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