Toronto Star features Hugh “Chris” Brown’s album recorded with prisoners

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Canada, hugh christopher brown, kate fenner, Kingston, pittsburgh institution, prisoners, sarah harmer, sarah mcdermott, Toronto Star, trish crawford

Canadian musician-producer and social justice activist Chris Brown Releases An Album of Songs – Postcards from the County – Recorded with Prisoners at Pittsburgh Institution

Kingston, Ontario – Every powerful note on Postcards from the County was played, sung and recorded in jail. The prisoners at Pittsburgh Institution collaborated with musician/producer Hugh Christopher “Chris” Brown, writing and arranging songs in the prison chapel, which the men helped convert into a recording studio every week for the sessions. The album is available for a free download here: http://www.prosandconsprogram.com

Brown had an idea for what he calls the Pros and Cons program (encouraging professional mentorship of inmates) over 3 years ago after the government shut down numerous prison farms, including the farm at Pittsburgh Institution. Chris recently spoke with journalist Peter Hendra/ The Kingston Whig-Standard: “I wanted to get in there and do something positive…How [the prisoners] experience their time inside directly affects the state of our society on their release. It seems to me to be very responsible conduct for ourselves and our government to provide truly meaningful programs that allow people to properly rehabilitate.”

Trish Crawford/Toronto Star recently interviewed Chris, Sarah McDermott, Kate Fenner and Sarah Harmer about their work with the prisoners.

Read article here.

chris brown and sarah mcdermott
photo: (c) 2014 Kristen Ritchie

Sing Me A Story

Thanks Scott Saalman for the shout-out for Don Rosler’s “Doris From Rego Park”…

Will Read and Sing for Food

Looking for a good story? Try a song

July 16, 2014<!– Post Date, Post Author, Number of Comments –>

By SCOTT SAALMAN

I’ve always been a sucker for story songs.

A story song is … well … a song with a story. The granddaddy of all is “John Henry,” followed by “Frankie and Johnny,” followed by Marty Robbins’ gun-slinging Western saga, “El Paso,” followed by “Ode to Billie Joe.”

What follows are my favorites. Some, you’ve heard. Others are more obscure (go to YouTube or Spotify for an inaugural listen).

• “Mr. Tanner”: Harry Chapin (in pic) wrote this about a fictitious laundry owner and local singer in the Midwest who “practiced scales while pressing tails.” Encouraged by friends, he eventually spends his savings on a “town hall debut” in New York City. Afterwards, a harsh newspaper review silences his singing voice. Chapin’s inclusion of “Oh, Holy…

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