Katrina Music Update

[obiwankobe]

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath:
Chilton Found, Relief Efforts Organized

Amy Phillips reports:
As we enjoyed our Labor Day long weekend, the Gulf Coast continued its long, hard recovery from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Here’s a brief round-up of Katrina-related music news, with more to come throughout the week:

* Alex Chilton, frontman for Big Star and the Box Tops, is safe and sound, according to various sources, including e-mails to Pitchfork purporting to be from friends of Chilton’s family. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Chilton spoke to Ron Easley (his former bandmate in the Memphis punkabilly group Tav Falco’s Panther Burns) early Monday morning, who said that Chilton had been rescued by helicopter from his French Quarter home on Sunday.

* Wilco are selling a series of autographed posters in their online store, with all profits going to the Red Cross and other charities. Bassist John Stirrat, who was born in New Orleans, told Rolling Stone on Friday, “I feel like I've been punched in the stomach for days. My father's house is apparently underwater. It's like seeing the death of one of the truly unique cities in America.”

* A benefit song by Prince, titled “SST”, is available for download from his NPG Music Club. An email from the NPG Music Club & The Love4OneAnother Charity states, “Watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's wrath, Sade's ‘Sweetest Taboo’ was put on a loop, after which Prince wrote ‘SST’ early Friday morning, Sept 2, after staying up all night. He sang all the voices and played all the instruments. ‘Brand New Orleans’ is the xtended jam at the end of "SST." Just a lil somethin' 2 take away the blues.” Additionally, the NPG Music Club is offering Mavis Staples’ 1993 song “U Will Be Moved,” written by Prince, as another benefit download.

* The fate of the Voodoo Music Experience festival, which was scheduled to take place at City Park in New Orleans on October 28 and 29, with performances from Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, the Flaming Lips, Queens of the Stone Age, New York Dolls, LCD Soundsystem, the Decemberists, Prince Paul and dozens more, is uncertain at the moment.

* New Orleans rappers Master P and Juvenile are organizing relief efforts, both separately and together. Master P, along with his wife Sonya and son Romeo, have teamed up with the Red Cross and BET to create the non-profit organization Team Rescue. Juvenile, whose home in Slidell, La., was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, is in the process of organizing benefit concerts in New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, Fayetteville, Los Angeles, and Miami, according to Billboard. The pair also announced plans to team up for a benefit song or album with other rappers from their hometown, including the Cash Money stable of artists. Cash Money and Master P’s No Limit label were previously rivals, but at a BET press conference, Master P said, “It ain't about No Limit or Cash Money. It's about New Orleans. We'll do whatever we have to do for our people."

* Various labels and record stores have joined the relief efforts. Reissue label Shout! Factory will be donating all proceeds from online sales of their Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: The Big Ol’ Box Of New Orleans four-CD set from now until the end of the year. Similarly, “world” music imprint Putamayo is donating all profits from their New Orleans and Mississippi Blues compilations for the rest of 2005. A long list of artists, from every genre, selling their discs through CD Baby have dedicated their sales to the Red Cross. Chicago alt-country label Bloodshot Records is earmarking five percent of all web profits this month for AmeriCares. Experimental post-rap label Mush Records is giving away packages of CDs by Clouddead, Aesop Rock, Busdriver and many others to anyone who donates $50 or $100 to a relief charity. The Sounds Are Active label, a frequent partner with the Danielson Famile's Sounds Familyre imprint and Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty, and home to the likes of Soul-Junk and Create(!), are dedicating fifty percent of all September online sales to Heifer International. Sounds Familyre themselves are dedicating proceeds from artwork and t-shirts to the cause. The powerhouse Austin, TX independent record store Waterloo is giving five percent of the sales in their store this Thursday, September 8, to the Red Cross, and they will be collecting food, water and supplies for the Capital Area Food Bank. Digital downloads site Audio Lunchbox will be donating ten percent of all sales to the Red Cross, and Napster is contributing all of the profits from its “Download to Donate” compilation, featuring songs by Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Sade and others.

* Massive all-star benefit concerts will sweep the airwaves in the coming weeks. “S.O.S. (Saving OurSelves): The BET Relief Telethon” will take place on Friday, September 9 from 7:30 - 10 p.m., with Jay-Z, Diddy, Master P, Omarion, Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Ciara, Ludacris, Pharrell Williams, and several others participating. On September 10, from 8-11 p.m., MTV, VH1, and CMT will broadcast “ReAct Now: Music & Relief”, featuring performances by the Rolling Stones, Kelly Clarkson, Brian Wilson, Kanye West, Dashboard Confessional, Usher, David Banner, Green Day, and many, many more. The Great American Country network (GAC) will air “Country Reaches Out: An Opry Benefit for the American Red Cross”, with Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Keith Urban and other country stars, live from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN on September 27 at 9pm. Additionally, proceeds from this year’s Farm Aid concert, taking place on September 18 at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Ill., and featuring Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Wilco, John Mellencamp and lots more, will benefit farm families affected by Hurricane Katrina.

* The Recording Academy’s musicians’ assistance program, MusiCares, has set up the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund to aid musicians and their families in the areas ravaged by the storm. NOAH, a group of New Orleans and Houston musicians, are organizing to help their fellow artists find new homes and jobs. The Jazz Foundation of America will continue providing assistance for local jazz musicians, with a focus on replacing instruments lost or damaged by the storm.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE RED CROSS