Hey,
The Internet is rising up!
Evan Greer here, and this is my Friends not Fans music and activism newsletter.
This month:
1) Best show ever in Boston Sept 26th
2) The Internet Slowdown kicked ass
3) Tour with Anne Feeney in October
4) Book me for a workshop or show
Note: I’ve reached 5,000 friends on Facebook and its basically impossible for me to get messages out there about music and activism. Please follow me on twitter for reliable updates that are not throttled by an algorithm that punishes alternative content. :-)
1) Best show ever in Boston Sept 26th
If you are within a days bicycle ride of Boston you need to mark your calendar for Friday, September 26th. This is one of the most exciting shows I’ve ever had the privilege to organize, and I have this kind of epic feeling about it like it’s just going to be something incredibly special that we will remember for a long time.
It’s held at a “secret” location, so email me for the address. Featuring nationally touring talent like Bonfire Madigan Shive, spiritchild, The Icebergs, and Myriam Ortiz. Followed by an all-gender dance party DJ’d by spiritchild. Oh yes. We will party like its summer one last time.
2) The Internet Slowdown kicked ass
So as many of you know, when I’m not touring around playing radical queer pop-punk songs I work for a rad activist organization called Fight for the Future, trying to keep governments and corporations from messing up the Internet.
Last week we had a huge moment that I thought I’d share with you all: the Internet Slowdown. We organized a massive, web-wide protest for net neutrality and got a bunch of the most popular websites in the world to join like Tumblr, Netflix, reddit, Mozilla, Kickstarter, and Etsy. It was epic! We got more than 2 million people to take action in a day, and totally dominated the mainstream news headlines.
I wrote a column for The Guardian about why we organized the slowdown, and why net neutrality should matter to everyone. Check it out here: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/sep/10/internet-slowdown-net-neutrality-reddit-mozilla-netflix
I was also interviewed on Wall Street Journal TV, quoted by by NPR and CBS News, misquoted by Newsweek, and in a high point for my activist accomplishments, Jimmy Kimmel did a segment about our protest.
I see my work at Fight for the Future as inextricably linked to my work as a musician, activist, and educator. Without a free and open internet, none of the other stuff I do would be possible, and every issue I care about would suffer.
3) Tour with Anne Feeney in October
If you’ve been following me for any length of time you’ve surely heard the name Anne Feeney by now. Anne is a living legend of folk music and the labor movement, and one of my closest friends and wisest mentors. I’m overjoyed to be heading back out on the road with her from October 12 - 20. We’ll be trekking across Pennsylvania as part of her “Crush Corbett” roadshow, a musical activism tour bent on exposing one of the most corrupt and hateful politicians ever to tell a lie.
More details coming soon! Check out Anne Feeney’s concert calendar for show details as they develop.
4) Book me for a workshop or show
Now that the Fall has rolled around I’m busy booking workshops, trainings, performances, and strategic activist consulting for the Fall, Winter, and Spring. I’d love to connect with all of you and find ways to use music, art, and popular education to strengthen organizing in your community.
College & high school students, check out my workshop offerings! I’d love to come to your school, and its usually really easy to get a bunch of campus groups to work together to make it happen.
Everyone: get in touch if you have even the slightest inkling you’d like to set something up in your town. I can answer your questions and walk you through the process.
Okay! That’s it for this month’s Friends Not Fans newsletter. Thanks for being part of this little grassroots activist music movement. If you ever want to unsubscribe, its easy, just use the link below. And if you reply to this email, I’ll see it, so go for it!
Love & solidarity,
-Evan Greer
