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Thursday, November 22, 2012

November 2012 Friends Not Fans Newsletter


Hey friend,

Welcome to my Friends Not Fans Newsletter for November!

Sometimes I forget to send newsletters, so if you want to stay in touch, you should follow me on facebook and twitter!

Here’s what’s in this month’s issue:
1) Opening for THE COUP and JAPANTHER Dec 5th!
2) Life update and Baby Pictures (most of you will skip to this part i know.)
3) A video for “Thanksgiving”
4) What is the ITU?
5) Upcoming Shows & Booking

Thanks for reading! Here’s some links:
Main website: www.evangreer.org
Collective: www.riotfolk.org
Download / Donate for Music: evangreer.bandcamp.com
Videos on YouTube: youtube.com/evangreer1

1) Opening for THE COUP and JAPANTHER on Dec 5th!

Holy wow I am so excited about this show. This is kind of a crazy lineup so if you can get to Boston on December 5th you really definitely should. Boots Riley, front emcee of legendary hip-hop band THE COUP, is clearly one of the hardest hitting radical voices in hip-hop. We’ve stayed in touch on and off for years after Tom Morello introduced us and are finally doing a show together at everyone’s favorite venue in Boston.

To sweeten the deal, electro-punk freaks JAPANTHER are part of this tour, and we get The Coup’s permanent opener from Oakland KEV CHOICE plus local minimalist darklings RUBY RIDGE.


Please RSVP and share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/480127585360256

Tickets are only $15 in advance, which is a steal for this lineup!  Get em here: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3134314&pl=mideastrestaurant

2) Life update and Baby Pictures (most of you will skip to this part i know.)

A lot has happened in the past month -- in the world and for our little family. I don’t have any shows coming up right now, but I’d love to book some so get in touch if you’d like to bring me to your town sometime in 2012 or 2013. Instead I’ve been focusing on organizing, writing and recording, and being a parent.


Now that it’s chillier out, we spend a lot of time snuggling and reading. One of Saoirse’s favorite books is Pete Seeger’s Abiyoyo Returns. He likes the sequel better than the original. ;-)
 

Saoirse was Larry Bird for Halloween. My partner, Erin, made this costume from scratch. She never ceases to surprise me with her many hidden talents. Have you seen her photo-blog? It rules: http://saoirseinpictures.wordpress.com  



After Halloween, the election happened. I always feel down on election day no matter who wins. While I and many others around the world breathed a little sigh of relief that we won’t have a President Mitt Romney, I feel dismayed that we live in a time of constant crisis and our so-called leaders won’t even speak the words: climate change, poverty, racism, colonialism, sexism, ableism. But the good news is the day after the election everyone goes back to doing the important work every single day of community organizing, conspiring, and creating to build a new world full of vibrant alternatives to capitalism and oppression.

3) A video for “Thanksgiving”

I wrote this song and made this video a year ago on the National Day of Mourning, aka “Thanksgiving.” It’s about a lot of stuff. Occupy. Genocide. Resistance. Palestine. Liberation.

Still sound relevant today?

Please feel free to share it for the holidays.

Watch and share on YouTube: http://youtu.be/XYjP8Fgn1Js


4) What is the ITU?

In other news, I got a job! I know, I know, i already HAVE a job as a touring folksinger, but I got another job that I find incredibly fulfilling as well and meshes well with continuing to perform and put out music. I am the new Campaign Manager for Fight for the Future, a non-profit working to further the  usefulness of the Internet for improving the world.

Here’s one of the projects I’m working on: a video about the ITU, an obscure UN organization poised to take control of the internet. The risks for internet users: censorship, surveillance, higher costs, and worse. Click the image to watch the video or check it out at whatistheITU.org



I’m really stoked to be working with Fight for the Future, and having an organizing job to supplement my music will allow me to finally release the albums that I’ve been sitting on for so long and tour and perform more sustainably. I work remotely and am able to travel so I am still available for performances and workshops anywhere in the world with enough advance notice.

