{"id":54414,"date":"2024-08-06T10:59:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T14:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=54414"},"modified":"2024-08-06T10:59:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T14:59:15","slug":"on-stage-extra-john-ondrasik-comes-to-ardmore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=54414","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Extra: John\u00a0Ondrasik comes to Ardmore"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/div>\n
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John\u00a0Ondrasik<\/p><\/div>\n

There are two attractive midweek shows that will appeal to two very different generations \u2013 Five for Fighting tonight in Ardmore and Zoe Ko on August 7 in Philadelphia.<\/p><\/div>\n

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John\u00a0Ondrasik, a veteran rocker from Los Angeles, has performed in the Delaware Valley many times over the last quarter century \u2013 mostly doing shows under the name of his stage identity Five for Fighting.<\/div>\n
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Grammy\u00ae nominated, platinum-selling\u00a0artist, Five for Fighting\/John Ondrasik<\/div>\n
has been out on the road in July and August doing shows with his band. They will be playing the songs his fans have loved for over two decades along with his recent viral sensations.<\/div>\n

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The tour visits the area for a show on August 6 at Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, www.ardmoremusichall.com<\/a>).<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a short tour that will run through August mostly in the Northeast,\u201d said Ondrasik, during a phone interview last week from his home in Thousand Oaks, California.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ll be playing with my rock band which includes Pete Thorn on guitar and Why Not on bass. I\u2019m excited to start the tour in Philly. Then, I\u2019ll be going out with a string quartet for a few weeks in September and October.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Right now, the focus is on his rock quartet.<\/div>\n
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According to Ondrasik, \u201cWe look forward to playing songs people know and love and some of the newer songs like \u2018OK (We Are Not Ok)\u2019 that I performed in Hostage Square in Israel the night Iran attacked.\u00a0 We\u2019ll tell some stories along the way and, as always, recognize our wonderful troops and military families.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u2019s passion for supporting humanitarian efforts and freedom has been a longstanding commitment for the artist as well.\u00a0Recently, he\u2019s been taking a non-political stance on key events around the world, writing songs from a humanistic perspective.\u00a0He\u00a0recently released\u00a0\u201cOK (We Are Not Ok)\u201d\u00a0in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, while addressing the cultural aftermath both in America and around the world.<\/div>\n
\u201cI wrote \u2018OK (We Are Not Ok)\u2019 a couple days after the Hamas attack,\u201d said Ondrasik. \u201cIt\u2019s not a political message, but a moral one. A call to action.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Hours before Iran’s missile attack on Israel on April 13,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0performed\u00a0\u201cOK (We Are Not Ok)\u201d\u00a0in Tel Aviv. \u00a0The singer\/songwriter also performed his 911 anthem song, \u201cSuperman (It\u2019s Not Easy).\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u00a0penned the track for\u00a0\u201cOK (We Are Not Ok)\u201d\u00a0in the same vein as his previous songs,\u00a0\u201cBlood On My Hands<\/a>\u201d\u00a0about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and \u201cCan One Man Save The World?<\/a>,\u201d which was recorded in Kyiv in support of Ukraine.<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik wears many hats.<\/div>\n
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He is a singer\/songwriter who plays keyboards and guitars. He is a philanthropist. He is a principal figure in a family business that has been around since 1946. He is a man who looks at the plight of people in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Israel and does what he can to help.<\/div>\n
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Five for Fighting existed as a concept long before it existed as an actual band.\u00a0Ondrasik’s solo studio project was done under the name Five for Fighting. It wasn’t until later that\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0assembled a band to head out on the road.<\/div>\n
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In 2002, Five for Fighting became well known — first to fans of alternative rock and then to the large number of music fans who heard\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0perform at the \u201cConcert for New York City\u201d at Madison Square Garden. His popularity moved to a new level with his song \u201cSuperman (It’s Not Easy)\u201d with its anthemic line, \u201cEven heroes have the right to bleed.\u201d<\/div>\n
