Region’s showcase of ambitions sees 50% increase in media profile.

Top BBC presenter Michael Buerk is to return to his old school to chair Solihull’s inaugural Big Debate.

England wicket keeper Sarah Taylor is arguably one of the best female cricketers in the history of the ladies game and she could make history this summer by becoming the first woman to play men's second XI county cricket.

Half a century has passed since they flicked rubbers at each other from their desks, but up to 250 of a Sutton Coldfield secondary school’s first pupils are to reunite to mark its 50th anniversary.

Name change reflects wide range of events for 2019.

Spoken word extravaganza to promote social enterprise once more.

Peter Lowe, Managing Editor of Sky News, is to be chairman of the judging panel for this year’s Midlands Media Awards, shortlisted nominations for which will be announced on Monday, May 13.

With Gareth in pieces after Glastonbury this weekend, Liam helps nurse him back to reality.

There’s an exclusive Blues Kitchen session from Eli Paperboy Reed, paying tribute to the late, great Dr John with a performance of ‘A Losing Battle’ (written by the Dr but recorded by Johnny Adams).

There’s also new music from Justin Townes Earle & Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) alongside classics from Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Don Williams, Doris & Kelly, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells & The Rolling Stones.

To see the Eli Paperboy Reed performances in full, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BluesKitchenLondon

Website: https://theblueskitchen.com/shoreditch/tv-radio/

When you've caught up with the podcast, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Email the show: radio@theblueskitchen.com

Listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Mixcloud, Acast & many more…

Liam & Gaz dig out some classics from Sister Rosetta, Earl Hooker, Black Merda! & Jon Spencer Blues Explosion alongside new tracks from Kelly Finnegan, Charlie Parr & Mystery Jets.

There’s also an exclusive Blues Kitchen live session with Mississippi Bluesman Watermelon Slim. 

** Join Liam & Gaz for a live recording of The Blues Kitchen Podcast **

- Weds 16th October
- 7pm – 9pm
- The Blues Kitchen Shoreditch (Basement)
- Limited £5 tickets from: bit.ly/bkpodcastlive

To see the Amadou & Mariam & The Blind Boys of Alabama performances in full, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BluesKitchenLondon

When you've caught up with the podcast, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Email the show: radio@theblueskitchen.com

Listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Mixcloud, Acast & many more…

Classic Blues, RnB, Folk & Soul in this weeks episode from Roscoe Robinson Frankie Miller, Sly Stone, Pops Staples, Steve Cropper, Albert King, Otis Rush, The Velvet Underground & John Prine.

There's also an exclusive Blues Kitchen live performance from Kelly Finnigan & The Atonements. 

Check out Kelly's new album, 'The Tales People Tell' on Colemine Records here: https://www.kellyfinnigan.com/ 

Head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Be sure to check out:

The Blues Chronicles
Bush Hall - London
Thurs 27th 2020
Fri 28th Feb 2020
https://theblueschronicles.com/events/

When you've caught up with the podcast, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Email the show: radio@theblueskitchen.com

Listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Mixcloud, Acast & many more…

Roscoe Robinson – You Don’t Move Me No More

Frankie Miller - You Don’t Need To Laugh

Sly Stone – Seventh Son

Pops Staples, Steve Cropper, Albert King – Big Bird

Kelly Finnegan – Since I Don’t Have You (BK Live Session)

Otis Rush – So Many Roads, So Many Trains 

The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane

John Prine – Angel From Montgomery

In this week’s episode, Gaz and Liam bring you new music from The Monophonics alongside classic blues, soul, gospel and roots from: Buddy Guy, Odetta, The Lone Bellow, Earl Hooker, Hightower Brothers and Jackie Wilson.

There's also an exclusive Blues Kitchen live session with The Lone Bellow. 

Be sure to check out:

The Blues Chronicles
Bush Hall - London
Thurs 27th 2020
Fri 28th Feb 2020
https://theblueschronicles.com/events/

When you've caught up with the podcast, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Email the show: radio@theblueskitchen.com

Listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Mixcloud, Acast & many more…

This week, The Blues Kitchen hosts Nathaniel Rateliff. 

