EVAN GREER’S “FRIENDS NOT FANS” NEWSLETTER
JANUARY, 2011

THIS MONTH’S CONTENTS:
1) Thoughts on Marsupials and 2011
2) New Album in the Works, Please Help!
3) WEST COAST TOUR announced with BONFIRE MADIGAN
4) Booking Dates NOW for 2011 - 2012
5) Tarek Mehanna Bail Hearing!
6) Upcoming Shows and Tours

IMMEDIATE DESTINATIONS:
JAN 12: Brooklyn, NY (w/ spiritchild, Chris Clavin of Ghost Mice and MORE!)
JAN 14: Albany, NY (w/ spiritchild & Chris Clavin of Ghost Mice)
JAN 19: Ann Arbor, MI
JAN 20: Kalamazoo, MI
JAN 22: Lowell, MA
FEB 1 - MAR 6: TOUR OF FLORIDA w/ Erin & Baby Saorise! (need help with booking!)
MAR 22 - 30: BACK TO THE ROOTS TOUR w/ spiritchild of mental notes (still booking!)
MAR 26: Boston, MA (Jericho Benefit w/ X-Vandals, Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde)
APR 1: Boston, MA (w/ spiritchild, Invincible, The Narcicyst, and Remi Kanazi)
APR 2 - 8: MIDWEST FULL BAND TOUR w/ BORN IN A CENT (now booking!)
APR 9: New York, NY (NYC Anarchist Bookfair)
APR 13 - 20: NORTHWEST TOUR w/ DANA LYONS (now booking!)
APR 22 - 30: CALIFORNIA & MEXICO w/ BONFIRE MADIGAN (now booking!)
MAY - JUN: NORTHEAST TOUR w/ TAINA ASILI Y LA BANDA REBELDE (now booking!)

HOW TO FIND ME:
Riot-Folk! Collective: www.riotfolk.org
Personal Website: www.evangreer.org
Donate! www.evangreer.org/blog.html
Workshop Info: www.evangreer.org/workshops.html
Buy CDs from Me with Google-Checkout: www.evangreer.org/products.html
Buy CDs from CD Baby: www.cdbaby.com/evangreer

Friend me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/evan.greer2
Friend me on Myspace: www.myspace.com/evangreer

1) Thoughts on Marsupials and 2011

[PHOTO OF ME WITH SAOIRSE IN POUCH]

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt a strange affinity for marsupials. I mean, maybe as a pretty energetic kid who was diagnosed with ADD I just identified with a mammal that can jump several times it’s own height and who’s primary mode of transportation is bouncing. As I sit here writing to you with my baby Saoirse fast asleep in my “pouch,” though, the resemblance is becoming ever more clear. Taking a baby on tour in Europe at five weeks old seemed like a good idea at the time but i have to tell you, it’s had some unexpected consequences, like the fact that Saoirse sleeps better when he’s on a noisy train than in bed in our quiet apartment. He got so used to sleeping while in transit that that seems to be his preferred mode of existence. Fortunately, we’re a pretty nomadic family and we’ll be heading south soon in search of work and avocados, so he will be returned to his infant rock-star lifestyle.

[PHOTO OF SAOIRSE PASSED OUT IN BERLIN]
[PHOTO OF ME AND SAORISE, ETHAN AND KATE]

Anyhow, it’s 2011 now, so that’s exciting, if you are down with the Gregorian calendar and all that . I wish I had exciting and humorous new years stories to tell you but to be honest we spent Saoirse’s first New Years Eve at home drinking sparkling apple cider and practicing rolling over. Oh and we built a snow- fort too!

[PHOTO OF SAOIRSE’S FIRST SNOWFORT]

Which brings us back to marsupials (confusing segway, i know, but just work with me, i’m a sleep deprived new parent!) Erin and I are bouncing SOUTH with Saoirse in a pouch. Heading to Florida (and maybe surrounding states) for February and early March, and we’d love to see you! Get in touch if you want to bring our touring musical family to your town!

As always, please get in touch if you have a campaign, struggle, funny link, or important event that you want me to help promote through this list. I want to hear what you are all up to, so keep in touch! you know where to find me.

xoxo,
-mama greer
evangreer@gmail.com

2) New Album in the Works, Please Help!
It’s true! Well, it hopes to be true. I put out Never Surrender in 2009 and I still often call it my “new album” which becomes more and more of a misnomer with each passing day. I’ve written a ton of new songs since then, picked up a few new instruments, and made some great friends who i’m excited to collaborate with musically. While life is pretty hectic right now with baby, touring, and organizing, I’m forcing myself to carve out more time for music and and I’m starting to make concrete plans for recording a new album this spring and summer, hopefully trying for a release in Fall of 2011.

I’ve got a ton of new songs and I’m hoping to release a super packed album of me playing new and old songs with a fantastic band of friends including featured performances by HOLLY BREWER of legendary northeast freak-folk orchestra HUMANWINE, real as hell truth-speaking rapper MAJESTY from NYC, some surprise members of the Riot-Folk! Collective, members of albany hip-hop / rock troupe BROADCAST LIVE, the best labor singer in North America ANNE FEENEY, and who knows who else?!!

