First Coast Connect, Friday at 9:00

I’ll be on WJCT’s First Coast Connect this morning talking about Mayor Peyton lobbying members of the City Council for about $23 million in downtown improvements to increase public access and spruce up amenities on the St. Johns River. Listen here »

Live Urban Jacksonville Weekly, Saturday January 23rd at the Burrito Gallery

To celebrate our 50th Episode of Urban Jacksonville Weekly we’ll be doing a live show at the Burrito Gallery on Saturday January 23rd at 1:30pm. There will be lunch specials, giveaways and live performances by Tough Junkie.

Our special 50th Episode guest is Ian Ranne. Shantytown owner and one of the hardest working entrepreneurs in the Urban Core. We will be taking questions from the audience and there may be a few more surprises in store so don’t miss it. More information to come.

Want to Sponsor the Show or Get Involved?

We are looking for a show sponsor and additional giveaway items. If you want to get involved contact me at joeymarchy@gmail.com

Tune in to Urban Jacksonville Weekly on Monday for Content Design Group

Photo courtesy of Metro Jacksonville and Content Design Group

Greg and Jason from Content Design Group will be in studio on Monday January 11th to talk about the Metro Jacksonville article Is Springfield Ready for a Car Wash? and the role they played in the architecture of the revised plans:

Can a car wash be a part of an urban revitalization plan? After heated opposition and misinformation dominating discussion about the 4th & Main project, owner Silas Jones has modified development plans to better integrate the project within the community. Can common ground be found that will finally lead to project approval and new life along the Main Street corridor?

Tough Junkie talks about Larry Otis at 23 minutes and 30 seconds on Urban Jacksonville Weekly yesterday and reveals Larry is officially working with him.

Thanks to Reax Magazine for this artist write up. They have a huge Summertime in the City feature in the most recent issue. Pick it up!

The MC also known as BlakHart is tough to keep track of – the guy’s Internet presence is, like, nil these days, which in this day and age is unheard of, and all the more intriguing for it. Hip Hop Hell says “Jacksonville legend … known for his work with The IG Camp and The Funkmonsta.

Proper EP release coming on HHH Records with Delectable Beats.” His older stuff at BlakHart’s Myspace page showcases a seriously listenable mix of old-school gangsta and clubby refrains, but with a bit of upbeat vibe thrown in. It’s a pretty undeniable style that could easily climb into the mainstream consciousness without sacrificing any cred.

Lah Lah Lah
Download audio file (Lah-Lah-Lah.mp3)

Nah Nah Nah
Download audio file (Nah-Nah-Nah.mp3)

myspace.com/iamblakhart

He is performing the second day of Summertime in the City at Shantytown in Springfield.

Day 2: Summertime in the City Grand Finale Blowout presented by HIP HOP HELL and Red Bull Music Academy

Where: Shantytown Pub 22 W. 6th St. (Springfield) MAP
When: 10pm to 2am
Price: $5.00

Featuring live performances by: Mr. Al Pete, Dope Sandwich, Steadfast, The Elevated Hip Hop Exp., Heavy Flow, The N Word, Dr. Sam Beckett and many more special guests.

Complete STITC 2009 schedule and more artist profiles at the Summertime in the City 2009 page. Join the Summertime in the City fan page on Facebook.

The Dope Sandwich website describes this collective better than I could:

Dope Sandwich is a Hip-Hop collective that has taken the city of Savannah GA by storm over the past years. What started as a secret society of MC’s, DJ’s, B-Boys, and Graph artists, DSP is quickly becoming the voice of alternative Hip hop around the coastal South East. The bio goes on to say:

They own a live show that plays like a nonstop party, and truly have something for everyone. You have to see it to believe it.

Blue Collar – Bottoms Up

Lucky you! They are playing the second day of Summertime in the City at Shantytown in Springfield.