Nathaniel plays an exclusive version of ‘A Song For You’ originally written & recorded by Leon Russell.

There’s also tracks from Sea Level, Son House, Parliament, The Texas Gentlemen, Green Leaf Rustlers & The Grateful Dead.

For the full interview with Nathaniel Rateliff, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Be sure to check out:

The Blues Chronicles

Bush Hall - London
Thurs 27th 2020
Fri 28th Feb 2020
https://theblueschronicles.com/events/

When you've caught up with the podcast, head over to The Blues Kitchen YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/BluesKitchenTV

Email the show: radio@theblueskitchen.com

Listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Mixcloud, Acast & many more…

Birmingham Now TV launched online.

An in-depth interview with rap icon Talib Kweli. We talk to the veteran emcee about Black Star, similes, the Occupy movement, and lots more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/9/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, we talk to a man of many names. Deric Angelettie is best known for his work with Bad Boy Records’ production squad The Hitmen, who took over the radio in the mid-90’s. In addition to producing hits like “All About the Benjamins” and “Hypnotize,” he served as Bad Boy’s comic id, The Mad Rapper.

Prior to all that, though, he was a rapper named D.O.P., who released a superb record as part of a duo called Two Kings in a Cipher, with future Hitmen partner Ron Lawrence. We chatted with Angelettie about his whole career and the large collection of top-tier rappers he’s collaborated with or produced.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/21/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, we bring you a convo with Michael P. Jeffries, author of Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America, a fascinating examination of how we think about race in a supposedly “post-racial” America.

Jeffries is also a huge hip-hop head, and has written about rap music and culture for The Guardian, The Atlantic, and more. We talk to him about Tupac and “thuggin’,” Rick Ross’ controversial “U.O.E.N.O.” lyrics, the changing meaning of being multi-racial, and lots more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/42/ for full show notes and comments.

This episode, we talk to hip-hop impresario Michael Holman. Holman was instrumental in bringing the burgeoning culture in Uptown NYC in the late 1970s — the breakdancers, the DJs, the rappers, and the aerosol artists — to a Downtown crowd and, shortly afterwards, to the rest of the world. He wrote books, made short films, hosted TV shows, made albums, managed breakdance troupes, acted in movies, hosted live shows, you name it. Holman also co-founded the band Gray, whose members have included the legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and film director Vincent Gallo.

He is perhaps best known for Graffiti Rock, a TV show he created and hosted in 1984, which was a Soul Train-style show for hip-hop. While it only aired for one episode, its influence is still being felt. In fact, Holman is currently putting together a documentary on the making of Graffiti Rock. You can find out more about the project, and help him make it, here.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/45/ for full show notes and comments.

Beginning with a hometown crew and a particular style of chopped and screwed remixes, Michael Watts successfully turned regional mix tape distribution into a record label empire - turning the national hip hop scene onto the Houston rap community. As we heard from our talk with Houston Rap author Lance Scott Walker, the Houston rap landscape is an incredibly rich one - widely defined by the rappers, producers, and DJs who have never and will never truly leave the city. No one knows that better than Watts.

We talked to the legendary DJ, founder and CEO of Swishahouse Records about the origins of chopped and screwed music, his “fuck action” mixtapes, the hype behind Mike Jones, the beginnings of Swishahouse, and much more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/62/ for full show notes and comments.

Our special 100th episode finds us with a flood of special guests. We have Metermaids, an NYC rap duo signed to Sage Francis’ Strange Famous label. Their newest album We Brought Knives is a powerful examination of fatherhood, legacies, changing times, and the awesomeness of Bruce Springsteen.

They’re followed by Gabriel Roth. Roth is the co-founder of Daptone Records, a Brooklyn-based label that has released some of the finest soul, funk, Afrobeat, and other roots music of this generation. The band he leads, The Dap-Kings (who normally back the powerful singer Sharon Jones), played a key part in one of the most popular records in recent memory, Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black.

This being an anniversary party, we start the show with a special surprise guest.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/100/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, our guest is Benjy Melendez, founder, President, and singer of the Ghetto Brothers. He is joined by his co-author and friend, Amir Said.

