Musicians Finding New Ways to Get Out the Vote
Date: 28-Jun-04
Country: USA
Author: Bill Holland
Organizers and musicians say concerns over the war in Iraq and the economic and environmental policies of the Bush administration are responsible for the music community's increased involvement.
Many of the activist musicians express opposition to President Bush and in some cases support presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. Others are taking part in bipartisan efforts to get out the vote.
"I've been thinking about and talking about voting for a long time," indie music icon/activist Ani DiFranco says. "Unlike my anarchist friends, I think it's a pretty good idea. I think we've tried not voting, and that doesn't work."
With her upcoming Vote Dammit! tour, DiFranco is targeting the so-called "swing states" in which the election might be decided. She will join forces with the Feminist Majority Foundation's "Get Out Her Vote" campaign and local organizations at each stop of the tour to encourage audience members to register and vote.
Among other highly visible activist artists are Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Willie Nelson, who were to perform June 24 along with Billy Crystal in a Democratic National Campaign Committee fundraiser at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Coming up in July is a DNCC event at Radio City Music Hall in New York with Mary J. Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Whoopi Goldberg, Wyclef Jean and John Mellencamp. And Jon Bon Jovi hosted a $1,000-per-person Kerry fund-raiser June 14 at his New Jersey home.
But the campaign activities have not been confined to superstar acts. Observers say the Internet has enabled a new generation of musicians to join grassroots efforts and Web-linked communities across the country.
These Internet-savvy musicians have developed a multi-pronged approach that includes voter registration drives, fundraising efforts and personal expressions of support for candidates that are much more intense and focused than in previous elections.
"The Internet has made a difference," says Claudette Silver, political issues director of the ill-fated Lollapalooza tour, which has been canceled this year, in part due to poor ticket sales. "Voter registration for wasn't really working. They care about issues and how those issues affect their lives. We've been able to begin connecting popular culture with politics."
Silver puts part of the blame for the collapse of this year's Lollapalooza on the Bush economy. "There's 44 million people without health insurance. Parents can barely pay their bills, much less to come up with extra money for entertainment."
Artists such as DiFranco are providing traditional voter registration booths at club and concert appearances.
ALL JOIN IN
Musicians of all ages and genres are getting involved in campaign activities and fundraising. The most visible support for the Bush campaign appears to be from the country and contemporary Christian communities via such acts as Travis Tritt, Charlie Daniels, Third Day and Steven Curtis Chapman.
But Nashville has a strong pro-Kerry crowd, too. In fact, a group called Music Row Democrats claims 1,000 members and has staged a series of purposefully hokey "Kerry-oke" fundraisers, featuring such famed warblers as Emmylou Harris and Pam Tillis.
Meanwhile, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network claims to have signed up hundreds of thousands of young voters and has partnered with promtix.com's Youth Registration After-Prom Event to get more on board.
Network political director Alexis McGill says few hip-hop and rap acts have yet embraced Kerry, but Bush support is nonexistent.
On the jazz front, Grammy Award-winning bassist/composer Charlie Haden, who turns 67 Aug. 6, has reassembled his politically charged Jazz Liberation Orchestra featuring the progressive big band of pianist/composer Carla Bley with the election in mind.
"They've all been formed during Republican administrations," he tells Billboard. "The first one was in 1969, under Nixon. Then the
