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 spentthe 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 aswell as Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization dedicated to helping the thousands of local musicians scattered by the storm.
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.
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