Rock
the Earth’s seventh Earth Day celebration
has, as we intended, turned into a month-long
affair full of community action projects,
local and Internet business partners, and
nonprofits and festivals–all stepping
up to help us celebrate.
In
Denver, Rock the Earth once again partnered
with Revision
International, a Denver-based
nonprofit organization empowering local
actions that lead to global sustainability.
Revision’s purpose is to create a
network of sustainability projects on a
community level around the world. Each project
is the initiative of the community–ignited
through their work–and supported by
a network of people striving to develop
sustainable communities. In 2009, Rock the
Earth partnered with Revision to help build
the Kepner Urban Farm, on the grounds of
Kepner Middle School in Denver’s Westwood
neighborhood. The Farm was created to grow
fresh, healthy, organic produce for the
school and the community, which is considered
a “food desert,” lacking in
easy-to-obtain local and organic vegetables
and fruit. On April 16, Rock the Earth Volunteers
helped to plant early season crops, prepared
garden beds, and helped to build a greenhouse,
ensuring that this community would have
much-needed local and organic vegetables
throughout the year!
On
April 21, also in Denver, Rock the Earth
Executive Director Marc Ross was a featured
speaker at the inaugural celebration of
the Colorado
Music Hall of Fame. With a
nod to the Hall’s first inductee,
the star-studded concert and celebration
at the 1st Bank Center was billed as John
Denver’s Rocky Mountain High –
An Earth Day Celebration. Featuring Olivia
Newton-John, John Oats, Michael Martin Murphey,
Richie Furay, the Boulder Philharmonic,
and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the evening
celebrated the life and music of John Denver.
In addition to Mr. Ross, the other featured
speakers were Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper,
acting Denver Mayor Bill Vidal, and eTown’s
Nick Forster.
Meanwhile,
in Atlanta, Rock the Earth Board Vice President
James Gooch was leading discussions with
artists and activists on Social Change Through
Music at Atlanta’s Sweetwater
420 Festival.
Tonight,
April 22, in Phoenix at the Center
for Divine Awakening (15801
North 40th Street), from 7-10 p.m. there
will be an Earth Day Songs for Healing benefit
concert for Rock the Earth. The event will
feature The Shakti Pistols with Michael
Kolasa, Clifford Levenson and Harijap, playing
kirtan and music by Robert Hunter and Jerry
Garcia. Also featured: Total Immersion in
the Gong Vortex with Jere Friedman and Candace
Caldwell. Suggested donation is $15, with
all proceeds going to Rock the Earth.
Finally,
TOMORROW (April 23), in Chicago Rock the
Earth volunteers will be participating in
helping to restore the Dunning-Read Conservation
Area, a greenspace reserved from development
that harbors several small remnant wetlands–a
rare find within the extensively built-up
city environment. As a result of the volunteer
work, the conservation area is being cleared
of invasive species, re-planted with native
plants, and cleared of brush.
We
appreciate our business partners who generously
agreed to support Rock the Earth in honor
of this 41st Anniversary of Earth Day. In
Denver, for the sixth year in a row, Herbs
and Arts donated 20% of their
sales from Saturday, April 16, raising $453
for Rock the Earth. Also in Denver, from
April 16-23, Green
Garage (29th & Zuni) offered
10% off any repairs to anyone who donated
a used cell phone to the Rock
the Earth cellular telephone recycling campaign.
During
the entire month of April, Soulshine
Photography in Chicago will
be donating 20% of all photo shoots and
reprints to Rock the arth.
Morphedelic
Design Clothing in Hood River,
OR will be donating 10% of all sales during
the month of April to Rock the Earth.
Finally,
our friends at Mountains
of the Moon Eco-Conscious Fashions &
Art will be donating 20% of
all on-line sales from April 17-23 to Rock
the Earth.
