Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/66448

Plymouth Church is known for its pre-eminent role, under the leadership of Henry Ward Beecher, in the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War. While the Emancipation Proclamation declared the slaves free, and the Thirteenth Amendment abolished the “peculiar institution,” slavery still exists in the United States, and, on a larger scale, elsewhere in the world. Human trafficking for the sex trade is the best known aspect, but there is also slavery of the sort common in the antebellum South–men and women forced to do field or factory or domestic labor without pay and while held in bondage–in almost all parts of the world. Indeed, it is estimated that today there are more people held in slavery than ever in history.

The Brooklyn Historical society, Plymouth Church, and Free the Slaves, an organization that is combating slavery of all kinds throughout the world, are presenting two events, a roundtable discussion at BHS on Friday, january 10, and a concert at Plymouth on Saturday, January 11, featuring the Impressions (video above), the Inspirational Voices of Abyssinian Baptist Church, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, and members of the Dap-Kings. The roundtable discussion begins at 7:00 p.m. Friday, but the BHS doors will open at 6:00 to allow you a sneak peek at the new exhibit “Brooklyn Abolitionists in Pursuit of Freedom.” Admission to this event is free, but you must reserve tickets here. The concert, which is a benefit for Free the Slaves, starts at 8:00 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $25 or, for VIP seating, $150, and may be purchased here.

There is more information here.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/64685

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/52913

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/50678

BHB reader “Jay” sent us this video of a rainbow over NYC as seen from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. He says it’s a little “good news on an otherwise gloomy day.” Watch it after the jump.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/50497

Our man with a cam, Karl Junkersfeld, has prodded and probed his North Heights sources – including building owner Jim Montemarano – on what the new establishment at 37 Henry Street will be. All we know is that it will be named “Seedlings”.

This isn’t the first time a mysterious sign has heralded a new business in the North Heights. In 2007, the so-called “partners” behind the ill fated Busy Chef posted a note asking passersby if they were “curious” about what was to come. Oh, if we knew then what we knew now.

At least we do know now that one of the most respected business owners in Brooklyn Heights is behind whatever will be in this space. And that is a good thing.

Will it be a place for kids? A flower shop? Be inspired by Karl’s clip and then comment below.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/45137

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43761

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43686

Mr. J., with cam on the Promenade, catches the Enterprise riding a barge on its trip into the Hudson and to its new permanent home at the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum on Manhattan’s West Side. Heading up the Promenade, he takes a gander at the new swimming pool under construction near Pier 2. Knowing Karl’s love of Brooklyn Bridge Park, we’re not surprised that he then went down to Pier 1 for a break at the Wine Bar. See video after the jump.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/41800

Mr. J. and his cam are on hand for the beginning of the demolition of the unloved Brooklyn Eagle Building, and for the return to the Heights of much loved former video store proprietor Marty Arno. Video after the jump.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/41470

Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time

Find out why you should never date a Smiths fan and why musicians make lousy boyfriends to why Boz Scaggs should never be on anyone’s playlist all while the author tackles a game of PacMan.

Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson formerly of the critically acclaimed Pela formed the group with drummer Rob Allen. Their debut album Rise Ye Sunken Ships was released in June. The collection chronicles the emotions and challenges faced by McCarthy over a year where he lost his mother as well as his brother James. In our interview, he tells the story of how his James’ struggle with schizophrenia led him deeper into the complicated web of the criminal justice system.

McCarthy also discusses working with Emmy Award winning director Matt Mills on their video for “Chapel Song”.

The band is playing several CMJ 2011 showcases this week before heading out to the U.K. to support Glasvegas on their tour.

Also out this week is the video for the band’s next single, “Book of James” which tells the story of McCarthy’s brother.

Find out how she wove dollhouses, worm farming and real New England history into the book in our video interview.

Sullivan first gained notoriety with her debut novel Commencement in 2009, while still working as an assistant at the New York Times.

In our latest Brooklyn Bugle Session they perform their own “Downtown Train” along with a rousing cover of Bill Withers’ “Who is He and What is He to You”.

Check out our interview with them and learn more about the unique way they’ve invented to spread the word about their music. It might just surprise you!

The Kin are currently playing a residency at Rockwood Music Hall [196 Allen Street, Manhattan] every Thursday.

As for the song, “It’s about cool cars and Indiana Jones,” vocalist/guitarist Jesse Laz tells us half-jokingly in our Brooklyn Bugle interview. But seriously folks he adds, “It’s about a guy who’s under his woman’s thumb. ‘Whipped’ some might call it.”

The band was formed in 2003 while most of its current members were attending high school in Madison, Wisconsin.

They went their separate ways for college but quickly realized that “college sucks” and moved to Brooklyn to pursue life as a band. Jesse’s younger brother Jordan joined them three years later fresh out of high school.

Watch our full interview with Locksley here:

Bonus Track!