Get ready for the shameless plea. I can’t do it without your help! Right now my whole music operation is working on a shoestring budget. Pretty much all the money i take in from shows and CD sales is already spent before i get it on rent, bills, travel expenses, baby wipes, etc. To record a new CD I need to reach out to my supporters for financial help to make this idea a reality. I’ve made a conscious choice to not have a record label so that i can have full control over the content of my songs and the message that I put in them. This means that I don’t have any financial backing except the support of my family, friends, and, community.

Pre-Order the NEW Album TODAY!!!
If 150 people make a donation of $20 - $30, i’ll have enough to pay for recording, pay my musicians, and pay for pressing and ecologically packaging a brand new CD! So here’s what i’m asking you to do: if you can a donate $20 - $30 (sliding scale) now, then you’ll get two signed copies of the new CD as soon as it’s finished, a couple weeks before it’s available to everyone else, plus you’ll get AN EXCLUSIVE BONUS SONG that only people who pre-order the CD will have, as well as some patches, a personal thank you card from baby Saoirse, and a few other fun odds and ends. It will be so awesome I promise and I’ll love you forever.

Want to pre-order the album? Great! There are a few ways you can donate:

*If you want to use PayPal to donate, you can make a pay-pal donation to my partner, Erin Ryan’s account (I don’t have a pay pal account.) Just make the donation to: erf@riseup.net, and note that it’s for your pre-order.

*If you want to donate online using a CREDIT or DEBIT card, you can do it using Google-Checkout on my website at www.evangreer.org/blog.html, simply scroll down to select a donation amount, and then shoot me an e-mail at evangreer@gmail.com to let me know that the donation was to pre-order the new album. You’ll need a google-checkout account, which is super easy to set up, just follow the directions when you click the Buy Now link.

And of course, we can do this the old fashioned way too. If you want to mail me a check, cash, or money order, just reply to this e-mail and let me know and I’ll send you an address you can send it to.

I know not everyone has $20 - $30 to spare, which is why the CD will be available in it’s entirety for free download a few weeks after it’s released, just like all my other music. If you want to make a smaller donation to support the effort that’s great too, and you can do that using the same methods listed above! Thanks so much for your support! Without you my music would never leave my bedroom.

3) WEST COAST TOUR announced with BONFIRE MADIGAN!
Okay so i can’t really contain my excitement about this. April 22 - 30 two hard-working folk-punk families are about to collide and take WEST COAST from the Bay to Tijuana by storm. This will be baby Saorise’s 6th Tour (not bad for an 8 month old) but it will be his FIRST tour with another person his size!

Madigan Shive is not like anything you’ve ever seen before, I promise. Her songs rock and she’s an incredible performer. This bad-ass lady folk-punk artist / new mama has collaborated in the studio with Jolie Holland of the Be Good Tanyas, Acadamy Award Winner Elliot Smith, and David Coulter of The Pogues. She’s toured the world, composed the score for an amped up production of Shakespeare, and shared stages with legends like Kimya Dawson, Neko Case, Cat Power, Gossip, Fugazi, Bright Eyes, and Modest Mouse. She’s contributing author to the anthology Live through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press), sharing company with bell hooks, Nan Goldin, Kate Bornstein, and other great writers. Madigan is also a founding collective member of The Icarus Project, a grassroots support and media network led by people living with experiences commonly labeled "mental illness."

Basially what I’m trying to say is that she’s really frickin awesome, and we’re gonna be rocking some great shows together from the BAY AREA to TIJUANA between April 22 - 30th, 2011. We’ve got a lot of stuff in the works but we’re still open to ideas too so please get in touch if you’re interested in bringing us to your town along that route!

E-mail: evangreer@gmail.com if you want to book us in your area or have ANY ideas!

4) Booking Dates NOW for 2011 - 2012
As a matter of fact, you should just get in touch if you have ANY ideas pretty much ANYWHERE in the world. I’m hard at work pretty much all the time booking workshops and performances in such a bizarrely wide range of spaces that it’s just kind of silly. The balancing act of being a new parent, community organizer working on a few different campaigns for political prisoners and other causes, and trying to support my family all at the same time means that i don’t have nearly as much time for working on booking as i really need, so i really need your help for ideas, contacts, and suggestions of where to play and who to talk to.

I’d love to come to your living room, high school, arena, riot, picket line, coffee shop, all-ages venue, college, church, LGBT center, or campfire and I’ve got a whole ton of tours coming up with an amazing array artists from folk to punk to hip hop to Latin@/Afro-Caribbean rock. We’ve got ideas and possible shows brewing all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Australia, and beyond. I want to bring these brilliant musicians to your town so get in touch and we can make something happen!