Day 2: Summertime in the City Grand Finale Blowout presented by HIP HOP HELL and Red Bull Music Academy

Where: Shantytown Pub 22 W. 6th St. (Springfield) MAP
When: 10pm to 2am
Price: $5.00

Featuring live performances by: Dope Sandwich, Steadfast, Grizleh (aka Blakhart), Mr. Al Pete, The Elevated Hip Hop Exp., Heavy Flow, The N Word, Dr. Sam Beckett and many more special guests.

Follow Dope Sandwich on Twitter and check out their Myspace

Complete STITC 2009 schedule and more artist profiles at the Summertime in the City 2009 page. Join the Summertime in the City fan page on Facebook.

Steadfast was raised in Ft. Washington, MD. Whether it was his sister playing the flute or his grandmother practicing with the church choir, it appeared early on that music would be a mainstay in his lifelong diet. He began writting in 1993 after listening to Wu Tang Clan’s debut album and after cultivating his style he linked up with The Homeless Society, a group of emcees and producers repping the New York, Maryland and DC areas.

He’s now on Social Light Sounds records and will be appearing at Summertime in the City 2009. You can also find Steadfast on MySpace.

Day 2: Summertime in the City Grand Finale Blowout presented by HIP HOP HELL and Red Bull Music Academy

Where: Shantytown Pub 22 W. 6th St. (Springfield) MAP
When: 10pm to 2am
Price: $5.00

Featuring live performances by: Steadfast, Grizleh (aka Blakhart), Mr. Al Pete, The Elevated Hip Hop Exp., Heavy Flow, The N Word, Dr. Sam Beckett, Dope Sandwich and many more special guests.

Complete STITC 2009 schedule and more artist profiles at the Summertime in the City 2009 page. Join the Summertime in the City fan page on Facebook.

Google Reader helped me get a grasp on all my news sources. I’ve found a great new workflow with Google Reader that allows me to fly through 60-70 Jacksonville related posts per day. I enjoy using the share functionality for items I don’t have time to post on Urban Jacksonville. You can view my shared items page or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Jazz Festival to Offer Two Bike Valets Stations
Bike valet is growing in popularity, it seems the city really sees the value. Listen to Matt Uhrig talk about bike valet on Urban Jacksonville Weekly #14. This week’s show features guest co-host Tiffany Valla from the Office of Special Events. We’ll be talking about the Jazz Festival.

The The Jacksonville Observer launched this weekend. It’s a cool idea but there’s is too much syndicated content for me. I’d love to see more Jacksonville related stories. Tom Patton, who writes for The Jacksonville Observer, talks about the new site.

a business model is emerging up that has local people covering local stories and leaving the big national stories alone. With so many outlets devoted to the big national stories, local coverage sometimes seems to get short shrift. In hyper-local journalism, the marketplace may again be giving us insight as to what people want to read and understand. One might think that’s counter-intuitive on the “worldwide web”, and yet it speaks to a readership that is interested in their communities, and have found the web to be a perfect delivery vehicle for that content.

It’s revolutionary for Jacksonville and I commend Austin Cassidy for pulling it together. I have a plan like this too, but I’m laying back for a second to work on some other projects.

JaxScene posts some traffic numbers and reminds everyone they forgot to tell JaxScene happy birthday. Happy birthday on 1-year JaxScene. It’s a feat of dedication and love for the community, we’re lucky to have you.

Tough Junkie album out soon. Help Junkie reach 300 presales, via JaxScene

Shantytown Robbed via The Out Box.

Riverside Arts Market from Michael Walter on Vimeo.

Head over to 6th and Main tonight for $2 Guinness. From Ian at Shantytown:

Tuesday is $2 Guindess Day every week at Shantytown, and you mugs done lucked out cause St. Paddys day falls on a Tuesday this year. So we got 2 kegs, popping them out at $2 a pint…. you wont find a deal like this anywhere else, ladys and gentleman. When the 2 kegs run dry thats it for $2 Guiness, so come early and drink up.

• Ms. Donna the Misstress of Trivia kicking off from 8pm till ten or so
• DJ Buttered Cup, Dirty on the Spot, and DJ Mikespacemikemikespacemike
• And yes, 1 keg of green Miller Lite for the amateurs!

We are also recording Episode 8 of Urban Jacksonville Weekly tonight. Topics include:

• Skyway Fire: A public transportation setback or just another bump in the road?
• Alternatives to driving to the Riverside Arts Market on opening day.
• Street art in Jacksonville (why it’s good and why it’s bad)

Let’s keep the spookiness going this week with a gang of Halloween events for this Friday October 31st. It’s been 6 years since Halloween was on a Friday so I expect this one to be pretty wild. Also, with Florida-Georgia the same weekend, Halloween in the City is turning out to be a pretty scary prospect. If I were you, I would stay on the fringes of Downtown and whatever you do, don’t go to The Landing!

Keep an eye out for the new Urban Jacksonville Halloween Mixtape dropping this Friday.

JaxScene is slowly emerging to be on of the best new blogs in the city, their Halloween Breakdown list is a must to check out. Here are some more:

JaxScene Halloween Breakdown list
Halloween Bash @ Are Friends Electric (via JaxScene)
Halloween Freak Out @ Shantytown Pub October 30th (via JaxScene)
All Things Halloween (via Jacksonville Confidential)
Star Wars Art Show at Bogda (via OuterBox)
Halloween Events for Children and the Family (Via JaxScene)

Halloween Party At Shantytown with Tough Junkie and DJ Buttercup. Dress Up!

P.S. If you voted early, good for you. If not you can still vote early! Governor Charlie Crist declared a State of Emergency and extended early voting hours from 7am to 7pm.

Club TSI has announced their grand re-opening party this weekend on Saturday September 13th. TSI officially squashes the rumor that they were closing for good with this party and the redesign of their website. Welcome back boys.

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream and Captain EO

Friday Night at Shantytown
Liquid Limbs (2 peice rock band from Gainesville)
Pawn Takes King (METAL!!!)
Airport Factory (indy-electro-mellower stuff with keyboards. Chris from Burro Bags band)

Saturday Night at Shantytown
Tropic of Cancer (Jazz fusion, Brian Hicks on Sax, Colin on drums, Jason Lewis on Bass, and more)
2 Sets, 11pm and 1am

And mark you calendars Thursday Oct. 9th for a huge Hip Hop Hell show @ TSI
STONES THROW RECORDS PRESENTS
OH NO (Cali, Madlibs younger brother!)
w/ Roc C, Imakemadbeats, Willie Evans Jr., and Simple Complexity

Royal Treatment Records, Burro Bags, Zombie Bikes and gone, but not forgotten, Inertia. That’s what most people call 1520 Main Street in Springfield. Hardly anyone ever calls it The Buyers Market Lodge, but that was the original name, current name, future name, who knows. Tony Allegretti gives a nice history of The Buyers Market Lodge. Long live Main Street! Here are a few excerpts:

The Buyers Market Lodge was a concept/brainchild/idea that Triclops (owner of some bar on 6th – Shantytown) and I and our benevolent landlord (SRG) came up with to do three things. (1) Create a “place” on Main St, (2) create a few no to low paying green collar jobs, and (3) create a shopping experience of simple yet sometimes hard to find things the new urbanist (really any body, but it sounds sweeter) would want and need.

Matt and Chris (Burro Bags) hand craft these custom bags to your specs (if you wish) and they use recycled materials. Right now they’re kickin vinyl from billboards. Who said clear channel was rubbish? Now you can wear clear channel’s rubbish! They also pad bags for electronics/computers etc.

the real soft spot in my heart is the zombie bikes. These guys are solid. My daughters bike was swiped and she is just learning to ride. I dropped in to the shop (its like the taxi teevee show only greasier) and walked out with a spider man special. Under $20 and built to spill.

Thanks for the history lesson Tony!

More on The Buyers Market Lodge Complex
Polo Is My Life – Bury Your Bike Festival