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When it comes to making albums,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0has always been more concerned with quality rather than quantity. Five for Fighting\u2019s debut album, \u201cMessage for Albert,\u201d was released in March 1997 on EMI Records.<\/div>\n
Ondrasik\u2019s sixth \u2013 and most recent \u2013 album was \u201cBookmarks,\u201d which was released in September 2013.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAfter 2013 with \u2018Bookmarks, I had a lot of other things to do,\u201d said\u00a0Ondrasik, \u201cI\u2019ve been doing a lot of stuff outside of the music business lately.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe have a family business as wire artisans that was founded by my grandfather 78 years ago. I\u2019ve been working a lot with that. My son works here too.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u2019s birth name is Vladimir John\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0III. The family patriarch Joseph\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0emigrated from Slovakia in the early 1900s and relocated from the banks of the Danube River to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.<\/div>\n
In 1911, using knowledge he brought with him from Slovakia, he opened \u201cWire Products\u201d in downtown Los Angeles. They made items such as lampshade frames and baskets for the tuna industry of San Pedro.<\/div>\n
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In 1946,\u00a0Ondrasik\u2019s grandfather and grandmother 1946 opened \u201cPrecision Wire Products\u201d in downtown Los Angeles.<\/div>\n
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\u201cPrecision took all my time during COVID,\u201d said Ondrasik. \u201cA lot of work was making shopping carts, which are essential. If you\u2019ve used a shopping cart at Costco, you\u2019ve used one of our shopping carts.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u2019s interest in music goes back to childhood days \u2013 learning piano as a child. In his teens, he learned to play the guitar and started to write music. While he also learned to sing opera, he decided that he would like to be a singer and songwriter.<\/div>\n
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While in college,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0continued to pursue music in his spare time. He graduated from\u00a0UCLA\u00a0with a degree in\u00a0applied science\u00a0and\u00a0mathematics.<\/div>\n
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Just before the turn of the century,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0began his music career in earnest.<\/div>\n
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Five for Fighting\u2019s critically acclaimed debut album,\u00a0\u201cMessage for Albert,\u201d was released in 1997 but the breakthrough came in 2001 with the Grammy Award-nominated platinum-selling song, \u201cSuperman (It\u2019s Not Easy),\u201d from the platinum certified\u00a0\u201cAmerica Town\u201d LP.\u00a0\u00a0The single was a chart-topping hit at both Top 40 radio and at Hot AC.<\/div>\n
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In 2004, Five for Fighting recorded the platinum-certified album, \u201cThe Battle for Everything,\u201d which yielded the retrospective double-platinum hit, \u201c100 Years,\u201d a song that spent 12 weeks at #1 at Hot AC.\u00a02006 saw the release of\u00a0the \u201cTwo Lights\u201d album, which featured the hit songs \u201cThe Riddle,\u201d \u201cWorld\u201d and \u201cFreedom Never Cries.\u201d\u00a0 In 2009, the \u201cSlice\u201d LP included the certified gold hit \u201cChances,\u201d which was featured in the Academy Award-winning film \u201cThe Blind Side.\u201d<\/div>\n
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In 2014,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0created a new song specifically for the\u00a0100th\u00a0episode of \u201cHAWAII FIVE-0.\u201d The song was titled, \u201cAll For One.\u201d Five for Fighting\u2019s\u00a0music has also been featured in more than 350 films, television shows, and commercials, including the\u00a0Oscar-winning\u00a0\u201cThe Blind Side,\u201d \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d\u00a0and the CBS drama,\u00a0\u201cCode Black.\u201d<\/div>\n
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In September of 2021,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0released the powerful, \u201cBlood on My Hands,\u201d a protest song that takes a non-political, moral stance against the 2021 United States chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.<\/div>\n
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In July 2022,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0performed his new Ukraine tribute song, \u201cCan One Man Save the World,\u201d with the Ukrainian Orchestra in the ruins of the Antonov Airport in Kyiv in front of the Ukrainian\u2019s beloved Mriya, the world\u2019s largest cargo plane \u2013 the plane that Putin cynically destroyed at the outset of the war.<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u2019s passion for supporting humanitarian efforts and freedom has been a longstanding commitment for the artist as well.\u00a0The song was\u00a0inspired by the courage of President Vladimir Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine.\u00a0\u00a0The video debuted on\u00a0Good Morning America\u00a0and went viral worldwide.<\/div>\n
