Meet your neighbor: Jeremy James
All photos by Alex Harris.
We’re starting a new series introducing folks around our lake. If you’d like to participate, or if you have someone you’d like to recommend, please contact us at admin@rblpoa.com. All answers are lightly edited.
Name: Jeremy James
Years at RBL: 6
From: Bronx, NY (Born and raised, the only child of two beautiful Caribbean parents!)
Family: My honey Emma, three young girls who evolved into three incredible young ladies. One day they will read this and be reminded that I love them and will continue to be a support through their lives if God enables me to continue with my plan.
Business: Smok’d Catering (Sign up for the mailing list here!)
Passion(s): Music, Food. Outdoors. Making people smile. A Harlem church is where I found the love for performing, music, and good-tasting food. So natural together—and don’t forget the cool shoes and big hats, man! I just thought that everyone was exposed to the same amazing things. I experienced great music in Harlem, but it’s when I traveled further downtown that I met incredible musicians who came from everywhere else. Meeting the right people eventually took me all over the world, experiencing unimaginable food and culture. In those days everything and anything went into our stomachs, tasty treats prepared backstage and in green rooms. Musically, my focus was mostly on song placement, having a little bit of success with HBO and Showtime film productions, so food fueled us all night during recording sessions. People always wondered how I could be always eating something and stay so thin! All the while, in the back of my mind, I was unknowingly developing something: a passion for food that people would love!
RBL story: I had a day job in the city that was strangling my soul. Panic attacks, anxiety, depression… Then family, friends, and neighbors noticed a difference while I was cooking and singing in my yard. One of the people who took notice is my honey Emma. She saw that cooking was a way to fuse both of my passions together, finding a new form of happiness I could share with others, another avenue that would help me express myself, and keep people smiling. We spent two years looking for a place outside the city. One day, we got lost on our way to an open house, and found this community. After driving around the lake, seeing people who waved and smiled, we knew we wanted to be here. We prayed on finding a house, and soon, along with my loving family, my guitar, my voice, and my food, I moved to Roaring Brook Lake. We’re so happy to have met the people we have met. After 6 years we are still meeting cool people. This is what I have told friends who come to visit, who were confused about why we didn’t move to Brooklyn, or elsewhere in the city. There is so much to explore! Besides going to the beach, swimming, boating, hiking, I welcome the peaceful vibe. I love getting my hands in the soil and taking advantage of being alive!
Tips for RBL neighbors: My humble tip to anyone who is open enough to listen: I would always want people to extend themselves a little bit further than their own circle and grow past themselves.
You can place an order for Jeremy’s catering here, or visit Mahopac Deli on Thursdays and Fridays. Or on September 22, at 5pm, come to the SMOK’D Rotisserie Pop-up @ MARBLED MEAT SHOP at 3091 ROUTE 9 | COLD SPRING, NY.