One of our favorite moments came when, after Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy’s speech on Monday night, guess what tune could be heard playing?

“The hope rises again, and the dream lives on,” Kennedy said, to more cheers and the sea of blue signs. Then he hugged family and friends, and the music came up:

“You’re still the one. We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one.”

FULL ARTICLE:

From the radio … to the ABC TV network theme song … to countless commercial uses … to YOUR wedding anniversary … to the Democratic National Convention … to the US Open … Orleans remains grateful and proud that the applications of Still the One are so many, varied and WORLD WIDE!

If you were there, this will bring back great memories of a perfect day. If you missed Freedom Fest, experience it for the first time this weekend.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ONLINE WWW.WBPM929.COM

On July 6^th of this past summer, Pamal Broadcasting’s “Classic Hits 92.9 WBPM” presented an all-day concert music festival called “FREEDOM FEST” at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.  “FREEDOM FEST” featured 10 members of “RPM: Rock & Pop Masters” (www.RPMconcerts.com) doing their hits of the 1960’s, ‘70s and ‘80s. 

The stars of FREEDOM FEST are Lead Singers and/or Original Members of classic rock / pop bands including Jimi Jamison, formerly of Survivor®; Joe Lynn Turner, ex-Deep Purple / Rainbow; Robbie Dupree; Larry Hoppen of Orleans; Dave Jenkins of Pablo Cruise; Peter Rivera ex-Rare Earth; Spencer Davis; John Cafferty & ‘Tunes’ of the Beaver Brown Band; Gary U.S. Bonds; and Joe Bouchard, ex-Blue Oyster Cult. RPM also includes drummer Charlie Morgan (ex-Elton John Band), and Lane and Lance Hoppen, all with Orleans; bassist Barry Dunaway (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) and Jerry Riggs (ex-Pat Travers Band). You have to hear this world-class band to fully appreciate its quality and musical versatility! They’ve become very good friends of WBPM and they’re all featured on this special concert broadcast!

“Classic Hits 92.9 WBPM” will present this unique concert event as a 3-hour radio special several times on Labor Day Weekend.

            Friday, August 29^th at 6pm

            Saturday, August 30^th at 3pm

            Saturday, August 30^th at 10pm

            Sunday, August 31^st at Noon

            Sunday, August 31^st at 7pm

            Monday, September 1^st at 10am

            Monday, September 1^st at 5pm

 For pictures of the event, go to http://www.hudsonvalleyfreedomfest.com/

I rarely do this, but I’m posting a link to an article about an extraordinary organization which I actively and most fervently support.

Click here for the article in the Kingston Freeman

It would be literally catastrophic to Hudson Valley residents for The Queens Galley to have to shut its doors.

As far as I can tell, things will generally get worse economically before they get better, REGARDLESS of the coming election’s outcome. Queens Galley is one of the ONLY frontline defenses against hunger in the Kingston, NY regional community. If it has to shut down, thousands of families will suffer greatly.

I’m looking for ideas, connections, donations, whatever - to help Queens Galley not only stay open, but THRIVE.

If you have some thoughts to offer, please post them as comments below this blogpost.

If you are lead to make a donation, you may do so directly at the Queens Galley website.

Thanks for reading.
   
Warm regards,
Larry

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Diane Reeder
Executive director, The Queens Galley
              845-338-3468        office phone
              845-334-8159        fax
             845-901-0341 cell
  www.thequeensgalley.org

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

The Queens Galley is a non profit 501 (c) 3 organization providing relief, awareness, education and prevention of food insecurity in the United States. The Queens Galley does not discriminate on the basis of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, gender, age or sexual orientation in administration of any of its programs or policies. All donor information is confidential.

The post below comes to you essentially UNEDITED, as it appeared in my own inbox this morning.

Knowing my youger brother, Lane,  as well as I do only heightened my interest and “smile factor”. You will see in his writing an astute sense for detail, as well as a grasp of the absurd. He is normally a man of VERY few words, but I know his brain is always spinning in there. This story is proof positive.

I did NOT have the “pleasure” of travelling to Bermuda for this RPM gig, myself, but I feel tired just reading his account of the journey! Enjoy …

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I don’t have a [personal] blog but if I did this is what it would say:

    We had an RPM gig in Bermuda this past weekend. Jerry Riggs and I were booked on a US Airways flight out of Orlando on Friday morning at 8:50 AM, scheduled to land in Charlotte, NC at 10:29AM. There we would meet up with Barry and Jimi and get on a flight at 11:25 AM which would arrive in Bermuda at 3:02 PM. Then we would spend the rest of the day hanging out with the rest of the guys at the beach before we had a nice dinner and then a little party with our client, AIG.

That’s what was supposed to happen. Here’s what really happened: 

    WRONG!!! I stood in the same place for 15 minutes before the line started moving. I still don’t know why. By the time I finished checking in it was after 8:00. Then I had to go through security and after that was done I just barely had enough time to get a bagel and a bottle of water before I headed to the gate, where I met up with Jerry and scarfed down my breakfast before boarding the plane.  

   Once we were all seated, 8:50 came and went. The pilot came on the air and said there was a problem with the computer that he thought would be fixed by now but it wasn’t so he would have to shut everything down and try to reboot it. In the meantime the flight attendants were taking people off the plane who had no chance of making their connecting flights. We still had a shot at making ours. By the time the problem was fixed it was 10:15 before we took off. There was no way we would make it to Charlotte in time, but we were told that there were a total of 16 people on our flight who were going to Bermuda so there was a chance they would hold the plane for us if we weren’t too late.

    WRONG AGAIN!!!  We touched down at 11:45, only about 15 minutes late, but they didn’t hold the plane, even though they knew it was the last flight out for the day. So Jerry and I proceeded to find the nearest US Airways ticket counter, where we told Val our problem. She managed to get us on a 1:10 PM flight to JFK that would arrive at 3:00 PM. Then we would get on an American Airlines flight at 5:20 PM which would get us to Bermuda at 8:45 that same night. Once again, …

    WRONG!!! We went back through security and had just enough time to get some food to take with us on the plane when we realized we didn’t have assigned seats. By the time we got on the plane all the overhead space was full so we decided that Jerry would gate check his guitar and I would do the same with my carry-on bag. Our seats were in the back of the plane so we had to work our way back up to the front, past all of the people in the aisle. When we got there we told the flight attendant what we wanted to do. He said that was fine for Jerry’s guitar but my bag would have to go to baggage claim when we landed. After some back and forth and some bs about FAA regulations I just said OK. He asked me what my final destination was, and since we were changing airlines and I had over 2 hours to claim my bag and I wanted to carry it with me to Bermuda, I told him JFK was my final destination. So we took off from Charlotte and headed for JFK. It seemed like everything would be OK.

    WRONG AGAIN!!!  At approximately 2:30 a flight attendant came on the air and said she had some bad news. There were some really bad thunderstorms in the JFK area so we had been in a holding pattern for a long time now and we were running low on fuel. So they diverted us to Philadelphia, where we landed at about 3:00, which was when we were supposed to be landing at JFK.

    It took a while to refuel and we still didn’t know when we could take off because there was still bad weather happening. Now I was wondering how I was going to be able to claim my bag at JFK in time to make our connection if we landed there in time. I talked to the flight attendant and he told me to talk to a gate agent here in Philadelphia and see if they could help me.

    So I went back up to the front, actually got off the plane and stood in the runway for about 10 minutes before I finally saw somebody. Do I even need to tell you what the result was? So I resigned myself to the fact that, if we did make our connection, I would leave my bag there and have them send it to me the next day.

    Well, I didn’t have to worry. After we finally taxied out to the runway to wait our turn for takeoff we could see planes coming in one after another to land on the very runway that we needed. It was like watching the end of Die Hard 2 except that there was no fire to guide them down. Finally, we got on the runway and were starting to pick up speed to take off when some idiot across the aisle decided that would be the perfect time for him to get up and get something out of the overhead compartment. Both the flight attendant and the pilot yelled at him to sit down immediately and luckily we were able to take off, because they told us later that if we had to abort it would have been another 4 hours before we could leave.

    Anyway, we got to JFK at 6:00 or so, but not before we went through the worst turbulence I have ever experienced. Needless to say, we missed our connection AGAIN!!!  So we went to the US Airways ticket counter to find a way to get where we were going.

    At first we got a young woman who was obviously pretty new because she had no idea what to do. Fortunately, Nancy came over and took over and got us taken care of. She got us on a flight at 7:25AM the next morning. Then she told us to be at the airport by 5 AM if we wanted to make that flight.

    So then we told her we needed some rooms for the night. First she said she couldn’t help us because it was a weather issue but we pointed out that it was a mechanical problem in Orlando that started everything. So she called her supervisor, who told her there was no report about the problem with the Orlando flight (what a surprise!), and then she told her to call somebody else. By this time we had been there at least an hour so Nancy decided she would just get us some rooms.

    WRONG AGAIN!!!  She called the first hotel and they told her they were completely full. Same with the next one and the one after that and the same with every hotel on her list. I had been on the phone throughout the day with C-Lo, our intrepid travel agent, who was helping us navigate through the entire situation, so she started working on finding us a room somewhere close by. So we thanked Nancy for her help and went to find our bags.

    On our way to the baggage carousel we passed by the US Airways baggage office and there was my bag. We went in and Julia greeted us and we explained our situation to her. She told us not to worry about our checked luggage because that was already scheduled to be on the first flight out the next day, which was the same flight we would be on. But that meant that Jerry didn’t have anything for the night so she went in the back and came out with 2 bags of toiletries for us. Then she asked if she could do anything else for us and I half-jokingly asked her if she could get us a room somewhere. She got right on her own personal laptop and started searching. Meanwhile, C-Lo called back and said she could get us a room at the nearby Hilton and they had free 24-hour shuttle service, so we said goodbye to Julia, hopped on the Air Train, caught the shuttle and made it to the hotel.

    After a nice dinner (which included several Capt. Morgan & Cokes for each of us) it was time for bed. It was only 9:30 PM but it felt like 3 in the morning. Since we had to leave the hotel at 4:30 AM I set my alarm for 3:45 so I could take a shower.

    I got up, got in the tub and turned on the water. Then I realized that there was no way to switch it to the shower position. I looked all over that bathroom for some kind of switch but there was none to be found. So I just kneeled down and stuck my head under the faucet so I could wash my hair and get myself semi-clean.

    As for the actual show, that went great. Everybody had a real good time. Our drummer for this gig was Mike Malfesi, who is usually our sound man. But Charlie had a bicycle accident and broke his arm about 10 days before the gig so Mike stepped in and did a great job. Everybody in the band was suitably impressed and the audience was none the wiser.

    After the gig we relaxed and had some food and a few drinks and Joe Lynn regaled a few of the guests with some of his many tales.

    The next day Jerry and I were the last ones to leave the hotel. We got our ride to the airport and ran into a lot of the guests who told us how much they enjoyed the show. We got on board our flight to Philadelphia and right before we left the Captain came on the air and said they had a maintenance issue but it was all taken care of and we would be leaving shortly. Jerry and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.

    We managed to make it to Philadelphia and after a 20 minute walk from the A terminal to the C terminal we still had time to get some Philly Cheese Steaks. We got on board for our 6:15 PM flight to Orlando, scheduled to arrive at 8:56 PM. Well, while they were still loading the luggage onto the plane there was some lightning in the area so they had to stop until it passed. After a little while they came back and finished and we were good to go.

    So they started towing the plane out away from the gate. Then the tow bar broke, so we had to wait until they got another one. They finally towed us out and we headed towards the runway, but the weather was still bad so we had no idea when we could take off. Finally, at about 8:30 we were in the air. We were almost home. Nothing else could go wrong, right?

    WRONG ONCE MORE!!!  We touched down at 10:25. Now, Orlando Airport is notoriously slow when it comes to their baggage handlers. The bags for our flight didn’t even start to come out until after 11:00. The only problem was that OUR BAGS WERE NOT THERE!!!  So we headed over to the baggage office and filed our reports and they told us they would deliver them to us some time in the morning, which they did.

      Lane Hoppen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLd8lHZeyB4

The first is a performance I (Lance) did of the John Hall/Bob Leinbach song, “Serenity” on Feb. 24th, 2008, at the church I attend here in Nashville. Every Sunday I’m home I play acoustic guitar in the church band. We often have guest artists of all kinds play during the service. Just as often, we from within the band are featured artists (there are 1/2 dozen singers in the band itself).

For this rendering, I gathered about a dozen of the best voices in the congragation to serve as a choir. Unbeknownst to me at the time, one of the attendees caught this on video. I can’t vouch for the quality of the recording itself, but it’s nice that it was captured at all, let alone posted to YouTube.

“Serentiy” first appeared on the Analog Men album, released only in Japan in 1994. For the original version as well as the rest of that obscure CD, please visit www.OrleansOnline.com/AMenRide.html

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Next up is a current project … one YOU can get involved in!

My good friend and sometimes musical collaborator, Shawn Gallaway, came to me with a tune he wished Orleans to help him cut. He had been commissioned by Universal Life Tools to write a song to go with their movie (and movement) called “The Wave of Love”. They wanted an upbeat, danceable kind of islands flavored thing. OK. No problem.

As we have done in the past, Charlie Morgan, Larry and I  went in to Charlie’s studio with Shawn and worked our magic. This time we recruited the talents of dear, old friend and Nashville diva, Jonell Mosser, to complete the background singers section. You can hear the results AND download The Wave of Love for FREE!.

While you’re there, watch the short video explaining how YOU can be a part of the video the Universal Life Tools people will produce to go along with the song … and their BIGGER mission.

Well, a LOT of things, actually … but this post focuses on the Garland Jeffreys story.

Now, I don’t know how many reading this are familiar with Garland’s work. I certainly wasn’t at the time. Still, when Jerry Marotta called me early on in ‘78 about a gig, I was all ears.

Jerry had become band leader for Garland and responsible for assembling a band for his upcoming tour. He invited me to play bass, Tim Cappela for keys and sax, David Brown on guitar, and Joachim Young also on keys. Just for reference …

Jerry, the younger brother of world-famous drummer Rick Marrotta, had his first “big gig” with us! His first hit recording session was Still the One. When Orleans broke up, he wound up in the Hall & Oates band for awhile, playing on Kiss on My List, etc. After that, he was with Peter Gabriel for a decade, helping to develop that Gabriel sound (Shock the Monkey, Salisbury Hill, and so on). His credits are too numerous to mention, but you can visit him at http://jerrymarotta.com  

Tim Cappella went on to bulk up as a bodybuilder. You can see him in the original Lost Boys vampire movie. More importantly, he went on to play in Tina Turner’s band and with Ringo’s All Stars.

David Brown got the Billy Joel gig and stayed with Billy for I don’t know how long … maybe 20 years? (incidentally, David is a good Boston-based bud of Orleans’ own Fly Amero)

Now, Jerry had met Joachim Young (who played all those cool keys for Steve Miller on Fly Like an Eagle and other Miller tunes of that era) when he was playing with Valerie Carter. She was opening the tour we (Orleans) did with Jackson Browne, throughout 1976. He was great in those roles but, for whatever reasons, did not get (or take) the Garland gig. So, who would be the replacement?

“Why not Larry?”, I suggested. And, lo and behold, it came to pass that Larry joined us to complete the band. In the trade-off, Garland got the benefit of not only keys, but a 2nd guitarist and another singer.

As best as I can recall, that tour lasted only a few months, but we played some cool places … I think. Actually, to be honest, I don’t remember much about it at all. But, hey … it was the 70s, right?

Fortunately, someone had the presence of mind to capture this Garland Jeffreys Band on tour … and I’m getting to that, which is the point of this story. Fast-forward to last month …

When Orleans played Sanford, FL on 4th of July, we were visited by a dear old bass-playing friend, fan and Woodstock contemporary, Greg Jackson. While emailing back and forth in the aftermath of that reconnection, Greg informed me that there were now two Garland Jeffreys shows posted at Wolfgang’s Vault. He was sure it was OUR version of Garland’s band because it was not HIM playing bass (and I never knew before that that Greg had ever done the Garland gig. Hmm …)

So, I checked out these shows, recorded live at the BottomLine in New York on May 15th and 16th of 1978. And you know what? We were pretty darn good!

Anyway, for those of you who like to dig down deep into the history, can’t get enough of Orleans spin-offs, or just like finding some good but obscure “new” music,  this is something VERY different than anything you’d expect to find from us!

The really GOOD NEWS is that listening to the shows is FREE! The not-so-good news (for some) is that the shows are NOT available to purchase for downloads. Don’t know why.

While you’re at Wolfgang’s Vault, you might want to type “Orleans” into the search box, because there are FOUR shows from 1977 that are available for listening and downloading.

Enjoy!

Back home and recovered from the whirlwind Jacksonville/Ithaca weekend. REALLY a lot of fun, but hardly a moment to catch our breath from the time we left Saturday morning until we collapsed Sunday night.

In Jacksonville, Florida, we not only shot video for K-Tel, so they can release Still the One and Dance With Me as video singles on iTunes (more about that as it develops), we had a pro photgrapher there to do stills. There should be PLENTY of stage shots coming from the Jacksonville show, but there are none for right now.

Meanwhile, in Ithaca, New York …

One of the major highlights of the weekend was meeting and hangin’ with the winners of the Cruise Contest, Dr. Tom and Pam Socash … and their 4 kids — Tyler, Trevor, Nikki and Eric. Great folks and very gracious guests.

Thanks to everybody who contributed their memories to this blog and congratulations to Tom Socash for winning the prize! You can read his (and ALL the entries) HERE.

Also on the boat — (Left) With former Orleans drummer, Charley Shew, and the original Orleans fan and musical archivist, Sky Schrode. 
(Right) With our champion make-it-happen-guy, Tom Kallman, without whom the Ithacafest gig would have never been hooked up. Thanks, Tom!

Speaking of highlights, how about this arial shot of the World’s Largest Human Peace Sign?

Organized by Ithaca high school student, Trevor Dougherty, 5800 people came together in an attempt to set the new Guiness record. Read more about this inspiring young man’s good works HERE.

Shortly thereafter, this is what we looked like to the crowd when we debuted our new song, The Moment (coming soon to a digital release near YOU!) —

And this is what it looked like from onstage! That’s beautiful Lake Cayuga in the distance.

Fly couldn’t resist joing the audience for an extended walk-around solo during the encore, Tongue-Tied. Nobody seemed to mind!

And, after the set was over, we signed and signed and signed …

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Ithaca, both day and evening and 

Having been some days in preparation, a splendid time was guaranteed for all.

Special appreciation goes to Scott Wiggins at La Tourelle Resort & Spa for his tremendous generosity and hospitality.

Indeed, we wish to thank EVERYone … especially our long-time Ithaca fans …who made this Ithaca/Orleans Homecoming not only possible, but a truly memorable experience.

As Arnold said, “We’ll be back!”

At 3 PM, thousands of Ithacans will gather in Stewart Park in an attempt to set a record for the world’s largest human peace sign. The entire event will be broadcast to a global audience via YouTube, all to advocate for world peace.

Trevor Dougherty, a sophomore at Ithaca High School, is organizing the event. Dubbed “Ithaca’s YouTuber” by the Ithaca Journal last year, he will also aid in the creation and web syndication of a viral video documenting the event.

You can read more about this event and see two of Trevor’s videos at

 http://ithacafestival.typepad.com/stand_up_/2008/05/post.html

Trevor’s work has been featured on Google’s official blog, YouTube’s official blog, the Veoh.com homepage, Anderson Cooper’s show on CNN, Red TV in the U.K., and on the BBC’s Radio Five. His “Stand Up for World Peace” video was nominated for YouTube’s most inspirational video of 2007. Five of his videos have been featured in the YouTube categories/spotlight section, and one on the homepage. YouTube’s Steve Grove also recognized him as YouTube “Citizen of the Week,” at some point, when he was still doing that. Trevor was one of YouTube’s first guest editors and remains the youngest person to have ever edited YouTube’s homepage!

See more of this inspiring young man’s work at his YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/maddogza

And, if it’s at all possible, come PARTICIPATE in the creation of the World’s Largest Human Peace Sign!

Orleans has a long history of writing, recording and performing songs that are issue-related; we’ll get to that in a minute.

To first bring this subject into a more modern light, here are a few songs from recent decades that have been used by politicians who also believe in the power of music (often resulting in author and/or artist objections!)

The list includes Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” (which Ronald Reagan was asked to stop using), recently John Mellencamp’s “This Is Our Country” and “Still The One”, which ‘Bush 43′ used in his 2004 re-election bid. Our band Orleans was NOT pleased; the song’s co-author demanded that Republicans stop using it, which the RNC quickly and publicly claimed to do. Then in 2006 John Hall ran for Congress and won (D-NY19)!

