Brad Forenza's AROUND THE SUN Wraps Third Scripted Season, With Original Song Interpreted By Francois Clemmons

Around the Sun, the episodic audio drama featuring award-winning talent from stage and screen, recently wrapped its third season (subtitled "Pinecones") via the Broadway Podcast Network. The complete third season-along with the first two seasons-is now available for streaming "wherever you get your podcasts," and via the show's compendium website: www.AroundTheSunPodcast.com.

In the season three finale, listeners are treated to the poetic return of Grammy winner François Clemmons, offering a surprise interpretation of an original song penned by series creator, Brad Forenza.

"'The Arthropod Song' is something I wrote years ago, for a concept album titled The Public Figure Songbook," explained Forenza. "It didn't make the cut then, but-after the losses of Pandemic-it had new meaning for me. The fact that Dr. Clemmons agreed to breathe new life into the song makes its release well worth the wait."

"To perform is to give of yourself," Clemmons added. "A performance can have deep meaning and symbolism when it matches the text, which is exactly what Brad's writing empowers here." In addition to his best-known role of "Officer Clemmons," on 25+ years of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, the Grammy winning vocalist (for Porgy and Bess) is also the founder of the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble.

Around the Sun: Pinecones is now fully available for listening "wherever you get your podcasts." Clemmons' and Forenza's "Arthropod Song" is accessible in-context, via the season 3 finale. The song is also downloadable (for free) as a bonus track on The Public Figure Songbook (where all other tracks are co-written by Shane Bordeau). The Public Figure Songbook is accessible via this link: https://publicfiguresongbook.bandcamp.com/album/the-public-figure-songbook

"Like so much of art, Around the Sun is a labor of love. Dr. Clemmons and I deliberately captured that sentiment in our jug-band approach to recording 'The Arthropod Song,'" Forenza continued. "Of course, a lot has happened since we recorded it. If any listener would like to leave Dr. Clemmons a tip, I encourage them to do so via 'Friends of Officer Clemmons.'" The Friends of Officer Clemmons page is accessible via this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/officer-clemmons-needs-our-help

An audio-video promo for Around the Sun: Pinecones features part of Clemmons' interpretation of 'The Arthropod Song," It is available for watching here: