DANISH AMERICAN BAND STATE OF SEA HAS NEW EP ILLUSIONS

The Danish-American musical collaboration State of Sea is announcing the release of their debut EP, Illusions, on April 5, 2018.

State of Sea is Danish-American group composed of three music veterans: James Craft, Anna Roemer and Anna Scharling. The trio has combined the ‘Nordic sound’ with traditional American songwriting and draws from electronica and folk to create State of Sea’s unique, ambient sound.

Illusions stands out with guitar, piano, vocals, strings, percussion and touches of synthesizer. State of Sea’s name references the most secretive place on earth: the sea. The EP was inspired from group’s fantasies of Edward Snowden’s experience while fleeing to Russia. The musical collaboration has imagined both a musical and creative journey of traveling between borders and into new, sonic landscapes.

James Craft is a composer, teacher, and songwriter in Los Angeles. As a songwriter and lead vocalist, Craft fronted the band La Strada in NY, which cut three albums and toured the US and Canada.

Anna Roemer is a guitarist, composer and producer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has played showcases at TMW (Estonia) and SPOT (Denmark) 2016.

Roemer studied composition at UofT, Toronto with pianist David Braid and finished her master in composition at SDMK, Odense. Anna Scharling is a Danish singer and songwriter and also performs as a solo artist.

In 2015, she released an EP with her own singer/songwriter project, and she has performed at showcases such as Tallinn Music Week and SPOT Festival. In 2017 she released her debut album Sleeping at the Gates and is otherwise performing and writing for the Danish experimental pop group, EKSIL.

Illusions

ILLUSIONS

Tracklisting:

1- Illusion

2- Eyes Wide Open

3- Dawn Over Iceland

4- In A Hotel Room In Moscow

5- Young

6- Illusion II

HISTORIC DETROIT MASONIC TEMPLE GETS A MUCH NEEDED RENOVATION!

DAVID LILLY PHOTOGRAPHY

Great news! The Masonic is getting some work done to improve the grand facility! Our pal Steve Genther gave a interview the other day with Crain's in Detroit.  Congratulations Steve!!

CRAINS

The historic Masonic Temple in downtown Detroit has started a $3.7 million renovation expected to be complete by the end of the year.

In addition to the improvements to the 96-year-old building on Temple Street, the Masonic Temple Association, which owns the property, wants to reposition or find new uses for the 55,000-square-foot East Tower. Those uses could range from office space to a boutique hotel or residential if redeveloped.

The work includes renovations of existing restrooms and installation of additional restrooms; sound insulation improvement; upgrades to heating and cooling systems; and updates to two large kitchens. On the exterior, masonry restoration and limestone façade cleaning are planned.

Steve Genther, facilities general manager for the Masonic Temple Association, said insulation improvements will allow the association to host multiple events concurrently as sound from one event won't bleed into another.

About 30,000 square feet of space on the upper floors will also be marketed for lease, Genther said.

The association anticipates increased revenue from more events and leasing out space to cover the cost of its $3.7 million construction loan from Chemical Bank, Genther said. Approximately $2.5 million of the work is on the building's interior, he said.

It's the first substantial renovation to the building since 1990, when about $1 million was spent on renovations, Genther said.

"It was just before we had the first run of the 'Phantom of the Opera' in Detroit," Genther said.

"Not a whole lot has changed since 1926," said Ron Staley, senior vice president of Southeast Michigan operations in the Detroit office of Lansing-based The Christman Co., which is construction manager on the project. It was also its original builder. READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

THEATRE BIZARRE OCT 12-13 AND OCT 19-20 DETROIT

You are hereby summoned to our enigmatic temple to enter Zombo’s domain, this October 12th / 13th, and 19th / 20th. Mark your calendars, and prepare your vestments, my delicious initiates. This year, secrets abound at Theatre Bizarre.

The moniker of "The Greatest Masquerade on Earth" can not be argued. Theatre Bizarre is part masquerade, part costume party, part burlesque, part carnival and circus sideshow, 100% bizarre, and 100% amazing people-watching and crowd interaction. If you attend this event, I promise you that it's something you'll never forget in all the rest of your days.

THE SUN: AN ARTISTIC TOUCH

THE SUN:
Find a way to inject an artistic touch to whatever you're doing and get extra satisfaction and have greater success at what you're doing. You may not think of yourself as artistic, but it will be hard to hide or resist your creative side today. Even the most mundane and boring tasks can be made more pleasant by adding a dash of artistic expression. Within reason and appropriateness, let it shine!

THE KNIGHT OF PENTACLES: MAKE YOUR WORK PLAY

The Knight of Pentacles represents hard work, diligence, stick-to-it-ness. Apply yourself wholeheartedly to the project in front of you and you will reap the rewards when the time is right.

