NEW ORLEANS, LA—Ryan Dobrowski + Israel Nebeker (Blind Pilot), Rebecca Gates, Thao Nguyen (Thao with the Get Down Stay Down), Toshi Reagon, Matana Roberts, Jill Sobule, Jon Theodore (One Day As A Lion), New Orleans’ very own Bonerama and more will celebrate New Orleans, her community and its musical ambassadors for Musicians Bringing Musicians Home VI at One Eyed Jacks (615 Toulouse Street) on Friday, March 26 at 10pm.
Admission is $10; tickets are now on sale online here and in-person at the One Eyed Jacks box office. Proceeds from the show benefit Sweet Home New Orleans (SHNO) a nonprofit that helps musicians, Mardi Gras Indians, and Social Aid & Pleasure Club members get on their feet, earn money from their art, and pass on America’s most unique cultural traditions (www.sweethomeneworleans.org).
presents talented artists on their own and in unique combinations. “The shows always include at least a moment or two of the real stuff you go to live shows to see,” says Alex Rawls, New Orleans music writer and editor of OffBeat Magazine. “Whether it’s Alec Ounsworth taking his first crack at “St. James Infirmary” in front of a live audience or the Indigo Girls helping Al “Carnival Time” Johnson learn “I Shall Be Released” onstage, the shows are musically rewarding, and the ‘last-night-of-camp’ vibe is positive and contagious.”
The camaraderie established during both the retreat and concert continues well after participants have left the city, as evidenced by recent collaborations like OK Go and Bonerama’s You’re Not Alone benefit EP for New Orleans musicians and Steve Berlin and Alec Ounsworth’s collaboration on Ounsworth’s recent Mo’Beauty EP. Musicians Bringing Musicians Home is the celebratory finale of the sixth three-day activist retreat hosted by Air Traffic Control (www.atctower.net) and Future of Music Coalition (www.futureofmusic.org).
Since the Gulf Storms of 2005 the retreats have brought over forty musicians from around the country to New Orleans to tour affected neighborhoods, visit with the city’s notable musicians and community leaders and participate in strategy sessions about integrating activism and philanthropy into their musical lives and careers.
and Artist Activist Retreat alumni. “Go to New Orleans and meet the folks down there. Talk with them, eat with them, work alongside them and then play music with them and for them. Anyone that calls themselves a musician owes a debt to New Orleans, and these retreats are a superb opportunity make a payment. You’ll be richer for it.”
Past retreat and concert participants include Steve Earle, Tom Morello, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Boots Riley (The Coup) Nicole Atkins, Damian Kulash (OK Go), Erin McKeown, Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Martín Perna (Antibalas, Ocote Soul Sounds), Jim James and Patrick Hallahan (My Morning Jacket), Jorevocabln Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers), Vijay Iyer, and many, many more.
The efforts of many groups and individuals — including Sweet Home New Orleans, Future of Music Coalition and Air Traffic Control — have had a major impact on Big Easy musicians like Mardis Gras legend Al “Carnival Time” Johnson. Funds raised by retreat participants helped Al buy a new Habitat for Humanity home after having lost his property and belongings in Hurricane Katrina. “Musicians Bringing Musicians Home VI” and the retreats are part an ongoing commitment to helping musicians like Al get back to their communities where they’ll help sustain New Orleans music and culture for generations to come.
About Sweet Home New Orleans
Sweet Home New Orleans (www.sweethomeneworleans.org) is a nonprofit agency that offers social services and financial assistance to the city’s musicians, Mardi Gras Indians, and Social Aid and Pleasure Club members.
About Air Traffic Control
Air Traffic Control (www.atctower.net) exists to help musicians play an effective, unique and vital role in the promotion of social justice. Founded by musicians and managers, ATC has become an air traffic control for artists, developing capacity, efficiency, and coordination to produce stronger and more creative social change collaborations.
Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners. FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. More