5) Upcoming Shows & Booking

Speaking of which, I don’t have a whole lot of shows coming up right now! So get in touch so we can book one in your town or at your school. It’s easy to book me. You just email me: evangreer@gmail.com and we figure it out together.

Here’s what I have coming up:

DECEMBER 5: CAMBRIDGE, MA
with THE COUP & JAPANTHER
@ Middle East (Downstairs)
472 Mass Ave, Central Sq.
8pm. 18+. $15 adv or $18 at the door.
Also featuring KEV CHOICE and RUBY RIDGE
Buy tickets here.
Please RSVP and share on Facebook:  
https://www.facebook.com/events/480127585360256

DECEMBER 31: PITTSBURGH, PANew Years Eve House Concert with ANNE FEENEY
Details TBA! Tentative.

JANUARY 25 - 27: SPRINGFIELD, MA
Join me at the People’s Music Network Winter Gathering!
Register online: www.peoplesmusic.org

NOW BOOKING FOR 2013 - 2014!
I’m going to be touring in shorter bursts but I’ll still be getting around! I’m planning at least one trip to Europe in the coming year and several short tours to various parts of the U.S. and Canada. I’m open to going other places too if we can make it happen! Contact me if you want to bring me to your town! I have lots of resources to help you set up a show.



Saturday, October 6, 2012

Evan Greer's Friends Not Fans Newsletter: October 2012



This Month’s Contents:

1) Life Update: Looking For a Job (like everyone else!)
2) Now Booking Workshops, Trainings, & Concerts for 2012 - 2013
3) New Album Updates (or lack thereof)
4) Musicians for Pussy Riot!
5) Upcoming Shows

How To Find Me On the Internet:
Collective: www.riotfolk.org
Buy CDs / Download MP3s from Bandcamp: evangreer.bandcamp.com
Buy CDs from CD Baby: www.cdbaby.com/evangreer
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/evangreer1

Hey friends!
 Did you miss me? I know I haven’t sent out a newsletter in a few months and I apologize. I’ve also gotten some concerned messages from folks because I’ve dropped off the music radar a little bit lately. I’ve hesitated to share with you all what’s been going on in my life because honestly I’m still figuring it out. As y’all know, I’m a parent now, of an amazing two year old who rocks my world daily:



For years I’ve been supporting myself solely through the income i can scrape together as a touring radical queer musician. I am forever indebted to all of you who have supported this project, made donations, hosted shows, helped spread the word, bought a CD, etc. As Saoirse gets older and economic realities / crises hit hard, I’ve come to a point of realization that I’m just not in a position to support my family solely through music anymore, and I’ve been applying to a number of social justice-focused community and union organizing jobs here in the Boston area. I’m hoping to find a position that will allow me to work full-time for something I believe in while still having enough flexibility to write, record, and perform my music, which I know is important to many people around the world.

Check out my LinkedIn profile for a better picture of some of the paid and volunteer organizing work that I have done: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/evan-greer/39/26/7a4

If you know of any cool community organizations, unions, or non-profits that are looking for a versatile and charismatic person to hire, please let me know! I have over 10 years of experience coordinating projects and campaigns in grassroots social / environmental justice movements and over 6 years of experience as a Communications Coordinator / office administrator for a non-profit focused consulting firm. Positions I am qualified for include campaign organizing, communications, research, education, outreach, office administration, and leadership.

I was pretty bummed out by this decision at first. I had lofty dreams of raising Saoirse always on the road, touring constantly and “making it” as a musician. In a lot of ways, though, that lifestyle doesn’t tickle all my turnips. I’ve never been just a musician. Ever since high school I’ve spent pretty much all the time that I’m not on the road volunteering as a community organizer for a variety of groups from the Common Ground Collective in New Orleans to climate justice network Rising Tide to the Tarek Mehanna Support Committee to the Jericho Movement to Free All Political Prisoners. My involvement in this work is what inspires me to write music. When I’m just on the road all the time, I almost never write.

I had a great conversation the other day with legendary singer/songwriter and community organizer Si Kahn, and he touched on this eloquently. He said a friend had approached him and said, “Imagine how many songs you could have written if you had been a full-time musician rather than splitting your life between organizing and music.”

Si’s response, “Sure, but what would they have been about?”

I resonate strongly with this sentiment, and I am looking forward to this next stage in my career as an activist. I know one thing: I am in this for life. I will never stop organizing, agitating, and raising my voice. I will never stop playing music, touring, performing, or releasing albums. I just might be doing it a little more slowly and strategically, rather than frantically be scrambling to have enough shows to pay the bills.

2) Now Booking for 2012 - 2013On that note, I am still booking tons of shows even while seeking out full-time organizing work! Please get in touch if you have any interest in organizing an event in your community! I’d love to come perform or offer a workshop at your college, high school, church, living room, community center, pub, basement, concert series, LGBTQ center, union hall, protest, riot, or pre-school.

I am mostly booking events on the weekends but am flexible and can adapt. Contact me and we can brainstorm ways to build support in your community to bring me to your town!

All booking inquiries go directly to me, no booking agent. Just hit me up: evangreer@gmail.com

Check out my press-kit: http://www.riotfolk.org/?m=evangreer&p=press_kit

And my Workshop Menu: www.evangreer.org/workshops

And don’t forget to e-mail me if you have ANY inkling that you’d like to help set something up this year! My e-mail again: evangreer@gmail.com

3) New Album Updates (or lack thereof)
Sadly, I can’t report much progress in the production of my new full-length album. My amazing audio engineer, Jory Leanza-Carey of legendary hip-hop trio Broadcast Live, is moving back to Brooklyn with his partner and two kids, and things are a little behind both due to that and due to me being totally broke.

Thank you so much to everyone who has pre-ordered the album or made a donation. Rest assured that your money is still there and will still be used to fund this project as soon as we can raise the rest of it. I am anticipating that my album will be out by early 2013. I know it’s been a long time coming. I promise it will be worth it! I’m so excited about the new music that I’ve been writing and feel that it’s in a whole different realm than what you heard on never surrender. The musicians who I’m gathering for this project are amazing too! Expect some serious surprises and legends from the folk, hip-hop, punk, and rock world to be represented.

You can still pre-order the album on my bandcamp page: http://evangreer.bandcamp.com

The more donations I get to make the album happen, the sooner it will be out! Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. It’s coming!!!!

4) Musicians for Pussy Riot!

If you don’t know about Pussy Riot, the radical feminist punk band whose members have been jailed in Russia for “hooliganism” after performing an anti-government protest song, you must be living under a rock.  Everyone from Madonna to Paul McCartney has come out in support of these brave women who not only oppose patriarchy, the Orthodox Church, and the Russian Government, but who have also been outspoken against Western Imperialism and capitalism.


My fellow Riot-Folk! Collective member, Ryan Harvey, and I are working on a project to support these musicians and to collectively raise the voices of musicians worldwide who support those who dare to raise their voice against systems of oppression.

This project is in its infancy but will feature an incredible lineup of DIY and internationally known performers.

There is a facebook group for the project here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/349699768444758/?ref=ts

And the music will soon be available here:
http://freepussyriot.bandcamp.com

The idea is that artists of all levels can contribute a track that will be available for donation online. People can choose how much to donate for each track, or make one large donation for the right to download all the tracks. ALL THE MONEY WILL GO DIRECTLY TO PUSSY RIOT’s DEFENSE FUNDS to assist them with costs surrounding their incarceration.

If you or someone you know is interested in donating a track, send me the following info:
-Name:
-Band name (exactly as you want it displayed):
-Two sentence description of your band:
-Band websites:

-Promo photo of you / your band
-Album cover if the song is from a previously released album (unreleased material preferred)
-A few sentences about why you support Pussy Riot

E-mail this info to evangreer@gmail.com and be patient because we’re getting a lot of responses already!

We are strongly encourage people to WRITE NEW MATERIAL for this project that is either specifically about Pussy Riot or that relates to the issues that they went to jail for.

For more info on their case visit www.freepussyriot.org

5) Upcoming Shows
I don’t have a whole lot of upcoming shows right now because I’ve been deeply involved in other projects at home. I need you to help me change that! E-mail me now: evangreer@gmail.com if you want to help bring me to your town! COLLEGE STUDENTS: i especially need your help to set up events on campuses around the country. Even if you have NO IDEA how to do this, I can walk you through the process and we can make it happen! Just e-mail me: evangreer@gmail.com

That said, here’s my upcoming shows:
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6th: BOSTON, MA
National Coming Out Day Event
7pm @ Wheelock College Alumni Room
200 Riverway, Boston, MA, 02215
Slideshow presentation and Q & A about my life as a trans parent, activist, and performer.
Free and open to the public.
Contact: acneel@wheelock.edu for more info.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9th: BOSTON, MA
Boston Anarchist Bookfair Opening Show
7:30pm @ School of the Museum of Fine Arts
230 Fenway, Boston MA, 02115
Donations to support the Bookfair!
With: Jake & the Infernal Machine, Spider Cider, and more TBA!
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/161878030618899/

JANUARY 24 - 26: SPRINGFIELD, MA
People’s Music Network Winter Gathering
Register now at www.peoplesmusic.org

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Evan Greer May 2012 Friends Not Fans Newsletter!

Hey friends!
 It's May! Possibly my favorite month of the year and not just cuz it was my birthday! (And thanks to the hundreds of you who sent birthday wishes!) Truly, though, it's a beautiful time of year here in Boston and I feel endlessly lucky to be able to take my baby to our community garden, see our friends out and about in the street, and drink iced coffee. Mmmmmm. Iced coffee. You know I never used to do caffeine before I had a baby? People change.

Life is very full at the moment as we hit the ground running after coming back from an wonderful West Coast Tiny Fists Tour with Bonfire Madigan. It seems like we never quite get caught up on the to do list! Anyhow, because of that this will be a pretty short newsletter this month, but stay tuned for lots more exciting happenings in June!

THIS MONTH'S CONTENTS:


1) Feature article about me in the Boston Phoenix!


2) Tiny Fists Tour! Stories, Photos, and Video


3) People's Music Network Summer Gathering: June 1 - 3 in High Falls, NY!


4) Great Labor Arts Exchange: June 22 - 25 in Baltimore, MD


5) New Album Updates!


6) Upcoming Shows and Tours

HOW TO FIND ME ON THE INTERNET:
Collective: www.riotfolk.org
Buy CDs / Download MP3s from Bandcamp: evangreer.bandcamp.com
Buy CDs from CD Baby: www.cdbaby.com/evangreer
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/evangreer1

1) Feature article about me in the Boston Phoenix!

I'm very excited about this well-written and in depth article about my music, written by Liz Pelly, that just came out in the Boston Phoenix's Queer Issue! In an issue that features Kate Bornstein and other great folks, I was interviewed about my thoughts on Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace coming out as transgender, mainstream queer politics, intersectionality, transfeminism, and more! The Phoenix is Boston's largest weekly paper and this issue has been getting a lot of attention so i'm really excited!

Here's the link to the article:

Please like this on facebook and share it around to help increase the visibility of transgender parents, musicians, and activists!

You can also check out an online streaming mixtape of 15 of my favorite queer and queer friendly artists including Lah Tere, The Discotays, Led to Sea, Bonfire Madigan, bell's roar, spiritchild, Born In a Cent, Schmeckel, Taina Asili, Broadcast Live, and more! This includes my comments on each song and is kind of a cool idea for a paper to put online, i thought.

The direct link for that is:

2) Tiny Fists Tour! Stories, Photos, and Video


I had the great privilege of spending the entire month of April touring the West Coast with my partner, Erin, our 20 month old (at the time) Saoirse, and legendary riot-grrrrl cellist / composer / activist Bonfire Madigan. We called it the Tiny Fists Tour and it was truly a groundbreaking and exciting experience traveling together as a big and very visible queer family of rockers.

We played about 20 shows between Vancouver and Tijuana and connected with dozens of great grassroots community organizations, student activist groups, LGBTQ+ centers, youth, parents, and more.
 
I think this was Saoirse's favorite tour to date. He liked it even more than Europe. A typical day went like this: Saoirse and I wake up at 6am or so and go play in the van for a bit while everyone else sleeps. Then we'd go find some vegan breakfast and a playground until 11 or so. Madigan and Erin would wake up and we'd trek to the next gig. Saoirse was able to come to many of the shows that were all ages and started a bit earlier and he had so much fun dancing, singing along, and playing his drum.



Besides the shows we also got to spend some really quality time together and it was a joy getting to know Bonfire Madigan and hearing all her crazy stories of touring with some of the most influential feminist bands of all time, hanging out in Portland with Elliot Smith, and being called to become a mother while being a queer woman music icon. The morning after our show in Eugene we headed to this amazing hot springs that was just the right temperature for Saoirse to swim around in for three hours!
 Under the watch of Oregon old growth it was truly a magical place.



One of my favorite shows of the tour was in support of Occupy Sacramento at the Coffee Garden and someone took a great video of most of my set! Check it out on my YouTube Channel!




Don't forget you can also subscribe to my YouTube Channel and get updates when I post videos. I also post a lot of videos and photos when I'm on the road from my Twitter and Facebook accounts, so let's be friends!

You may notice that this is my brand new guitar! Thanks to all of you who donated to the guitar fund, and thanks especially to my dad, Jim Greer, for his support!

If you're bummed you didn't catch the Tiny Fists Tour, don't be! We're already plotting and scheming for an East Coast / Midwest Tiny Fists Tour sometime in the next year or so, and we are always available for one-time events in communities around the continent. Get in touch with me if you want to bring me and Bonfire Madigan to your town! E-mail: evangreer@gmail.com for all booking requests.

I'm also honored to announce that Bonfire Madigan will be playing some cello on my upcoming full length album, which should be out this Fall! (See heading number 5 for updates on that!)

3) People's Music Network Summer Gathering

I have recently re-joined the Steering Committee for the People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle (PMN),  a great organization that has been promoting the use of music and culture in movements for social change since long before #Occupy was in diapers.

I hope you'll join me next weekend, June 1st - 3rd for the People's Music Network Summer Gathering at Epworth Camp & Retreat Center in High Falls, NY. The time to register is now and you can do so online at www.peoplesmusic.org

This is an inspiring weekend of political music, workshops, skill-sharing, jamming, an open mic, and more. This summer's gathering features renowned folksinger Si Kahn as an artist in residence and he will be teaching several workshops and performing in the Friday night concert.

PMN is an amazing community. It's where I first met my dear friend and mentor Anne Feeney, and also where I first met Pete Seeger (and played his banjo!) Please spread the word about this wonderful gathering and join us at Epworth June 1 - 3 if you can. It's just an hour south of Albany!

There is a facebook event for the gathering here: http://www.facebook.com/events/315578131846376/

And more info on the PMN website here: http://www.peoplesmusic.org/Summer_2012/index.htm

4) Great Labor Arts Exchange: June 22 - 25 in Baltimore, MD

I also plan on attending and hope you will join me at the Great Labor Arts Exchange: June 22-25 near Baltimore, MD. This is another incredibly moving and powerful event that brings together cultural workers, labor singers, rank and file union members, social justice activists and more from across the country to connect, collaborate, and build our craft and further the use of music, art, and culture in the labor movement and all movements for justice.

