National Book Award Winner James McBride Set as Next Writer in the Loft, 4/18

The Music Hall's Writers in the Loft series will present the National Book Award-winning author of the bestseller The Good Lord Bird, James McBride with his first nonfiction work since his celebrated memoir The Color of Water. McBride's new book KILL 'EM AND LEAVE: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul is more than a book about James Brown. It is an unsettling metaphor for American life: the tension between North and South, black and white, rich and poor.

The 7pm event includes an author presentation and moderated Q+A, plus book signing and meet-and-greet. It will be held at the Music Hall Loft at 131 Congress Street, in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

In KILL 'EM AND LEAVE, James McBride goes in search of the "real" James Brown after receiving a tip that promises to uncover the man behind the myth. His surprising journey illuminates not only our understanding of this immensely troubled, misunderstood, and complicated soul music genius but the ways in which our cultural heritage has been shaped by Brown's legacy.

"We are very excited to welcome this award-winning author to the Loft, a personal favorite of mine," said Margaret Talcott, Producer of the Writers in the Loft series and the evening's moderator. "James McBride is often heralded as a modern-day Mark Twain. He's known for his masterful prose confronting compelling issues. His portrait of the musical legend James Brown is truly illuminating, shedding light on America's wholly original music scene and the dynamics of race in this country."

ABOUT THE BOOK

In KILL 'EM AND LEAVE, James McBride becomes part of the story as he hits the road to interview those closest to Brown, many of whom have never spoken on record before. He heads to the country town where Brown's family was among thousands displaced by America's largest nuclear power bomb-making facility and to a South Carolina field where a long-forgotten cousin divulges a fuller history of Brown's sharecropping childhood. McBride seeks out the American expatriate in England who co-created the James Brown sound, visits the trusted right-hand manager who worked with Brown for forty-one years, and sits at the feet of Brown's most influential nonmusical creation, his "adopted son," the Reverend Al Sharpton. McBride also recounts Michael Jackson's stirring visit to the Augusta, Georgia, funeral home where the King of Pop sat up all night with the body of his musical godfather.

But KILL 'EM AND LEAVE is more than the story of James Brown. His rough-and-tumble life, through McBride's lens, enhances the dichotomies in American life that still persist today - between North and South, black and white, rich and poor. The result is a potent narrative that sifts through all the fact and fiction to finally reveal the personal, musical, and societal influences that created this immensely misunderstood and complicated soul music genius, and it helps us Americans to understand who we are today through that legacy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JAMES McBRIDE is the author of the National Book Award winner and New York Times bestseller The Good Lord Bird, as well as the bestselling novels Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Color of Water. He is also a saxophonist and composer who teaches music to children in the Red Hook, Brooklyn, housing projects where he was born, and a Distinguished Writer In Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU.

TICKETS

The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: James McBride on Monday, April 18, at 7pm is $42. In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of KILL 'EM AND LEAVE: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul (hardcover, $28), a bar beverage, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at 603.436.2400, or online at www.themusichall.org

About Writers in the Loft

Akin to The Music Hall's anchor literary series, Writers on a New England Stage, Writers in the Loft features bestselling authors in a smaller, more intimate space. The series brings audiences today's top authors, the best of fiction and nonfiction, and award-winners across categories. The evening package includes a reserved seat and bar beverage, author presentation and Q+A, a copy of the book, and a meet-and-greet book signing with the featured writer.

Series Sponsor: RMC Research Corporation

Contributing Partner: The University of New Hampshire

Season Sponsors: Carey & Giampa Realtors; Portwalk Place; the River House Restaurant