Here's to another year!

Hey folks. The new year is upon us & we are excited to see what it brings for this community of music, art, family & friends at Roots cafe. We are also celebrating another year of serving all of you. As of Dec. 27th, Roots turned 3! It's crazy how time has zoomed by. It's amazing to see what a great family of friends has formed from a tiny little cafe. As cheesy as it may sound, this is how I measure success. Coffee may pay the bills (sometimes) but community is what really keeps this place alive. So thanks to everyone who really understands what we are truly about. We look forward to your continued love & support. Be well, be blessed. See you all soon.

Here's a fun video for you to enjoy! Happy New years everyone!!!!

Happy holidays!

Hey friends. Just wanted to wish you a happy holidays & looking forward to the new year with all of you. We have officially been open for three years now & have grown so much together. Thanks for all the support you have given as a community. We will not be doing our normal Friday night music for a couple of weeks to take a little breather over the holidays. The next scheduled performance is Friday, Jan. 6th. We will be closing early (5pmish) on Christmas eve. & closed Christmas day. We will reopen on the 26th at 9pm. Here's a little video to enjoy!

Early bird special...music!

 Tonight, Tues. Dec. 13th we have an early bird special show for you. Starting at 5pm, touring act, Bonneville will be doing a short, stripped down acoustic set for those of you hangin' out & sippin' some brew. Come on out & grab a hot melty panini or veggie chili (or get crazy & do a combo grilled cheese/chili combo) & get your evening started off right with some warm comfort eats & soothing sounds.

 Also be sure & join us for our regular night of goodness on Friday Dec. 16th. We have an amazing line up of local & traveling talent with the sounds of Brian Elmquist, Chris Q. Murphy...& straight out of the ATL & Nashville, Ryan Horne. This is gonna be one of those nights that goes down in Roots history as great music, community & general ruckus! Check out the jams below!

Winter sucks!!!

We've all experienced the long, cold winters of NY! I'm sure we've all said, or at least thought to ourselves as we slip on the ice or shovel our way out of our apt....*#@*^# WINTER SUCKS!!!
However, we all know the reality is that winter in NY is a magical time to gather with friends, drink hot coco & cider & celebrate the warmth we find in community.

So...let's do just that! Please Join us for the Roots Holiday Ex-STRAW-vaganza: "WINTER SUCKS!"

An Installation comprised of re-purposed plastic straws and recycled materials.
BY:
Melissa Diaz and Jamey Hamm

Also featuring Seasonally inspired Artworks, Ornaments, Snow Globes, and Trinkets for Sale!

Opening Reception
Thursday, December, 8, 2011
6:00-9:00pm

Featuring Music by:
Dan Bindshedler: http://soundcloud.com/coffeemugshots/huns-last-dance
& Erica Buettner

Also join us for an amazing line up of music Friday, Dec. 9th starting at 7:30pm. (check out the videos below) As always byob & wine. Free show. Please bring a small donation for the cafe if you bring in your own beverage & save some to tip the musicians. We will be serving our full menu of food & drinks. Try the new candy cane mocha. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-latte'!

Keep giving thanks...

 The holiday is over & I trust everyone got there fill of food, friends & family...but there are still plenty of reasons to be thankful... Good music, community, great food & free PBR just to name a few! So, in continuing the holiday spirit, join us this Friday, Dec. 2nd for all of those things just mentioned. Music starts at 8pm this week. Check out the videos below.

This week's ruckus...

Hey there folks. Not too much to share other than our exciting night of music this Friday, Nov. 18th...wow!...this month is flying by. I'm soooo looking forward to an orphan potluck thanksgiving with friends next week. Since I jumped ahead to that I'll go ahead & mention we will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 24th so we can eat too much food, drink too much booze & end it all with an afternoon snooze!

First things first...check out the acts for Friday. Music starts at 7:30pm. byob & wine (sugg. $3 tip if you bring in your own) Be sure & come hungry 'cause we'll be serving up our delicious sandwiches, soups & treats all night! Save a little money for the musician tip basket that we pass after each set. Our shows are always free so every little bit helps to keep these nights going. Thanks for all your support!

Bi-coastal community...

Hey there folks! We have an exciting weekend to tell you about. For the past couple of years this community has been sharing music, art & their homes with one another. Melissa Diaz started a great project called Open House where different artist & musicians come together for one night in an apt. in Brooklyn & display their talents & more importantly, commune. So many friendships & opportunities have come out of this event & it deserves to be shared with all of you in the Roots community who may not have been involved so far.