The weekend will include a panel on the "new-school" of labor music featuring myself and DC underground hip-hop star Head Roc, as well as many other fabulous workshops, songswaps, and skill sharing with the likes of Anne Feeney, Bev Grant, and many other wonderful artists and cultural workers dedicated to social justice and worker power

From the GLAE page on www.laborheritage.org
  • Meet other unionists from all over the country and abroad
  • Exchange experiences and ideas for artistic expression;
  • Collaborate or engage with other artists, performers, and activists;
  • Share resources with organizers and artists from the Conference on Creative Organizing;
  • Return home rejuvenated, energized and inspired with a battery of new ideas and tools that will make your artistry more engaging and infused.

5) New Album Updates!

Lots of people have been asking about the my new albums. I know I keep pushing the date back, and i'm sorry!!! The truth is that life as a traveling parent activist musician just seems endlessly wonderfully terribly full and hectic and i'm just a lot slower in the studio than I thought I'd be. My amazing engineer / producer / multi-instrumentalist band-mate bestie Jory Leanza-Carey (of hip-hop indie-rock troupe Broadcast Live fame) just had his second beautiful baby, so things have slowed down a bit with recording, understandably.

spiritchild and I are still hoping to release our collaborative hip-hop / folk / punk BACK TO THE ROOTS album by the end of the summer. Check out a sample of what we're doing here: http://backtotheroots.bandcamp.com

 my new full-length, full band Evan Greer & Friends album (yet to be titled) will hopefully be ready to release by early Fall. I am still working hard to fund raise enough to release that CD myself. Please consider pre-ordering a copy at http://evangreer.bandcamp.com

Lots of folks have been encouraging me to switch to Kickstarter to crowd-fund this next record, and I probably will get that going toward the end of the summer, so keep your eyes out for that! All you awesome folks who already pre-ordered, don't worry, i haven't forgotten about you! You're going to get an even more extra special gift for your patience! So far I've raised about 15% of the money I'll need to release these songs on CD and online!

I promise this album will be worth the wait. The list of awesome people who will be adding their talent to this record just keeps growing and i'm getting ever more excited about the music we're making for you.

6) Upcoming Shows and Tours

Here is a list of upcoming shows and tours! I am constantly booking so get in touch with me directly if you have any ideas or want to help bring me to your area! E-mail: evangreer@gmail.com

For the most updated show information, always check the Tour Dates page at www.evangreer.org

June 1 - 3: High Falls, NY
Featuring: Si Kahn, artist in residence.
Register now: www.peoplesmusic.org
I will be facilitating the LGBTQ+ Songswap!

June 16: Manhattan, NY
Trans-Pride Afterparty with Schmeckel & GLTR PNCH
9pm @ Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street Manhattan, NY 10009
FREE! but please donate to the touring bands!

June 22 - 25: Lithicum, MD (near BWI)
3 days of workshops, skillshares, music for labor & social justice!
I'll be facilitating a panel on the "new school" of labor music with DC hip hop star Head-Roc and more!
Register now: http://www.laborheritage.org/?p=1309

July 11: Jamaica Plain, MA
9pm @ The Haven
2 Perkins St., JP
I'll be the featured act at The Haven Open Mic
FREE! but bring some cash for my tip jar ;-)

JULY - SEPTEMBER 2012: now booking shows within a days travel of Boston!
Contact me with any ideas! I want to play at your Pride Festival, bookstore, arena, riot, rally, vigil, living room, church, basement, folk festival, gay bar, etc.

Please get in touch with me with any and all booking ideas whether you want to set something up yourself and never have before or even if you just have a suggestion for a venue, band, or organization I should talk to about an event. I work hard provide useful music and workshops for the movement and need your ideas to keep this show on the road!

Thanks so much for all your ongoing support!
love,
-evan g