout her years at Valley West High School and American Jewish University. In, L.A., she keeps a full time job as an executive assistant in a real estate company, but she makes time to put all of her talents and energy into creating what she calls pop/alternative/soul tunes.</p><p>Lara Rothman is Sky&#8217;s childhood friend. The Taylor resident said the two have been close since they met as young girls at a camp run by their Jewish Community Center, and she can remember Sky&#8217;s musical streak, even then.</p><p>&#8220;She was always singing and dancing,&#8221; Rothman said. &#8220;She has such talent.&#8221;</p><p>Rothman said Sky&#8217;s creative ability has no bounds.</p><p>&#8220;She can draw inspiration from pretty much anything, anywhere,&#8221; Rothman said. &#8220;She can create anything. She was always the one who would dream big. I knew she was going to make it.&#8221;</p><p>Sky said she writes lyrics and melodies and works with producers to develop songs, and she names Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift and Halsey as influences.</p><p>&#8220;Ever since I moved here, I&#8217;ve been non-stop with the music,&#8221; Sky said. &#8220;The first recording I ever did, I found the producer on Craigslist and I took the bus all the way to Hollywood.&#8221;</p><p>Chris Ebert has known Sky since the two were in high school. The mid day radio host at 97.9X, who broadcasts under the name Crisco, Ebert said they met on Myspace when Sky was a cheerleader at Wyoming Valley West and Ebert was a punk kid at Coughlin. He said he and Sky bonded over their love for music even though they favored different styles.</p><p>&#8220;Even though I&#8217;m more of a rock and metal head kind of guy, and she&#8217;s more the pop princess, I always respect people who have passion for the arts and for music, and one thing I know about her is that she&#8217;s very, very passionate about music,&#8221; Ebert said.</p><p>Ebert said Sky sang in front of him for the first time when the two were driving together. &#8220;She puts so much passion and energy and emotion into her music,&#8221; Ebert said. &#8220;The moment she started singing, she blossomed.&#8221;</p><p>The old friend of Sky&#8217;s said she has the best intentions at heart.</p><p>&#8220;I know this has been a dream of hers for years,&#8221; Ebert said. &#8220;She is probably the most genuine person I know. She hasn&#8217;t been corrupted by the Hollywood machine. It&#8217;s not about the fame. It&#8217;s not about the money. This is her passion. This is what she loves to do.&#8221;</p><p>Sky released several singles with accompanying videos, and her work can be seen on YouTube at <a href="https://miamisburg.newsengin.com/gps2/" target="_blank">youtube.com/aliciaskymusic</a> and Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/aliciaskymusic?_rdr=phttps://www.facebook.com/aliciaskymusic?_rdr=p" target="_blank">facebook.com/aliciaskymusic</a> and purchased on iTunes, but her latest single was a special effort accomplished with the help of director and friend Brad Etter and producer and friend Julia Barbie.</p><p>The friends put together a small but professional crew, held actor auditions at a Starbucks in L.A. and shot scenes in the <a href="https://roadtrippers.com/stories/welcome-to-zzyzx-californias-most-mysterious-weird-town?lat=40.80972&amp;lng=-96.67528&amp;z=5" target="_blank">desert town of </a><strong><a href="https://roadtrippers.com/stories/welcome-to-zzyzx-californias-most-mysterious-weird-town?lat=40.80972&amp;lng=-96.67528&amp;z=5" target="_blank">ZZyzx, California</a> </strong>(located in San Bernadino County). The result is a tragic Romeo and Juliet style love story set to Sky&#8217;s pop creation.</p><p>&#8220;The song &#8216;Beautiful Disaster is about my life,&#8221; Sky said. &#8220;It&#8217;s an autobiographical story about a relationship. The relationship was beautiful but it didn&#8217;t work, because (someone was) seeking perfection, and the horrible part is (that person is) never going to find it, because it doesn&#8217;t exist. I think a lot of people can relate to that.&#8221;</p><p>Sky said the imagery in the video communicates the feeling in the song. In the opening scene, she wakes up in the desert, and the story follows her and her lover who perish in a Romeo and Juliet style double suicide.</p><p>&#8220;The feeling of loss is kind of like dying, so I wanted to be in heaven,&#8221; Sky said of the metaphorical desert scene.</p><p>Sky expects to release her first full-length album by the end of 2016. The album release is being planned as a benefit for the Leukemia &amp; Lymphoma Society, as Sky&#8217;s guitar player, Cy Passley, was diagnosed with lymphoma recently.</p><p>Visit <a href="http://www.aliciasky.com">www.aliciasky.com</a> for information about &#8220;Beautiful Disaster,&#8221; the upcoming album and the album release date or follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @aliciaskymusic.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_AliciaSky.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kingston native Alicia Sky just released her latest video &#8216;Beautiful Disaster.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_AliciaSky.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kingston native Alicia Sky just released her latest video &#8216;Beautiful Disaster.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_AliciaLive.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Alicia Sky in front of the microphone at a live performance. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_AliciaLive.jpg</photo1><caption1>Alicia Sky in front of the microphone at a live performance. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photos </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Alicia Sky premiers single &#8216;Beautiful Disaster&#8217; on YouTube</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a>.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Kingston native Alicia Sky releases music video for single ‘Beautiful Disaster’ on YouTube