Andrew Shaffer and Barack Obama (Dion ) at Books are Magic Andrew Shaffer had a surprise guest at his new Hope Rides Again “Obama Biden Mystery” book tour stop Wednesday night at Brooklyn’s Books Are Magic shop—Barack Obama. Well, not the real Barack Obama, but maybe the next best thing in comedian/actor Dion Flynn, who has perfected his Obama impersonation with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. Indeed, Flynn has Obama as much down in person as Shaffer does on the page. At B

Just over a year ago, Quirk Books published Hope Never Dies, the first “Obama Biden Mystery” novel from Andrew Shaffer. “Part noir thriller and part bromance”—per the publisher—the book, written in Biden’s voice, presented the pair as a sort of grown-up Hardy Boys, reteaming a few months after leaving office (and to Biden’s annoyance, growing apart) to take on the mysterious death of Biden’s favorite Amtrak conductor. With Hope Never Dies’ publication, Shaffer immediately set

The Persuasions perform "Looking for an Echo" on the 1990, PBS special "Spike Lee & Company--Do It A Cappella" “I loved everything about The Persuasions--especially Jerry’s singing,” says English singer-songwriter Harvey Shield, who was in a 1960s group with future Deep Purple Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Roger Glover and Ian Gillan before forming a cappella doo-wop group The Mighty Echoes in 1986. “Jerry was so soulful and warm, and when we formed the Mighty Echoes, The Pers

Westside Andy & Glenn Davis at Otto's Otto’s Restaurant & Bar on Madison, Wisconsin’s West Side is well into its annual spring/summer “Music on the Deck” outdoor concert series, and Westside Andy & Glenn Davis are well into their 16th season as Otto’s Tuesday night outdoor deck entertainment, providing two hours of easy-digesting dinner-time blues for on-deck diners also enjoying a refreshing summer breeze. Which isn’t to say that the music isn’t filling, let alone substantia