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According to\u00a0Ondrasik, \u201cIn sharing this musical collaboration on such hallowed ground, I saw firsthand the fortitude and grace of the Ukrainian people who, whether they are playing a violin or driving a tank, will not be deterred by Putin\u2019s atrocities and aggressions.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Proceeds from the single and its companion video will benefit the NGO Save Our Allies and further its mission of providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Afghanistan.<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u00a0has also given countless performances for the USO and has participated in keynote speaking engagements across the globe. Over the years,\u00a0Ondrasik\u00a0has given away five volumes of his compilation, \u201cCD for the Troops,\u201d to our U.S. Armed Forces, and more than one million copies have been distributed to soldiers worldwide.<\/div>\n
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Ondrasik\u2019s charity site www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com<\/a>, inspired by his song, \u201cWorld,\u201d has seen fans uploading videos showing their respective interpretations of a better world.\u00a0 That initiative has raised more than $250,000 for five designated charities \u2013 Augie\u2019s Quest, Autism Speaks, Fisher House Foundation, Save the Children and Operation Homefront.<\/div>\n
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Unfortunately for fans, there is no new album on the horizon.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI haven\u2019t done much recording recently \u2013 except for the Afghan song and the Ukraine song,\u201d said\u00a0Ondrasik. \u201cAlbums don\u2019t exist like they did.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a shame. I always liked the deeper album tracks. Songs 3-10 were the joyful part of writing. Still, at the end of the day, a good song is a good song.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEven though it\u2019s been a while since my last album, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m done making albums. I\u2019m intrigued about making a record. I love making albums. I love the journey.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve been writing songs when I have something to talk about. I try to write songs that people will hear \u2013 not necessarily with radio play. With successes with two songs without having to deal with record companies, I am thinking about a new album.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWriting a record is so insular \u2013 and then you get out of that dark room for a year, tour and get exhausted \u2013 and then go back to the room. Touring is so exhaustive. The recording part is easy.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI will say that my 2023 tour with Barenaked Ladies was the most fun I\u2019ve had touring in a long time. It was like an adult rock star tour and summer camp \u2013 hiking, jumping in lakes, playing pinball.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis tour is fun too. I get to play with a great band. We play some newer songs along with from the catalog. We close the set with \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody.\u2019\u201d<\/div>\n
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Video link for Five for Fighting —\u00a0www.facebook.com\/fiveforfighting\/videos\/735098570943106<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show on August 6 at Ardmore Music Hall will start at 7:30 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Ticket prices start at $33.<\/div>\n
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The dance music scene in 2024 has quite a few young female artists who are making great music and setting trends.<\/div>\n
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One of these musicians is Zoe Ko.<\/div>\n
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Zoe Ko<\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier this year, Ko visited Philadelphia for a show at the First Unitarian Church. Now, she is coming back to Philly to share a bill on August 7 at the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>) with another new pop\/rock trendsetter — Sophie Powers.<\/div>\n

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Ko is the only American on the bill for the \u201cSophie Powers Glitch Tour.\u201d Powers is from Toronto while the opening act is Novul, a young singer from Saskatchewan.<\/div>\n
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Ko grew up in New York and recently relocated to Los Angeles.<\/div>\n
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She has released one EP, \u201cBaby Teeth,\u201d along with a bunch of emotional alt-pop singles, including her newest single, \u201cTouch Therapy.\u201d Ko just finished her first full-scale national tour.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe tour was a roller coaster of emotions \u2013 so many highs and lows each day\u201d said Ko, during a recent phone interview. \u201cIt\u2019s really cool. It\u2019s my first long tour.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The tour with Games We Play started in Detroit in mid-March, travelled to the Pacific Northwest with a show in Vancouver and wound its way across the country and back to the East Coast.<\/div>\n
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Referring to the early summer tour, Ko said, \u201cI can\u2019t even express how incredible it feels to meet and talk to the people who listen to my music.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhen I went on tour recently, I finally met fans and heard how much my songs meant to them. It confirmed that my little hobby of writing songs is something way bigger than myself.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Growing up in New York, Ko studied at the Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music (a part of New York University\u2019s Tisch School of the Arts).<\/div>\n
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\u201cI grew up in Queens and went to school in Manhattan at the School of the Future,\u201d said Ko. \u201cThen, I moved to Manhattan. I was there until I moved to L.A. a year ago.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s weird. I grew up in New York and I have a love\/hate relationship with the city. I moved to California because I wanted to experience a new place.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ko\u00a0is the latest signing to Big Loud Rock, the alternative\/rock imprint of Big Loud Records and home to genre standouts Blame My Youth, Letdown., HARDY, Jagwar Twin, and Yam Haus, in partnership with Double Down 11.<\/div>\n
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In celebration of the announcement, Ko released an angsty, rock-infused single, \u201cDirt,\u201d and its companion, \u201cEat.\u201d It was her first release since \u201cBaby Teeth.\u201d It is a not-so-subtle suggestion to her Angeleno friends that they need to add some New York-style grit and dirt to their cultural diets<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy very first release was \u2018Line\u2019 in May 2022, and I\u2019ve released more than 10 singles since then,\u201d said Ko. \u201cMy first EP, \u2018Baby Teeth,\u2019 came out last November.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMany of the singles were done with Jonny Shorr. He has his home studio in L.A. Right now, I\u2019m living in Los Feliz on the east side of L.A.<\/div>\n
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\u201cHere in L.A., I found myself missing the grit and dirt of New York City. The stereotypes are true in L.A., and I missed the rawness and no bullshit attitude of people in New York. \u00a0I liked the word \u2018dirt\u2019, so I wrote a gritty dance track \u2013 a song like what I used to hear in of my favorite clubs in Manhattan.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ko\u2019s songwriting is the result of a smart, talented musician coming of age in NYC and L.A.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI usually always come up with a concept or some lyric I want to land on,\u201d said Ko. \u201cNext is the guitar riff and then build it up with the drums. The topics come from my life although some details may be different.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ko cited her musical influences.<\/div>\n
\u201c<\/div>\n
I love old No Doubt songs and anything else that Gwen Stefani has done,\u201d said Ko. \u201cI also have been influenced by Olivia Rodrigo, Kesha, Avril Lavigne. I always have attitude and I like women with attitude.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ko showed some of that attitude with \u201cEat\u201d a not-so-subtle suggestion to her Angeleno friends that they need to add some New York-style grit and dirt to their cultural diets.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Video link for Zoe Ko \u2014 https:\/\/youtu.be\/89TVkSeOmGQ<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Video link for Sophie Powers — https:\/\/youtu.be\/TYPrStbUFYA<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show at the Lounge at World Caf\u00e9 Live on August 7 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Tickets are $15.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times There are two attractive midweek shows that will appeal to two very different generations \u2013 Five for Fighting tonight in Ardmore and Zoe Ko on August 7 in Philadelphia. John\u00a0Ondrasik, a veteran rocker from Los Angeles, has performed in the Delaware Valley many times over the last quarter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8457],"tags":[7426,15740,15226,15600],"class_list":["post-54414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-five-for-fighting","tag-john-ondrasik","tag-zoe-ko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54415,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54414\/revisions\/54415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}