The Ghetto Brothers were one of the largest and most powerful street gangs in the Bronx in the late 1960s and early 70s - a time when the borough, and New York City as a whole, had plenty to choose from. At its height, the organization had around 2,000 members city-wide.

But after one of their key figures got killed by rival gangs, Benjy devoted his efforts to peace, and held a now-famous peace treaty meeting at the Hoe Avenue center in the Bronx in 1971 - a gathering that set the stage for the ending of the gang era and the beginnings of hip-hop.

In addition to being a powerful organization, the Ghetto Brothers were also a rock and roll band. They only released one album, 1971’s Power Fuerza, but it became a prized collectors item, notable for its surprisingly sweet lyrics and Beatle-esque melodies, Latin percussion, and unique backstory.

While parts of Benjy’s story have been shared in the new documentary Rubble Kings and even in a graphic novel, the new book by Benjy and Amir Said, Ghetto Brother: How I Found Peace in the South Bronx Street Gang Wars, is the first place Benjy shares his entire life story.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/114/ for full show notes and comments.

Luther Campbell needs no introduction. Since starting his career as a DJ in Miami in the late 1970s, he’s been an innovator musically, culturally, business-wise, and even legally. As the mastermind behind 2 Live Crew, Campbell guided the group’s change from a California-based conscious rap group into a pioneering Southern crew who popularized Miami bass music, and whose raunchy lyrics were often imitated.

It was those same raunchy lyrics that would land Campbell and the group in repeated legal hot water. Luke fought and won legal battles not only for his group’s right to be, as his most popular and controversial record would have it, “as nasty as they wanna be,” but also for record stores’ right to sell his work. He also took a battle to parody songs all the way to the Supreme Court - and won. Simultaneously, he was running the fiercely independent Luke Records, which was for a time the largest black-owned record label in the country, and discovering acts like Poison Klan, Trick Daddy, and Pitbull.

Luke has also been fiercely devoted to the children of his native Liberty City neighborhood, starting a popular youth football league, coaching teams himself, and even running for Mayor of Miami in 2011. His latest venture is a memoir (with Tanner Colby) that covers his wild life and times, as well as the history of his hometown. It’s called The Book of Luke: My Fight for Truth, Justice, and Liberty City, published by Amistad.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/116/ for full show notes and comments.

Raquel Cepeda is an author, journalist, filmmaker, podcast host, and a whole lot more. She grew up in both the Dominican Republic and the New York City of the 1980s. In 2001, she became the Editor-In-Chief of Russell Simmons’ One World magazine. She left the magazine in 2004, just in time to edit the definitive anthology of rap writing, And It Don’t Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism.

Raquel would go on to make the documentary Bling: A Planet Rock, where she took Paul Wall, Raekwon, and Tego Calderon to Sierra Leone in order to learn the truth behind the country’s diamond trade. Her most recent book is a memoir, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina, and she’s also a “co-discussant” on the podcast Our National Conversation About Conversations About Race.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/127/ for full show notes and comments.

Quelle is a rapper and producer who originally hails from Detroit – though he’s also passed through St. Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, and more. He got his start with Detroit’s Wasted Youth crew, teaming up with artists like Denmark Vessey, Big Tone, and even Danny Brown, the last of whom used two of Quelle’s beats on his breakthrough album XXX.

Quelle’s music runs the gamut from banging rap beats to experimental synth pop, and his subject matter from raunchy humor to conversations with God. His most recent solo album, last year’s Innocent Country, is his most powerful and wide-ranging work yet.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/141/ for full show notes and comments.

Eligh Nachowitz and Corey Scoffern, a.k.a. The Grouch, are rappers best known for their affiliation with the Living Legends crew. The group, which also included our recent guest Murs, were pioneers in the independent West Coast rap scene in the 1990s. Eligh began his career with Murs and fellow future Living Legend member Scarub in a group called Three Melancholy Gypsys while still a teenager. That crew joined with another group called Mystik Journeymen, picked up a few members including The Grouch, and formed the Living Legends. Their lo-fi albums, made initially on four-tracks, plus their self-booked international tours, set a template that independent rappers follow to this day.

