Grapevine: Local musicians featured in ‘Detroiters’

Local musicians featured in ‘Detroiters’

Assemble Sound, a recording studio for artists based in a historic Detroit church, recorded original and catalog tracks for Comedy Central’s new “Detroiters” comedy out Feb. 7. The series was created by Detroit natives Sam Richardson (“Veep”) and Tim Robinson (“Saturday Night Live”) and filmed locally. Nicole Churchill, Assemble Sound’s music supervisor, sourced the music for the first five episodes, and co-founder Garret Koehler says multiple tracks from Assemble Sound’s catalog of Detroit music were licensed for the show. Local artists who record in the space include Flint Eastwood, Gosh Pith and The Dropout. Koehler hasn’t seen the final cue sheets yet, so he couldn’t say exactly who will be featured. “Comedy Central and Viacom worked really hard to source as much of the music locally as they could, which is testament to the producers’ intent on using the show to help the creative community here,” Koehler says.

Big Sean raises $100,000 for Flint children

Detroiter Big Sean appeared on “The Daily Show” on Tuesday night, telling host Trevor Noah that his Sean Anderson Foundation has raised about $100,000 for children in Flint and that the water crisis is “not even close to being over.” “It was not even a natural disaster,” he said. “It’s something that should’ve been prevented and could’ve been prevented, so it’s just disgusting to think about the damages that these families and even kids have to go through with the lead poisoning.” The foundation is raising money on behalf of Community Foundation of Greater Flint Michigan. As of Wednesday afternoon, a CrowdRise campaign called #HealFlintKids, which Sean launched last year, had raised nearly $80,000. Sean personally donated $10,000 to kickstart it. On “The Daily Show,” the 28-year-old also revealed that his mother had suffered lead poisoning. “It was very hard for her to deal with, but she was able, through holistic care and homeopathic remedies, was able to reverse a lot of the effects,” he said. The rapper is scheduled to perform at the Fox Theatre in Detroit on April 1. The concert will showcase Sean’s fourth album, “I Decided,” which debuts Feb. 3. The Flint Chosen Choir will be featured on the last track, called “Bigger Than Me.”

Cathy Hughes to speak at Black History Month gala

Radio One founder and chairwoman Cathy Hughes will be the keynote speaker at the Ford-employees African Ancestry Network 36th annual Black History Month gala Feb. 24. Hughes, 69, became the first African-American woman to head a publicly traded company. Radio One, which manages 56 radio stations in 16 markets, is also the largest African-American owned and operated broadcast company in the U.S. The gala, hosted by WDIV-TV (Channel 4) morning anchor Evrod Cassimy, includes dinner, entertainment and dancing. The event starts 6 p.m. at The Henry in Dearborn, with a VIP reception at 4:30 p.m. Tickets cost $60 for general admission and $150 for VIP. Buy tickets at eventbrite.com.

Erin Andrews reveals cancer diagnosis

In an mmqb.com story published Tuesday, Fox NFL reporter and ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” co-host Erin Andrews revealed she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in September. The 38-year-old chose not to tell colleagues and continue with the DWTS season that featured former Detroit Lion Calvin Johnson Jr. The week she was diagnosed, she did not appear on the reality show. Reports said she was spending time with then-boyfriend, now-fiance Jarret Stoll, whose nephew was killed in a car accident. That was true, but she was also coping with her diagnosis. Andrews had surgery Oct. 11. Five days later she was covering the Packers v. Cowboys. “Should I have been standing for a full game five days after surgery? Let’s just say the doctor didn’t recommend that,” Andrews told mmqb.com. “But just as I felt during my trial, sports were my escape.” (Andrews had filed a $75 million lawsuit against Michael David Barrett and hotel management companies after Barrett secretly filmed her in a hotel room. The case settled in April.)

Compiled by Stephanie Steinberg

ssteinberg@detroitnews.com

Thursday’s birthdays

Eddie Van Halen , 62

Anita Baker , 59

Ellen DeGeneres , 59

Kirk Franklin , 47