The band perform Bob Marley’s “I Need You So” –

Connect with the band:

Website: http://www.locksley.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/locksleymusic

Twitter: http://twitter.com/locksleymusic

MyNameIsJohnMichael is a 6 piece indie rock band born and raised in New Orleans, which began as a solo project in 2008 when lead singer John Michael Rouchell accepted a friendly challenge to write, record, and release 52 songs in one year.

Easy question and lazy journos aside, it opened up a broader conversation about songwriting during our Brooklyn Bugle Session interview.  For example, in a week where the biggest karoke competition on the planet is about to crown a new American Idol it begs the question, “is songwriting dead?”

“I ask myself that question every morning.  I worry a lot that the concept of the song is dead, that it’s antiquated that people don’t care about stories.”

As a performer, John Michael presents as a mix of Elvis Costello, Joe Cocker, Billy Bragg as channeled by Thom Yorke. Out of all those, it’s Costello who appears to have influenced Rouchell’s wordplay the most — especially in songs like “Her, I Think” and his latest single, “Orphan”.

Rouchell readily admits to being a fan of Costello’s and has the singer’s TV show, Spectacle,  to thank for inspiring him to write one of the songs on 52.

Lou Reed discussed songwriting on the program and the flack he received for the dark themes he explored on his seminal album Berlin. Reed’s take on his choice of subjects, Rouchell says, “if Shakespeare can do it why can’t I?”

And that’s when he decided, “I’m going to kill someone off in a song. This is gonna be great.”  The result – the final song on 52 “Althea and the Company Store“, which took him 10 minutes to write.  However, it’s the one that sticks with him the most from that year of writing.

Diving deeper into the Costello connection, it’s his 1983 album Punch the Clock (which featured legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker) that is the most sonically similar to MyNameisJohnMichael. Makes sense since a key component of the band is its horn section.

John Michael says the idea for brass came from a conversation with  band producer Raymond Richards.   He wondered, what sonic element would  ground the band’s music in New Orleans and give it  a sense of place, much like Dylan’s harmonica puts you in 1960s Greenwich Village or  Clarence Clemmons’ sax roots Springsteen’s music in New Jersey?

“Brass. It was the color I grew up hearing,” Rouchell says. “So it just made sense.”

Stripped down to guitar and vocal for our Brooklyn Bugle Session Rouchell performs  “When I’m Older”. This intimate performance gives the song, which Rouchell says is more of a pop tune on record, a bittersweet spin.

Rouchell  says he’s “insanely proud” of the band’s untitled new album, out later this year, which mixes classic New Orleans R&B with indie and the band’s anthemic trademark sound.

She’s recently released her first solo album in Canada (out in the U.S. on June 7), There Will Be Stars and is currently on tour. Born to an Inuk mother and a father from Newfoundland, she was adopted by an Inuit family and grew up in the Great North of Canada.

Find out how her background influenced her music and more in our interview:

A frequent visitor and lover of Brooklyn Heights, she performs “Elsa’s Lullaby” from her second album , Watching You Think (available now on iTunes) while sitting on a bench outside of Middagh Street’s Van Sickel Salon.

Peformance video, produced by theshaltzes, after the jump.

NEeMA by The MuseBox

Folk icon Leonard Cohen co-produced the new album. NEeMA was profiled by The Montreal Gazette recently:

But her relationship with the enigmatic Cohen, who also supplied the portrait of NEeMA for the cover art of Watching You Think, goes deeper than mere production advice.

“With the writing of these songs, he’s been part of that process since the beginning,” she says. “I started sharing my work with him. So he’s been kind of a teacher or consultant, supporter, mentor – whatever you want to call it – good friend for the entire process of this album.”

NEeMA says she met Cohen by chance roughly five years ago. They live in the same neighbourhood in Montreal and would run into each other at the cafe or in the park, where the two would eventually take her dog for a walk. Soon, he became “probably the biggest influence on my life in the past little while.”

“When he was in town, we started to hang out and share ideas about all sorts of things,” she says. “Eventually, I started to actually share songs with him. The friendship is what emerged first. After that, I started to share my music with him and my writing with him. He started drawing me. But that all came after.”

NEeMA on MySpace
Official site

In “honor” of Halloween, Coby performs “A Song About Me”  near the infamous “gates of Hell” at 10 Montague Terrace featured in 1977’s  horror masterpiece The Sentinel. Video after the jump.

Also featured in the clip is  a cameo by the King of all Food Tour Guides Famous Fat Dave, who coincidentally was showing some Aussies around Brooklyn while we were shooting.

Coby on the web: www.facebook.com/cobygrant www.myspace.com/cobygrant www.youtube.com/cobygrant01 www.twitter.com/cobygrant

Coby’s music on iTunes
Coby’s Fanfare For Love at Amazon.com