Initiative follows upsurge in violent incidents.

Helen Dixon House receives grant aid from police charity.

Six guns seized and five arrested in space of 24 hours.

Award recognises centre's bike-friendly credentials.

World record football freestyle expert to visit Solihull.

Bus scheme driving cleaner air and better facilities for Solihull town centre.

Good Hope Hospital - in partnership with Healthcare at Home Ltd - is launching its first recovery at home (R@H) service this week

A Good Hope consultant has won international recognition for leading a new treatment study

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.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Donkey Assisted Therapy Centre in Birmingham is holding a Summer Fair and fun dog show on Saturday 13th July

Chance for Birmingham tennis lovers to learn from the world’s number one doubles coach.

Nature Valley Classic brings the best to Birmingham.

Tennis legend to compete in Nature Valley Classic.

Ticket offers released for the 2020 tennis season.

Community initiative gains wide support.

Name change reflects wide range of events for 2019.

There's plenty to be doing over the next few days.

Top attractions coming to Warwickshire.

Spoken word extravaganza to promote social enterprise once more.

HD Brows add city centre to their list of academies.

The Midlands Media Awards is this year to take place at The Holte Suite, Aston Villa FC’s prestigious hospitality centre.

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.

Les Reid, of the Coventry Telegraph, has been nominated for four categories at this year’s Awards, which are being held next month.

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…

Gareth returns from yet ANOTHER Stag party with a hangover and a selection of classic records from Baby Washington, Reverend Gary Davis, Tony Joe White, The Animals & Jimi Hendrix. 

There is also new music from Nick Waterhouse, Michael Kiwanuka & an exclusive Blues Kitchen Session with Jaime Wyatt.

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…

Stephen Pennell gives the lowdown on another night in Digbeth.

Richard Lutz takes his pew for the Ben Johnson classic that caustically sends up his fellow Londoners of 1610.

Imagine a 30 foot high Ariel towering above Propero - that’s what you get in this groundbreaking performance, says Richard Lutz

This week, we talk to one of our favorite up-and-coming rappers, Meyhem Lauren. Lauren’s rapping agility, style, sense of humor, and love of a gourmet meal have moved him way up on our list in just a handful of year. Along with his friends and frequent collaborators Roc Marciano and childhood friend Action Bronson, he is leading a resurgance of New York rap. We talked to Lauren about his career, his beef with Pitchfork, and lots more!

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/33/ 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.

This week, we talk to MF Grimm, along with his producer and group-mate Drasar Monumental. Grimm is a rapper, producer, and now an award-winning comic book writer, who is just now making some of the greatest music of his long and storied career.

After growing up in the New York City of the 70s and 80s - and making a short stint as a child actor on Sesame Street - Grimm began his hip-hop career on the city’s battle scene. He quickly gained attention, started ghostwriting for more successful acts, and was on the verge of solo stardom when he was shot and paralyzed in 1993, in an incident that also killed his brother.

Grimm recovered, and even executive produced his friend MF Doom’s 1999 solo debut Operation: Doomsday, which was recorded in the basement of Grimm’s Rockland County house. Starting in 2001, he began releasing a string of powerful solo albums that molded the ups and downs of his life into powerful artistic statements. He also moved into another medium, writing the autobiographical graphic novel Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm.

Since 2012, he has been working on the Good Morning Vietnam trilogy of albums with our second guest, producer Drasar Monumental.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/123/ for full show notes and comments.

Dame is a producer who has sold tens of millions of albums in his storied career. He got his start working with The LOX, and had his first big hit with their tribute to Biggie, “We’ll Always Love Big Poppa.” After giving The LOX several of the biggest songs on their debut album Money, Power, Respect, Dame started working with another member of the Ruff Ryders camp, DMX. He produced almost the entirety of X’s 1998 debut It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, beginning a working relationship and friendship that continues to this day.

That album sold over five million copies, and moved Dame into the ranks of superstar producers. He made hits for Cam’ron, Nas, Noreaga, Freeway, and countless others. Then he moved on to a whole sound, helping Max B and French Montana define their “wave” movement. Today, he’s still making songs at a record clip – and we do mean that literally.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/154/ for full show notes and comments.

Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon is a Grammy-winning musician and producer best-known for his work with Timbaland. He got his start in Texas, playing gospel and jazz with people like Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin, and Wayman Tisdale, while producing the occasional hip-hop record. But once he met Timbaland about ten years ago, his career took off.

Harmon has produced, co-produced, or performed on projects by Timbaland, Nas, Chris Brown, Robin Thicke, Jennifer Hudson, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Michael Jackson, and many more. He has won Grammys for his work with gospel icon Fred Hammond, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé, and was a key player in albums like Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, Jay Z’s The Blueprint 3 and Magna Carta…Holy Grail, and Beyoncé’s self-titled LP.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/175/ for full show notes and comments.

Boldy James is a Detroit rapper who first came to many peoples’ attention in 2009 after appearances on songs by his cousin Chuck Inglish’s group, The Cool Kids. But Boldy took that initial burst of interest and ran with it, releasing a slew of mixtapes and guest appearances leading up to his 2013 debut album My 1st Chemistry Set, produced entirely by The Alchemist.

Just over a year later, Boldy was signed to Nas’ then-new label Mass Appeal Records. Boldy’s latest project, out this past February, is House of Blues.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/194/ for full show notes and comments.

Ron is a producer who is best known for his time as part of Bad Boy Records’ Hitmen production collective. Ron teamed up with Deric “D Dot” Angelettie, Diddy, Stevie J, and Nashiem Myrick to create iconic hits for Biggie, Mase, Diddy, Faith Evans, Mary J Blige, The Lox, and many more. After that run ended, Ron made beats for the likes of Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, and Luther Vandross.

Ron is also a hip-hop historian and documentarian, and has made several films dealing with unjustly ignored aspects of hip-hop’s history. Most notable among these is the documentary Founding Fathers, which deals with the mobile DJ scene of the 1970s in Brooklyn and Queens. Any fan of the genre needs to see the movie in order to understand that there was a lot more to DJing in that era than just what was happening in the Bronx.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/207/ for full show notes and comments.

Reggie “Combat Jack” Ossé was a lawyer, a blogger, a music executive, a father, and much more. But most people will remember him as a podcasting legend. The host of the eponymous Combat Jack Show raised the bar throughout his time as a media figure, becoming the most influential hip-hop podcaster and even the co-creator of an entire podcast network.

Ossé died on December 20, 2017. To celebrate his life, this is a revamped version of an interview we first did with him that aired in early 2013. It also includes tributes to Combat from some of the people who worked closely with him over the years.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/229/ for full show notes and comments.

Sage Francis and B. Dolan are both from Providence, are both rappers who have roots in spoken word, have toured and sporadically recorded together for years, and even share a label—the Sage-founded Strange Famous Records. But it has taken them until 2018 to release a full project as a duo: the Epic Beard Men.

Sage is a beloved underground rap veteran who has been releasing albums of his smart, introspective, and emotional music consistently since 2002, and touring the universe maniacally to support them—all while running Strange Famous. B. Dolan is an equally talented wordsmith whose solo work is as likely to give new life to old union hymn as it is to pay tribute to the Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The group has a new EP, Season 1, and an album on the way.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/234/ for full show notes and comments.

With the age of literary correspondence dying, it seems more important than ever to provide spaces of warmth and comfort in which writers can not only retreat

Leaders from some of Europe’s largest companies will be gathering in Birmingham to discuss the role that open innovation and collaboration can play in boosting the economy

Financial advisers from across the West Midlands attended a course on auto enrolment yesterday – the new regime for workplace pensions that has begun to roll out.

The Midlands based rail champion, Campaign for Rail will be holding its inaugural Annual General Meeting tomorrow at the Atrium, Moor Street Station

A charity concert has raised £700 for the Edgbaston-based charity Ammalife.

Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt are joined by Comedian Steve Simeone for the second remote recording of the Church.

This podcast is brought to you by:

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

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Naileditlife.com - Get 20% off a vapor pen by mentioning the Church.

Recorded live on 05/07/2014.

Steve Simeone, Comedian and Host of The Good Times Podcast joins Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt live in studio followed by live call's from listeners.

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