A SCENE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, AND THE HALLEY DE VESTERN BAND LIGHTS IT ON FIRE

Contact: Jon Sobel, Bagel&Rat Recording Co.
Email jsobel@erols.com or telephone 212-978-7695

Brooklyn bands like Halley DeVestern's are finding more hometown venues
to add to their itineraries.

"My band's been based in Brooklyn ever since we started out four years
ago," says Long Island-born blues-rock diva Halley DeVestern. "We've
played all over the Manhattan scene, on Long Island, and plenty of out-of-town gigs, but until this summer we had never played a single show here in
Brooklyn. There are so many musicians here, and so many people, but for
live music you pretty much had to go to Manhattan. Something was wrong
with this picture!"

But the picture is brightening in Brooklyn. A nascent original music
scene is taking root, and Halley DeVestern and her band are a big part
of it. Appearances at Between the Bridges Pub (the sole watering hole
in the waterfront neighborhood of DUMBO where the band rehearses) have
led to bookings at the Atlantic Antic Street Fair and the DUMBO Arts
Festival. "It's a really good feeling to play for an appreciative
audience and not have to cross that river!" says Halley's
bass-player husband, Jon Sobel.

Now the pair is starting a Nashville-style Brooklyn Songwriters' Circle
at the Flying Saucer Cafe, a funky coffeehouse on Atlantic Ave. where,
because of a happy accident of acoustics, a solo artist - even one who
is not frequenly compared to Janis Joplin, as DeVestern is - can perform
without amplification. "When I put out the word about the Songwriters'
Circle there was a ton of response," says Sobel. "The time was right.
There are so many talented people around Brooklyn, because, after all,
not too many people can afford to live in Manhattan on what a musician
makes!"

-> The Atlantic Antic Street Fair is on Sunday, Sept. 24 and runs all
afternoon along Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn. The Halley De Vestern Band
performs at 1 PM at the intersection of Nevins St.

-> The first Brooklyn Songwriters' Circle is on Sunday, Oct. 1 at the
Flying Saucer Cafe, 494 Atlantic Ave. (between Nevins St. and Third
Ave.), Brooklyn (718) 522-1383

-> The DUMBO Arts Festival will be held the weekend of Oct. 14-15.
Details will be posted soon at http://halleydevestern.com/dates.html