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NYC
Auction Benefit
If
you live in New York City (or plan to visit),
you’re probably always looking for
a good deal. Well, we have a great deal
for you! Thanks to the generosity of several
NYC businesses, Rock the Earth has been
conducting a NYC-focused on-line auction
this month. You can win tickets to several
comedy clubs, ride the new Hornblower Hybrid
on a boat tour of the Statue of Liberty,
take a stand-up comedy lesson at the Manhattan
Comedy School, enjoy the Gospel brunch at
BB Kings, or bid on any number of other
NYC-focused prizes. Since it’s Earth
month, we’ll even give you a chance
to grab general admission festival passes
to Bonnaroo or the All Good Festival for
less than face value! To
view the NYC Auction Benefit, GO HERE.
Hurry – the auctions all close on
Sunday April 24!
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Key
of Green: Green Your Kid's Toy Collection!
With
the large-scale recalls and public outcry
that has fermented over the last few years,
parents have good reason to be concerned
over the content of their children’s
toys. Lead is a major ingredient to avoid
and is especially hazardous to young children,
who are prone to chew on toys (or crayons!)
and lack bodily defenses against the substance.
Many toys also contain dioxin-generating
plastics like polyvinyl chloride (or PVC),
which is often bundled with phthalates linked
to organ damage, cancer, and other health
problems. Check for toys labeled lead-free
or PVC-free, and use resources like Good
Guide or Healthy Stuff to determine
which toys and chemicals to avoid.
Toys
lacking batteries or plastic are more environmentally
sustainable than the alternatives, as are
toys purchased from second-hand sources.
Check for toys made from recycled materials,
or make them yourself with everyday items
like cardboard boxes, milk jugs, oatmeal
containers or old magazines. Sometimes the
best choice may be to have your kids drop
the toys altogether and play tag outside!
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Rockin'
Bracelets to Rock the Earth
It's
April, which means only one thing –
Earth Month! Our friends at Wear
Your Music have a great way
for you to show that you love music AND
care about the environment with a recycled
guitar string bracelet. In three sizes (small,
medium
and large
), $5 from every bracelet sold during the
month of April goes to Rock the Earth! Also,
if you love Umphrey's McGee, consider the
limited-edition Brendan
Bayliss guitar string bracelet
– 100% of all proceeds from the sale
of Brendan's bracelets go to Rock the Earth
all year long!
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Member
Benefit: Discount Festival Tickets Available
for Members Only!
Thanks to our generous festival supporters,
once again, if you're a Rock the Earth Member,
you can take advantage of some incredible
savings on tickets! So, make sure that your
membership is up to date and then HURRY,
as supplies for these discounted tickets
are very limited! All tickets are non-transferable;
one discounted ticket per RtE Membership.
Summer
Camp Music Festival (May 27-29) - Members
Save at least $45!
Summer
Camp is a 3-day music festival
held Memorial Day Weekend at Three Sisters
Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. Started in
2001, over the years the festival has grown
from 15 bands on 2 stages over 2 days, to
over 60 bands on 5 stages over 3 days. This
year’s lineup includes 3 full performances
by moe. and Umphrey’s McGee, plus
Widespread Panic, STS9, Avett Brothers,
Keller Williams, Bassnectar, Cornmeal, Girl
Talk and many others. We are happy to be
able to offer 3-day ticket / camping passes
for $120 exclusively to RtE members. RtE
Members should contact
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to purchase.
DelFest
(May 26-29) - Members Save at least $25!
DelFest,
a 4-day, Memorial Day Weekend Festival in
the Cumberland Mountains of Maryland, is
an eclectic family festival. Heavy on the
Americana roots music, DelFest and the Del
McCoury Band play host to nearly three dozen
bands including Old Crow Medicine Show,
Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth,
Punch Brothers, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Trampled
By Turtles, Donna the Buffalo and others.
Thanks to this generous festival, we are
able to offer our members 4-day/camping
passes for $115. RtE Members should contact
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to purchase.