If that's you don't be discouraged or feel left out. This is your weekend to become a part of this great community with the 9th installment of Open House. This time however Brooklyn won't be alone in this. All the way in LA there will be another community doing the same kind of event at the same time & there will be live streaming to bring the two together...now that's creative community outreach!

Here are the details: Open House / Coast to Coast / Nov. 12, 8pm-12am / Featuring: two apartments of artwork + sculpture in the garden of Quarter (quarterbarbrooklyn.com). Also, live music by: Ryan Lamm, Doug Drewes & Parade Grounds. (676 5th ave, Brooklyn, NY / 1st & 2nd floor apartments + Quarter Bar on the ground level) www.openhousebk.com

Don't forget about our usual weekend happenings at Roots Cafe. This Friday, Nov. 11th we have a great night of music with local talent & friend, Gabby Ess followed by the traveling bluegrass sounds of  Hickory Strings.

As always, byob & wine. Sugg. $3 tip/donation to cafe if you bring in your own. We will be serving our full menu of food, coffee, teas & specialty espresso & seasonal drinks including our Autumn Latte, ginger spice apple cider & hot cocoa. We will also be featuring some new food items. Come try the Chili cheese burrito or the Holiday wrap with turkey, cornbread pecan stuffing, gravy & cranberry sauce. Happy Holidays indeed!!!

All the way from Alabama...

...welcome my dad to Brooklyn everyone! A few months back I asked him to mail me up some of his photography so I could hang it in the cafe. I later came up with the idea to do some of my found object frame work around those photos. I was able to put together seven great pieces for a show that will be hanging the entire month of November at the cafe.
 I am calling the collection "Weathered". No, not in honor of that horrible song by Creed. I call it that because its a collection of photos ranging from the 1980's to the present that capture some of the rustic scenery of my home town & surrounding areas. All the materials I used were found mostly here on the streets of Brooklyn already rusted over & weathered that I then altered a bit to fit the pieces.
 I would to hear your feedback on the pieces throughout the month. More so, I'd love to see you all at the opening tonight, Thurs. Nov. 3rd 7-9pm. There will be lots of live music from Gypsy George, Brother, Sister, Barnyard Brothers & my dad himself, Glenn Hamm. Come share in this special night with us.

 Don't forget to come out & hang Friday night as well for our usual music & good times 7:30-10:30pm. Sharing the bill will be: Alex mallet, Matt Frye & Shy Town. Byob & wine. (sugg. $3 tip if you bring in your own)

Melodious Fall evenings.

Hello there fine folks of Park Slope & beyond. I wanted to let you all know of a couple of chances to be a part of & support the local music scene here at Roots Cafe this week. In addition to our usual Friday night happenings we are also having a wonderful night of music this Thursday with some great friends from the Roots community. Erik Emanuelson & Justin Kilburn of Grand Lake Islands will be starting the night off at 7pm followed by the lovely sounds of Robin Bacior & Heather Normandale. As always our events are byob & wine. We ask for a sugg. donation of $3 if you bring your own beverage. We will be serving our usual menu of food & drinks throughout the evening.

 I'm also excited about our Friday night line up with some old friends from down south, The Great Book of John. These guys have an amazing new album out & are getting great press. It's really an honor to have them play a stripped down acoustic set for us here. Starting out the night at 7:30 is local talent, Elisa Lovlie. Be sure & stick around 'til the end to hear the hypnotic world grooves from House of Waters. This is an eclectic night of music that you don't want to miss. Hope to see you all there in your Fall best ready to partake in some good times, pecan pumpkin pie & ginger spice apple cider!!!

No sleep 'til....

 Hey folks. Sorry I've been absent for the past couple of weeks...well, I'm not that sorry. I've actually had a couple of amazing weekends of travel. I hit the open road with my good buddy Jonathan Durham to do a crazy performance art piece for some students at UVA in Charlottesville, VA.  It involved: a detour to New Jersey to buy a snake, Jonathan in a skimpy dress & red wig, a lunch date with the two of us & three margaritas each & napping in the van. Good times Indeed!

  This past weekend Randi and I had an amazing trip to the Beautiful town or Burlington, Vermont with our good friends Mike & Tina. The first night we went to a local bar & partied like it was 1999!...seriously, it was a 90's themed hip hop night.
The next few days involved lots of shopping, eating & enjoying the mountains, trees & the lovely lake Champlain. We made sure to take time out for some free samples at the Magic Hat Brewery & Ben & Jerry's Creamery as well. The first part of the drive home was amazing. The highway was surrounded by some of the most beautiful nature I have ever seen. ...Fast forward a few hours to around midnight, 10 miles from home & we get stuck in traffic on the BQE for over an hour. Ah, Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in. Seriously though, its good to be back home & back in the groove of serving this great community.