He is practical, steadfast and focused, and denotes responsibilities to yourself and to your commitments. This card represents the action taken to manifest your dreams. Your desired outcome is assured when the Knight of Pentacles rides in!

THE BLACK HAWK WAR BEGAN APRIL 6 1832

Determined to resist the growing presence of Anglo settlers on traditional tribal lands, the Sauk warrior Black Hawk is drawn into war with the United States.

Called Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak by his people, Black Hawk was born in 1767 in the village of Saukenuk in the present-day state of Illinois. He quickly earned a reputation as a fierce and courageous fighter in the frequent skirmishes between the Sauk and their principle enemy, the Osage. By the early 1800s, however, Black Hawk began to realize that the real threat to his people was the rapidly growing numbers of white people streaming into the region.

Black Hawk

In 1804, representatives of the Sauk and Fox (Mesquakie) Indians signed a treaty that ceded all of their territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States. Black Hawk, however, maintained the treaty was invalid and had been signed by drunken Indian representatives. In 1816, he reluctantly confirmed the treaty with his own signature, but he later said he did not understand that this meant he would someday have to cede his home village of Saukenuk on the Rock River.

As the U.S. Army built more forts and droves of settlers moved into the territory during the next 15 years, Black Hawk grew increasingly angry. Finally, in 1831, settlers began to occupy the village of Saukenuk, an area that would later become Rock Island, Illinois. Regardless of the provisions of the 1804 treaty, Black Hawk refused to leave his own home. He began to prepare for war.

Early in 1832, General Edmund P. Gaines arrived in the area with a sizeable force of U.S. soldiers and Illinois militiamen. Initially, Black Hawk withdrew his large band of warriors, women, and children to the west side of the Mississippi. On April 5, however, he led them back into the disputed territory, believing that other Indian forces and the British to the north would support him in a confrontation.

The following day, a large army of soldiers caught up to Black Hawk and his followers near the Rock River of northern Illinois. When neither the British nor his Indian allies came to his support, Black Hawk attempted to surrender. Unfortunately, one of his truce bearers was killed in the confusion, and the Black Hawk War began.

In May, Black Hawk’s warriors won a significant victory that left the Americans badly demoralized. As subsequent generations of Indian fighters would learn, however, the mighty force of the U.S. government was relentless. On August 2, U.S. soldiers nearly annihilated Black Hawk’s band as it attempted to escape west across the Mississippi, and Black Hawk finally surrendered.  READ MORE

 

SAM SHEPPARD INSPIRATION FOR THE FUGITIVE DIED 4-6-1970

 Sam Sheppard

On this day in 1970, Sam Sheppard (Richard Kimball in the TV series and movie), a doctor convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in a trial that caused a media frenzy in the 1950s, dies of liver failure. After a decade in prison, Sheppard was released following a re-trial. His story is rumored to have loosely inspired the television series and movie “The Fugitive.”

On July 4, 1954, Sheppard’s wife Marilyn was beaten to death in the couple’s Bay Village, Ohio, home. Sheppard, an osteopathic doctor, contended the “bushy-haired” attacker had beaten him as well. The Sheppards’ son slept through the murder in a bedroom down the hall. Sam Sheppard was arrested for murder and stood trial in the fall of 1954.

The case generated massive media attention, and some members of the press were accused of supporting the perception that Sheppard was guilty. Prosecutors argued that Sheppard was motivated to kill his wife because he was cheating on her and wanted out of his marriage. In his defense, Sheppard’s attorney said his client had sustained serious injuries that could only have been inflicted by an intruder.

In December 1964, a jury convicted Sheppard of second-degree murder and he was sentenced to life in prison. However, after a decade behind bars, Sheppard’s new criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to grant his client a new trial because he had been denied due process.

At the second trial, Sheppard was found not guilty in November 1966. The case put Bailey on the map, and he went on to represent many high-profile clients, including the Boston Strangler, Patty Hearst and O.J. Simpson.

After being released from prison, Sheppard briefly returned to his medical career and later embarked on a short stint as a pro wrestler, going by the name “The Killer Sheppard.” No one else was ever charged for Marilyn Sheppard’s murder; in the late 1950s, however, a window washer named Richard Eberling, who had worked at the Sheppard house, came under suspicion when one of Marilyn’s rings was found in his possession.

In the 1980s, Eberling was convicted of murdering another woman, and he died in prison. Sam Sheppard, who became a heavy drinker in the last years of his life, died of liver failure on April 6, 1970, at age 46. His son has made multiple attempts to clear Sheppard’s name, including unsuccessfully suing the government for wrongful imprisonment of his father in 2000.