Mountain
Jam (June 2-5) - Members Save at least $100!
The
seventh annual edition of the Mountain
Jam Festival at Hunter Mountain
in upstate New York is looking to be a great
time! Featuring what might be the only performance
of the year by Gov’t Mule, along with
My Morning Jacket, Michael Franti &
Spearhead, the Warren Haynes Band, Grace
Potter & the Nocturnals, Bela Fleck
& the Original Flecktones, Electric
Hot Tuna and many others, Mountain Jam will
once again be one for the ages! We are happy
to offer RtE members a 4-day ticket/camping
pass for $100! RtE Members should contact
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to purchase.
Wakarusa
(June 2-5) - Members Save at least $35!
On
scenic Mulberry Mountain in the Arkansas
Ozark Mountains, Wakarusa
2011 offers something for everyone.
Headlined by My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper
& Relentless7, and Thievery Corporation,
and joined by STS9, Umphrey’s McGee,
Mumford & Sons, Sharon Jones & the
Dapkings, Ghostland Observatory and others,
you know it’s gonna be a hot time
on Mulberry Mountain! Rock the Earth is
offering RtE members a 4-day ticket/camping
pass for $120! RtE Members should contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
to purchase.
In
addition, Rock the Earth has discount passes
for RtE Members only to FloydFest
and High
Sierra Music Festival. If you're
interested in these tickets, contact us
at
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.
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Volunteer
Jam
Volunteer Jam provides an outlet to thank
non-staff volunteers and supporters who
have rocked it big time during the past
month, and who have gone above and beyond
in generous support of the Rock the Earth
cause.
We
want to sincerely thank each of you for
giving so generously of their time, and
applaud you for your contributions: John
Bergman, Brandi Honeycutt, Kevin O'Donohue,
P.J. O'Donohue, George Jenkin, and Cliff
Levenson.
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What
Rocks Your Earth: Ryan "RyMo"
Moran (Slightly Stoopid)
Ryan
“RyMo” Moran plays drums in
the San Diego-based band, Slightly Stoopid.
Formed in 1995 in California’s Ocean
Beach by childhood friends Miles Doughty
(guitar, bass, vocals) and Kyle McDonald
(guitar, bass, vocals), Slightly
Stoopid has become one of the
most influential and progressive improvisational
musical groups on the tour circuit. The
band has sold over 750,000 albums independently
and now releases all material on Doughty
and McDonald’s own record label, Stoopid
Records. The band recently announced they
will be donating their proceeds from their
April 20 concert at the Greek Theater in
Los Angeles to Music for Relief in support
of Save the Children’s emergency response
efforts to the multiple disasters in Japan.
Additionally, the band will contribute a
song to Music for Relief’s “Download
to Donate for Japan“ campaign, which
includes an exclusive and growing catalog
of songs available at http://www.downloadtodonate.org
for a donation of $10 or more.
1.
What environmental issue(s) do you consider
to be the most critical at this time?
Japan is the most urgent today with the
natural disaster and the nuclear power plants
melting down. It’s affecting a lot
of people – a lot more than we or
any experts know at this time. That is what
we are choosing to put our resources into
right now, by donating our share of our
Greek Theatre show proceeds to the relief
efforts in Japan.
2. What has inspired you to combine environmental
activism with your music?
We are fortunate to be in the position to
have a voice and help out. We really just
want to do our part. Living in San Diego
allows us to spend tons of time outdoors
and in the ocean. Many of us surf, and live
active lifestyles. We all want a clean environment
and to experience nature in its true state.
We realize that people need reminding of
the importance of our actively protecting
and bettering our earth.
3.
Where is your favorite place in nature to
go to find solace or inspiration?
The ocean is the source of life and holds
much power. I try to go surfing everyday
when we are off the road, or at least be
at the beach for some part of my day. Any
break from the concrete jungle is good for
the soul for sure.
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