Join us this weekend for some great music & general good times. Tonight we have our normal Fri. night of music starting up at 7:30. As always byob & wine. Please bring a sugg. $3 donation if you bring in your own brew as well as some money for the performing artist. Be sure & save enough for our delicious food & coffee as well. We are serving up our fall specialties including homemade pumpkin pie & ginger spice apple cider. Check out the videos below for a sample of tonights music:

Singin' in the rain....

Hey folks! Looks to be a gloomy weekend ahead of us but no worries, you can keep dry & warm in our cozy little cafe. Make plans to join us on Friday night, starting at 7:30, for a wonderful evening of music hosted by my good friend Trisha Ivy Horst. She will be debuting some of her own music along with other talented friends, Paul Michael Phillips & Melanie Penn, who will be sharing the stage. Also joining in will be Robbie Hetcht, a great singer/songwriter who's passing through these parts on his U.S. tour. Check the videos & links below to hear these artist.

-Melanie Penn http://www.melaniepenn.com/
-Paul Michael Phillips http://soundcloud.com/paul-michael-phillips
-Robby Hecht & http://www.myspace.com/robbyhecht
-Trisha Ivy http://www.facebook.com/TrishaIvyMusic

As always, our shows are free & byob & wine. To help us keep this community going please bring a sugg. $3 donation for the cafe if you bring in your own beverage & some extra for the performing artist. We will be serving our regular food & drinks throughout the evening.

Be sure & try our home brewed ginger, spice apple cider. We have an amazing home made caramel simple syrup by Herbin' Spoonful to add for that extra sweet tooth. See ya'll soon!


 I'd also like to invite you guys to an event this Saturday in Red Hook where I'll be doing some collaboration with my good buddy & artist, Jonathan Durham.

...Please join us Saturday as the sun sets over Red Hook for some smoked secrets BBQ and the closing reception of Jonathan Durham's Them That Believe.
The artist will be deliver a brief public address titled Jim's Tail On The Head with special musical guest Jamey Hamm, aka, Brother Hamm. More music to follow from Brother Hamm in the studio that evening.

Closing BBQ
September 24, 6 - 9pm
Public Address: 7pm

Location: Recess at Kidd Yellin

133 Imlay Street

It's a new season at Roots cafe!

Hey folks. Looks like summer is slowly leaving & fall is creeping up behind. I'm looking forward to the cool breeze this weekend along with temps in the 60's! You know you can't wait to throw on that new cardigan you bought on discount at the end of summer sale. Why not do just that & head on over to Roots cafe on Friday night for some great food & music starting up at 7:30pm. (videos of the artist performing posted below.)


  In other news about what's new... we are starting to serve up our fall drinks including hot apple cider, & hot chocolate. We are also introducing our new homemade caramel simple syrup made by Herbin' Spoonful for a wonderful addition to the cider or lattes.

 In addition to our great selection of pastries we will be offering lots of new vegan/gluten free options that are a tasty treat for everyone.
We have some delicious pumpkin raisin muffins & pumpkin cranberry scones for a quick morning snack that goes amazingly with a fresh cup of our Stumptown coffee.  Be sure & try the vanilla cream, choc. chip stuffies & cookies or a Choc. mint whoopie pie!

 Ever heard of Fatty Cake cookies? If not, you will soon enough. Why not try some this weekend right here at Roots Cafe. We will be the very first cafe in NY selling these insanely delicious treats including flavors like: Smores, peanut butter choc. brownie, bacon peanut brittle w/ sea salt, & many, many more. Flavors will be rotating weekly. Check out fattycakesny.com

Lastly, & what I am most excited about is our brand new faces that will be greeting you & serving you here. Let's all welcome Ashley & Lauren to the Roots family. Starting in Oct. they will be officially on board & certified. Until then you'll see them around doing a little training & getting to know the community.

 New fall hours begin Monday Sept. 19th. We will be opening a little earlier at 6:30am for those who just miss us in the mornings. Then starting Oct. 3rd we will stay open a little later, 8pm, for those who want to grab a bite after work. I'll keep you posted on our weekend events & special weekly events where we will be open later as well. Check the videos below for what you will hear this Friday night!

New grooves & goodies!