Eligh and The Grouch began releasing music as a duo in in 1998, and have released a number of albums together, most recently 2014’s triple album The Tortoise and the Crow. Together, separately, and with the rest of the Living Legends, their sprawling discography is one of the finest of the era.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/143/ for full show notes and comments.

Elzhi got his start as an emcee in the now-famous Detroit rap scene of the 1990s, going to shows and open mics alongside some of the city’s great talent like Guilty Simpson, Royce da 5’9”, Phat Kat, Invincible, Proof, Eminem, and Slum Village. In 2001, Elzhi would join Slum Village after J Dilla left the group. He would remain with them for nearly a decade, leaving in 2010 amidst drama with the other members and their record label.

In 2011, Elzhi released an album-length reinvisioning of Nas’ Illmatic, entitled Elmatic, which met great critical and popular success. His brand new album, inspired by his struggles with depression, is called Lead Poison.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/152/ for full show notes and comments.

Skeff is a producer and engineer who worked on some of the best hip-hop to come out of New York in the 1980s and 90s. He started out as the in-house engineer for the label Strong City Records and its associated recording studio, both of which were run by the legendary Bronx DJ Jazzy Jay.

Skeff has worked on records by Brand Nubian, De La Soul, Mos Def, Heavy D, MC Serch, D-Nice, Busy Bee, Diamond D, Tragedy, and countless others. But he is perhaps best known for his work with A Tribe Called Quest. On the group’s classic second and third albums, The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders, Skeff was one of only two non-group-members to produce songs—the other one was Large Professor. Skeff also worked very closely with the late Phife Dawg in the vocal booth, helping to turn Phife into the iconic rapper he is remembered as today.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/198/ for full show notes and comments.

This is episode 200, and features a return from Kevin Coval. However, since it is our 200th, our producer Josh got Kevin, who’s also a big fan of the show, to turn the tables without us knowing and interview the show’s host Shawn. So if you’ll excuse a little self indulgence here’s the episode 200 with Kevin Coval, Shawn Setaro AND Josh Kross.

Kevin is a poet and educator who is the artistic director of Young Chicago Authors, and the author and editor of a whole bunch of great books. The latest of these is A People’s History of Chicago. The book, true to its title, covers the entire history of the city, while focusing on the experiences and victories of its working people and those struggling for justice. The book’s foreward is by a young artist who has learned a lot from Coval, Chance the Rapper.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/200/ for full show notes and comments.

DJ Statik Selektah has been on his grind since he first started DJing in his very early teens. He made a name for himself as a mixtape DJ, but really broke out once he started making beats on his own. He has released seven solo albums, with his latest, 8, coming out this Friday, December 8th. Those records have featured guest appearances from almost everyone in hip-hop, from Kool G Rap and Bun B to Smoke DZA and 2 Chainz. In addition, he has released collaborative albums with Bumpy Knuckles, Termanology, Freeway, KXNG Crooked, Freddie Gibbs, and others.

As an artist and producer, Statik has played an important role in the careers of Mac Miller, Action Bronson, and countless other up-and-coming stars. And he has had a special role as a big brother for Joey Badass and his Pro Era crew, serving as the collective’s tour DJ for years and producing many of their best-loved songs.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/226/ for full show notes and comments.

Skyzoo is a fantastic Brooklyn rapper whose sophisticated lyrics and ear for soulful beats has long made him one of our favorites. Longtime listeners will no doubt remember that he’s been a guest on the show twice before. But this is different.

Sky approached us last month with the idea of having an in-depth conversation to tease out the themes and ideas in his awesome new record. In Celebration of Us, easily his most topical project to date, deals with police violence, gentrification, discrimination, validation, and ultimately what it means to be, as Sky is, a black man raising a black boy in America today.

He wanted to have the talk at a place near to his heart, so we met at Mike’s Coffee Shop. Mike’s is a Brooklyn diner that has been a staple of the rapper’s life since childhood, and remains one now that he has a child — his newborn son Miles — of his own.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/231/ for full show notes and comments.

Jean Grae was our show’s first-ever guest back in 2012. She is one of the finest rappers out there, and a great producer as well. But in recent years, she’s expanded her horizons even further, pushing into comedy, sitcoms, instructional albums, audiobooks, talk shows, variety shows, and even her own church.