FOR ALL BOOKING IDEAS / REQUESTS: evangreer@gmail.com

5) Tarek Mehanna Bail Hearing!
Just a quick note to let people know that there is an important bail hearing coming up for U.$. held political prisoner Tarek Mehanna. Tarek is an arab and Muslim man from the Boston area who was targeted by the FBI for refusing to become an informant against his own community. I am an active member of Dr. Mehanna’s support committee and hope that everyone will stay tuned tto www.freetarek.com to keep up to date on this important event. They feds haven’t released a date for the hearing yet but we know it will be sometime this month or next month in Boston, and we really need a strong showing of support in the courtroom on the day of and through character witness letters sent to freetarek@gmail.com before Jan 25th.

6) Upcoming Shows and Tours!

For a constantly updated list of upcoming shows, workshops, and tours, visit www.riotfolk.org/evan and click on SHOWS!

Here’s all the details i have right now:

JAN 12: Brooklyn, NY
@ Manifesta Loft
315 Siegel St, Bushwick.
7:00pm. all ages. $5 donation.
w/ spiritchild, Chris Clavin of Ghost Mice, Bell’s Roar, Born In A Cent, and Lauren Measure!
PLUS the Out of the Basement Film Fest, short films by Chris Clavin.
facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=153516561362384

JAN 14: Albany, NY
@ Social Justice Center
33 Central Ave, Albany
7:00pm. all ages. $5 - 10 sliding scale donation.
w/ spiritchild & Chris Clavin of Ghost Mice
PLUS the Out of the Basement Film Fest, short films by Chris Clavin.
facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=132921803434855

JAN 19: Ann Arbor, MI
@ University of Michigian
The U-Club in the Michigan Union
530 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Sponsored by the F-Word (feminist group!)
6:30pm WORKSHOP on community organzing skills for students,
7:30pm OPEN MIC (bring something to share!)
8:00pm - 9:00pm EVAN GREER IN CONCERT.
All Ages! Free and open to the public!

JAN 20: Kalamazoo, MI
@ Western Michigan University
Details TBA! Sponsored by the Kalamazoo Peace Center.
Contact: benayer@gmail.com for more info!

JAN 22: Lowell, MA
@ Gemstones (Blue Shamrock)
Fight for Education Fundraiser hosted by Stephanie Reis
105 Market Street, Lowell, MA
21+. $8 donation.
w/ The Might Bad Habits, Leon, The Workers, Nothing After Neptune
facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=104554829608289

FEB 1 - MAR 6: TOUR OF FLORIDA w/ Erin & Baby Saorise!
Seeking dates in Florida and maybe Georgia and surrounding states. I’m way behind on booking for this trip and it’s coming up SOON so please get in touch if you’ve got ideas!

MAR 22 - 30: BACK TO THE ROOTS TOUR w/ spiritchild of mental notes
Still booking dates in the Northeast U$A for me and south bronx hip hop freedom singer, spiritchild (of the jazzy hip hop fusion band mental notes, hip hip trio X-Vandals with Not4Prophet of Ricanstruction and Johnny Juice of Public Enemy, and founder of artist/activist collective Movement in Motion.) Check out www.myspace.com/spiritchildmentalnotes

MAR 26: Boston, MA
Free Em All Benefit for Political Prisoners
Sponsored by Jericho Boston
Details TBA!
w/ X-Vandals, Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde, and more!

APR 1: Boston, MA
@ Northeastern University
Closing concert for Human Rights Week.
Sponsored by Project Nur and more. Details TBA!
w/ spiritchild, Invincible, The Narcicyst, and Remi Kanazi

APR 2 - 8: MIDWEST FULL BAND TOUR w/ BORN IN A CENT
This tour is booking up fast so get in touch now if you want to bring this to your town! At long last I’ll be touring as a full band, Evan Greer & Friends featuring members of radical feminist queer punk/ska/indie/rock band Born In a Cent on drums and guitars. Check out http://borninacent.blogspot.com

APR 9: New York, NY
@ NYC Anarchist Bookfair
Queer & Trans Afterparty
Details TBA!
w/ Born In A Cent and more!

APR 13 - 20: NORTHWEST TOUR w/ DANA LYONS
Booking performances and workshosp now for a quick but sensational midwest tour with legendary alt-country folksinger Dana Lyons, best known for his hit song, “Cows with Guns.” Looking for dates between Bellingham and Arcata so get in touch!

APR 22 - 30: CALIFORNIA & MEXICO w/ BONFIRE MADIGAN
Radical parent-musicians unite! Bring two families full of folk-punk fury to your town between the Bay Area and Tijuana. Booking now so get in touch, this will book up quick!

MAY and JUN: NORTHEAST DATES w/ TAINA ASILI Y LA BANDA REBELDE
Another exciting tour with an amazingly dance-able latin/afro-carribean rock band from Albany. We’re booking college gigs in May and Pride Festivals and other LGBTQ spaces in the northeast this summer, but we’re open to other ideas too so get in touch if tyou want to bring this versatile show to your area!