Clearly, many of us creative types can be quite passionate re: political affiliations with our work!

I also believe that being in Ithaca as a young man in the late 60s / early 70s had a lot to do with how I came to see the symbiotic relationship between music and politics. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn’t change that part of my life one bit!  THANKS, Ithaca!

However, this piece is written mainly because I am proud of Orleans’ history of supporting decidedly progressive candidates and worthy social causes, and because I strongly believe that we are in a time that has unprecedented stakes riding on how this political year here in the USA plays out.

Like 1968, when there was a devastating and unpopular war, serious racial tension and upcoming complex Conventions and a Presidential Election, 2008 is seeing the same features in the news on a daily basis. Popular music in the late 1960s centered around reflective and activist songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, the Beatles and various ‘protest’ songs. That music defined pop culture and clearly made a big difference, encouraging and eventually helping to bring an end to the Viet Nam War and to ease the seething, violent Civil Rights struggle.

Forty years on, music is delivered and accessed in a completely different way. What’s left of broadcast radio airs a very limited playlist and the public, with more choices, no longer necessarily listens to the same ‘hits’ repeatedly. Instead, music is fragmented with niches at satellite radio, digital TV, Internet radio, independent artists with countless websites, download sites like iTunes and a dwindling market for ‘brick and mortar’ store products like CDs.

By its very nature, this has changed the immediate relationship between music, the public and, thus, also politics. It’s harder to reach a large group of people with the same message. However, some mega-artists - U2, Bruce Springsteen, Nine Inch Nails, Indigo Girls, others  - still carry strong messages to mass audiences, while smaller and/or ‘indie’ artists have loyal followings who pay close attention to what these artists say and do through music.

When Orleans began in 1972, we quickly got behind George McGovern’s anti-war and generally progressive campaign. Over the years, we played in support of Jimmy Carter, Gov. Jerry Brown, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and many state and local candidates we found appealing. With John Hall’s lead, we played a lot of rallies opposing the proliferation of nuclear power. John became one of the true leaders of the No Nukes movement. 1979’s No Nukes concerts, film and LP raised significant funds for that cause, and the Hall song “Power’” is THE “alternative energy anthem” to this day. Orleans remains proud to include it in our shows!

Speaking of Hall / Orleans ‘energy songs’, “Cold Spell” is from 1974’s “Let there Be Music” LP and  ‘Plutonium is Forever” is a calypso spoof in the anti-nuke musical catalog. Lance and I wrote / recorded “Save Our Planet” for 1982’s “One of a Kind” album; 1994’s “Heaven” (written with John & Bob Leinbach) is on several Orleans releases; “Get A Life” makes a strong statement, too. “It All Comes Back”, on our 1973 debut, still resonates.

Orleans played - and still plays - often in support of efforts for what we perceive as improvement on the current state of the nation and world. Women’s issues, gay rights (which is merely a subset of Human Rights), children’s advocacy and anti-violence are some of what we’ve deemed ‘worthy’ causes.

Individually, John has punctuated all of his solo and John Hall Band work with ‘issue’ songs; I have done the same on my “UnHerd” and “HandMade” solo CDs, and the UnHerd CD helps fund the nonprofit Sunshine for HIV Kids, Inc. Let’s not forget that drummer Charlie Morgan’s first concert as The Elton John Band’s drummer was 1984’s Live Aid, the mother of all ‘music-as-political-statement’ events!

Here in 2008, I’m thrilled to have already done one gig for Sen. Barack Obama’s Campaign. Along with Beth Schafer, I wrote “Build That Bridge”, which became the title song of her latest CD and in turn, a big part of why her band got an Obama gig.

We all hope to do more - Beth, Orleans and many of us in Rock & Pop Masters all want to do all we can to help America find its way back to good leadership, grassroots activism and positive change economically, socially and politically. It is a privilege to have a voice “in front of” an audience, and many of us in that position see both the opportunity and responsibility to use that voice for positive movement beyond our personal lives and immediate concerns.

Music - ‘the universal language’ - can galvanize people into a healthy and energized sense that we are not powerless, that we do share common ideals and goals and that we can, together, actually get things done which can make a big difference for our collective future!

Finally, the young teen in this video says it all better than anyone  I’ve ever heard … please check out this powerful 5-minute talk to  the United Nations.

Larry Hoppen