Quelle Chris joined us in 2016. Since then, he’s released the acclaimed album Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often and the instrumental project Lullabies for the Broken Brain.

Now Jean and Quelle have joined forces for the incredible new album Everything’s Fine. The project has been met with critical raves from pretty much everywhere, and rightly so. It shows Jean and Quelle in absolute top form: rapping, singing, producing, and playing on a group of songs that respond to today’s often-frightening world with humor, sadness, and a reminder that when we tell people that everything’s fine, we almost never mean it.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/236/ for full show notes and comments.

Kalyn is a rapper and the leader of the eclectic Denver-based group Wheelchair Sports Camp, who have garnered critical acclaim for their music and their energetic live performances almost since their founding in 2009.

Wheelchair Sports Camp - named after a real camp that Kalyn, who has brittle bone disease and has been in a wheelchair her whole life - used to attend, is a group that pushes the boundaries in sound and subject matter. Most performances consist of Kalyn, drums, and trumpet, and their latest album No Big Deal explores everything from gentrification to the pressure artists put on themselves to important social issues.

In addition to being a great rapper, Kalyn is also an activist, and now a politician. She participated in a big protest against the repeal of the ACA that had her and other activists taking over a senator’s office. And now she’s running - or rather, as she puts it, rolling - for Mayor of Denver.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/240/ for full show notes and comments.

Jericho Jackson is a group made up of producer Khrysis and rapper Elzhi. Khrysis is best known for his work with the rap collective the Justus League, which counts among its members 9th Wonder. He is currently a member of 9th’s production team the Soul Council. In addition to his North Carolina crew, Khrysis has produced for Sean Price and Heltah Skeltah, Jean Grae, Evidence, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, and many others.

Dedicated Cipher listeners will remember Elzhi from our talk with him on episode 152. The Detroit rapper came to a lot of fans’ attention during his time as a member of Slum Village. He followed that up with a staggering series of solo albums, including the Nas reinvention Elmatic and the deeply personal Lead Poison.

Khrysis and Elzhi’s recent joint album is called Khrysis and Elzhi Are Jericho Jackson.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/247/ for full show notes and comments.

How Welsh National Opera is helping city music students

Richard Lutz remembers Mike Wakelam, a major force in medical research who died suddenly of a suspected Covid-19 infection.

Comedian Felipe Esparza joins Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt live in studio.

This podcast is brought to you by:

Onnit.com. Use Promo code CHURCH for a discount at checkout.

Hulu Plus. Visit Huluplus.com/joey for an extended free trial.

Dollar Shave Club. Use promo code CHURCH and get high quality razors sent to your door.

Escapepodtank.com Mention Joey or the Church and get $250 off.

Recorded live on 04/07/2014.

Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt do the first remote Church podcast. They welcome guest Alder Hampel to the show for the first time. Alder is the owner and coach at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys. 

This podcast is brought to you by:

Onnit.com. Use Promo code CHURCH for a discount at checkout.

Hulu Plus. Visit Huluplus.com/joey for an extended free trial.

Dollar Shave Club. Use promo code CHURCH and get high quality razors sent to your door.

Escapepodtank.com Mention Joey or the Church and get $250 off.

Recorded on 05/04/2014.

Jiu Jitsu Coach John Evans joins Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt in studio with a special call from Dr. Joel Crandall.

This podcast is brought to you by:

Onnit.com. Use Promo code CHURCH for a discount at checkout.

Hulu Plus. Visit Huluplus.com/joey for an extended free trial.

Dollar Shave Club. Use promo code CHURCH and get high quality razors sent to your door.

HITecigs.com For a better tasting, longer lasting e cig go to HITecigs.com. Use Promo code joeyschurch for a 20% discount

Recorded on 09/21/2014

Eleanor Kerrigan, Comedian seen on ShowTime's "Andrew Dice Clay Presents: The Blue Show, joins Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt live in studio.

Dean Delray, Comedian and Host of the "Let There Be Talk" podcast, joins Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt in studio.

Ari Shaffir, Comedian, and Host of the, "Skeptic Tank" podcast, Eddie Bravo, 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu,join Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt in studio with a call from Duncan Trussell, 'The Duncan Trussell Family Hour"