Hey there folks. We got the usual good times & music this Friday...but first let me tell you about some new treats that are catered to everyone. I've created a couple of new items that are gluten free, dairy free...& FLAVOR - FULL! Come in this weekend & try my Chocolate Peach pie for dessert or for the mornin' time have the Oatmeal, raisin, carrot muffin with a cup of Stumptown coffee.

Music starts up at 7:30 Friday night with some great local & traveling talent. Come support these artist as they share their songs in an intimate setting. We are a community spot & we don't charge for the shows so help us support the musicians by throwing a tip in the basket we pass after each performance. Check out the videos below to get a sample of what to expect.

Check out this link to see Willie DE
http://vimeo.com/20850451 

Also, be sure to come by this month & check out the photography of Joe Cantor. He will be displaying some amazing small town pieces along with some local Brooklyn shots. www.joecantor.com

Roots & beyond...

 This week we'd like to invite you all out to a very special event we've dubbed "Roots in the round." On the eve of Friday, Aug. 26th we will load up the posse and bring our humble lil'scene over to our wonderful neighbors at Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, 315 Columbia St.. (we will be closing Roots early at 5pm) The fine folks at Jalopy invited us to host a great night of roots music on their stage & boy howdy did we round up some amazing musicians for it.

 Throughout the show these artist will share the stage & rotate sets of both original & familiar covers to sing a long to. Music starts up at 8pm sharp! This is sure to be an action packed evening of in your face awesomeness that you must see to believe!...otherwise, how would it be in your face awesome? Anyway, check the videos below to get a small taste of this action i speak of.

Hope to see you all there! Before that be sure to stop into Roots cafe this week for some amazing coffee & food. Always happy to serve this beautiful community.


  

Roots gets CRUNK!

...ok...so I actually don't even know what that means...just thought it sounded right considering we are doing a hip hop / soul night this Friday, Aug. 19th. Our good friend Rabbi Darkside will be hosting the evening with some amazing acts: Dollar Coffee (Albert Ryhmstein & BS), Shawn Randall & Duv Real Muzik + special guest!
 Since Dollar Coffee will be performing we will be doing $1 coffee all night. ( hot or iced) & as always byob & wine + "FREE" PBR on the down low. We appreciate tips as they help us continue to provide these services & free music every weekend. We will also pass the tip basket for the artist performing throughout the evening.

 Come in this weekend & check out some of our new menu items & have a relaxing morning or afternoon with us. We are always happy to serve this great community that is South Slope. Come grow together with us. Be well everyone. See ya'll real soon!

Art & music happenings...

The summer is winding down but here at Roots we are still going wide open with new local art monthly & music every Friday night. This month on display are the works of Jillian Rose. Opening reception Thursday, Aug. 11th, 6:30-9pm.

                                             jillianrosejohnson.com

This Friday, Aug. 12th we have a full line up of great local talent starting at 7:30pm. As always byob & wine + "FREE" PBR (be awesome & leave a friendly tip for these services.) Here's what to expect:

       7:30 / Margaret Glaspy , 8:15 / Sugar Wolf , 9 / Rabbits in Raincoats

We're still rockin'!

Hey folks. It's been quiet a while since I've updated here. The summer has been busy & rockin' at Roots so I sometimes forget to post everything that's happening. We have lot's of new sandwiches (BBQ Bird and the Country Boy with house made BBQ sauce & slaw + a fresh veggie wrap called "Granny's Garden" & iced drinks (teas, giner mint lemonade & cucumber lemon water)  that are perfect for your summer cravings. (Sorry kids...still no smoothies or frappamochalatechino's.)



We have a great line up of music this Friday starting at 7:30pm with Daniel Harnett / Sean Lauder / The Famous Winters. (BYOB & Wine. $3 sugg. donation. + "free" PBR...Tips mucho appreciated!)
Come relax on a warm summer's eve & share in the community that is Roots Cafe. Be well folks!

                                            Daniel Harnett

                                           Sean Lauder

                                            The Famous Winters

Summer shindigs.

 Hey folks. Just realized I didn't post last week...oops! Oh well, we had our usual good times in music & such. This week will be a little chill on that end considering it's July 4th weekend. No music this Wed. or Fri. but we will be open for cafe/coffee business as usual.

 There are a few changes for the summer schedule you may want to take note of. For starters our regular Wed. night music series "Roots in the Raw" will be canceled until the Fall. We will however continue with our Friday nights & we are booked solid with some amazing acts.

 We are starting to close at 7pm Mon.-Thur. due to less business during the summer. Fridays will be open until 10:30ish with the music events. Saturdays & Sundays we will close between 6 & 7 depending on the flow of the day.

