Helping New Orleans musicians

You may recall Sweet Home New Orleans from Pearl Jam's activism holiday gift guide as one of the many causes near and dear to the band. The support from the fans during the campaign was amazing! Thank you!

For those in the area, we'd like to pass along this additional info on some upcoming benefits for New Orleans.

(not a PJ show)

NEW ORLEANS BENEFIT CONCERTS AND EP BRING ARTISTS TOGETHER TO BRING ARTISTS HOME

Concerts in New Orleans on January 10th and 11th feature OK Go,
members of My Morning Jacket, the Mekons, the Wrens, the Mendoza Line, Kimya Dawson and more

Upcoming OK Go and Bonerama benefit EP “You’re Not Alone” to be released on February 5th


NEW ORLEANS - On Friday, January 11, indie-rockers OK Go unite with New Orleans’s funk-rock favorites Bonerama for a show at Tipitina’s. OK Go spent the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in a studio in the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans collaborating with Bonerama. With the help of producer Mark Nevers, they put together an EP that adds a brash, unmistakably New Orleans swagger to the OK Go’s infectious rock. The collection, called “You’re Not Alone”, will benefit New Orleans R&B legend Al “Carnival Time” Johnson — who joins in on a cover of Bob Dylan's “I Shall Be Released” — as well as Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization dedicated to helping the thousands of local musicians scattered by the storm. http://www.sweethomeneworleans.org

“New Orleans is one of the last places in America where music is truly a fundamental part of everyday life,” says OK Go’s Damian Kulash. “People get together on the weekends and parade through the streets just playing songs; 12-year-old-kids learn funk on the tuba; everyone actually dances. Life elsewhere in the world simply isn't as awesome. If we allow the culture of New Orleans to die by leaving its musicians marooned around the country, it will be a terrible blow to American music.”

Johnson, who gave Mardi Gras its unofficial anthem with the R&B classic “Carnival Time,” lost everything when Katrina destroyed his longtime Lower 9th Ward residence. Proceeds from You're Not Alone will go towards building a new Habitat For Humanity home for Johnson and provide funding for Sweet Home New Orleans to assist other similarly affected musicians with their housing needs. In honor of New Orleans’ vibrant musical culture, the release date is set for February 5 — Mardi Gras 2008.

Earlier in the week on January 10, Jon Langford & Sally Timms of The Mekons, Patrick Hallahan of My Morning Jacket, Charles Bissell of The Wrens, Kimya Dawson (who recently contributed eight songs to the hit movie Juno), Timothy Bracy of the Mendoza Line, Janet Bean of Freakwater and Craig Klein, Mat
Perrine, Eric Bolivar & Bert Cotton of Bonerama come together in a benefit for musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

“Musicians Bringing Musicians Home III” is sponsored by Air Traffic Control and Future of Music Coalition, and will take place in the Parish Room of the
New Orleans House Of Blues at 9 p.m. on Thursday, January 10. Admission is $10. The concert is the culmination of FMC & ATC’s annual Artist Activism Camp, which brings together established and emerging artists to discuss best practices for artist advocacy. During the two-day meeting, participants go on a tour of New Orleans, visiting the Ninth Ward and hearing from some of the city’s musicians about the efforts to revitalize their music community. http://www.atctower.net

EVENT DETAILS:
“Musicians Bringing Musicians Home III”
A benefit for Sweet Home New Orleans
Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 9 PM
The Parish Room at the New Orleans House Of Blues
225 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA

Tickets are $10 and available at http://www.hob.com/venues/clubvenues/neworleans or by calling 504-310-4999.

OK Go & Bonerama
Concert to benefit Al “Carnival Time” Johnson & Sweet Home New Orleans
Friday, January 11, 2008 at 10 PM
Tipitinas, 501 Napoleon Ave., New Orleans, LA. (504) 895-8477
Tickets are $20 and are available at http://www.ticketweb.com or the Tipitina’s box
Office