 Lastly I would like to invite you all out to South Paw on July 9th for a very special evening of music called "Roots Family Reunion." Mark your calendars for this event & I will be sending more details next week. All you need to know for now is that this is gonna be a wonderful evening with a collective of musicians who have all performed at Roots cafe over the past two years helping form this thriving music community. The theme of the evening is country & bluegrass so we picked a line up that best represent those styles.

Also don't forget the music in Prospect Park tomorrow night. We will all be hanging out there so join us. Here's a little video of one of our favorites, Justin Townes Earle, who will be performing.

Let the good times roll....

...Starting this Wed. June 15th with our "Roots in the Raw" series. Three great, local, neighborhood acts will be providing some lovely, aspiring music to help get you over that mid week hump. Music is from 7-9pm.
Line up includes:

                                 Elise Bernlohr w/ special guest, Gypsy George

                                         Raphael McGregor & Pete Sinjin

Also join us Friday June 17th for an outstanding line up of both local & traveling talent. Music starts at 7:30pm and is always free + BYOB! (please bring a tip for the cafe if you do so.) "Free" PBR beer is also available if you're a nice/cool person who's likes to leave big tips for things like that.  C'mon! Nothing is really free right. Help us continue to help you by providing a great environment for all types of art. Friday's music includes:

                                             Munny & the cameraman

                                          Coal Town Rounders

                                       Chris Q. Murphy & the Fiendish Thingies

HOPE TO SEE ALL YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACES THERE! Be well. See ya'll real soon!

It's gettin' hot in hur!

This week is full of AMAZING music. Starting with Roots favorite, Rabbi Darkside,  hosting Wed. night June 8th with a full line up of his talented friends. This will be Rabbi's third "Roots in the Raw" and they just keep getting better every time! Come enjoy a chill evening of down home, acoustic hip-hop & soul.

If you can't make it out to our mid week music event there is always FRIDAY! This coming Friday, June 10th we have a full line up of local talent as well as an out of towner who needs some good ol' Brooklyn support. We'll be starting early this week at 6:30 with Brian Elmquist & special guest. Also performing: Jesse Ricke/ Jeremy Ezell and The Well Reds (solo set) he's the out of towner / Tete-A-Tete. As always, BYOB & wine. Be kind & bring a tip if you bring in your own drinks as well as a few dollars for the bands. We pass the tip basket after each act.

                                                           Brian Elmquist

 http://www.elmquistmusic.com

                                                     Jesse Ricke

                                            Jeremy Ezell (the wellreds)
http://www.jeremyezellmusic.com

                                             Rachel Brotman ( Tete-A-Tete)

• http://tete-a-tete-music.tumblr.com

http://vimeo.com/20187292

It's official folks! Summer is here!

Things are heating up in the city but that's okay because we have plenty of iced coffee & air conditioning for your comfort! With that said, what better place to be this week than hanging out with us? We have our weekly music series "Roots in the Raw"  Wed. June 1st (7-9pm) with John Eichleay & friends. Special guest performances by Koran Agan & Austin McCutchin.  

                                                 johneichleay.com


Friday June 3rd we have a full line up of local music starting early at 7pm with: Justin Kilburn / Ross Garlow / Mike Higbee / Wild Horse. As always byob & wine + free PBR! Please be kind & leave a tip for our generosity.

                                      Justin Kilburn

                                      Mike Higbee (mikehigbee.com)

                                 Wild Horse (thisiswildhorse.com)

This weeks ruckus:

Looks like we all made it through the apocalypse without a scratch! You may be saying to yourself, "Now what do I do with my life?" I say a good place to start celebrating this new appreciation of your existence is right here at Roots Cafe. We have an amazing week of music events ahead. Starting Wed. May 25th with our weekly "Roots in the Raw" series. This week is hosted by local, Steven Cohen "Tyro Marks" & friends. Music is from 7-9pm.

                                  check out more at tyromarks.com

This Friday May 27th music starts a little earlier than usual due to an amazingly full line up of musicians. 7-10pm. Music from: Ricci Swift / Shy Town / Bog's Visionary Orchestra / Spur of the moment string Band.

 check out more at shytownny.bandcamp.com / bogsvisionaryorchestra.com / myspace.com/spurstringband

This weeks ruckus:

Friday night, 5/20 is Ladie's Night!  All female fronted indie/folk music. 7-10pm

                                                                        XIENA SKY

                                                              YOUR FRIEND KIMI

                                                                  OK SWEETHEART

                                                   ROZ RASKIN & THE RICE CAKES


 byob/wine + PBR for free! (Please be kind & tip for these services. Thnx)