Evan's Summer Update!

Hey friends,

Hope you are all doing well! Summer here in the northeast has been flying by, and at this point I’ve given up on a lengthy monthly newsletter.

I’ll still occasionally update the Friends Not Fans blog with lots of cute pictures of Saoirse and videos from shows and such, but from now on I’ll just be sending out quick emails when I have something important or awesome to tell you. Let me know if you miss the monthly newsletter format though -- I could revive it, it’s just hard to find time with a almost-3-yea-old who likes to go to bed at 11!

I’ve been playing a fair amount of local shows in Boston this summer, and enjoying my organizing work with Fight for the Future. It’s a pretty wonderful organization to work for, still allows me to do plenty of music, and I get to spend a solid 40 hours a week trying to dismantle the NSA. Not a bad day job, eh?

I made my first appearance in Rolling Stone, albeit not for my music.

I’m in the early stages of planning a brief West Coast Tour this Winter with my dear friend and mentor Anne Feeney, who many of you know well as the best hellraising labor singer in North America. Get in touch now if you’d like to bring us to your town, anywhere between Bellingham and Santa Cruz. Email me: evangreer@gmail.com

I’m also hoping to book regular weekend workshops and performances across the U.S. this Fall. Please get in touch if you’re interested in bringing me to your area and we can have a chat about how to make it happen! Even if you’ve never set up a show before, hit me up, I can talk you through th process and give you some ideas. Just reply to this email or ping me on Facebook or Twitter.

Not much to report on the album front, sorry to say. Hoping to raise some funds through shows this fall to make that happen! Considering a crowdfunding campaign too. Details soon. :-)

What are you up to? I’m always happy to get updates and emails from everyone on my list so please reply and say hi!

Solidarity,

Evan Greer

http://evangreer.org

http://evangreer.bandcamp.com

Upcoming Shows:

Tomorrow, August 4: ROXBURY, MA

BRICnic (Family friendly picnic and NSA Protest)

Organized by Restore the 4th and MassOps

2pm in the park behind Boston Police Headquarters (on the bike path)

Come grab a sandwich, listen to speakers, and hear a little music.

Details on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/197863173706689/

Speakers include:

Alex Marthews, president of Digital Fourth

Kade Crockford, prominent ACLU activist

and many more.

Sat & Sun August 10 - 11: ALBANY, NH

World Fellowship Center

368 Drake Hill Rd, Albany, NH, 03818

7pm Concert Saturday night

Two daytime workshops Sunday

Cheap camping and accommodations, beautiful location.

Email for details: evangreer@gmail.com

Thursday, August 15: CAMBRIDGE, MA

Out of the Blue Art Gallery

106 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA

Central Square T-Stop

8:30pm. $5 donation. All ages.

January 2013 Friends Not Fans Newsletter

What’s up friends?

Happy belated New Year!

By now you know me well enough to know that you’ll never get one of these on the first of the month. Every landlord I ever had learned the same thing.

So how are you? I really mean that. For those new to this list, I want you to know that this is not a one-way conversation. Every month I send this newsletter out to people from all over the world. Please write back to me and let me know what you think, what sorts of activist projects you are working on, what’s important in your community.

If you have a specific campaign, project, or event that you want me to feature, send it along and I will do my best help spread the word. I really love playing music. But what I love more is mutual aid and collective liberation. Know what I mean?

This month:
1) Touring Europe this Summer! It’s happening.
2) A simple thing you can do to spread the message
3) NEW VIDEO: Back to the Roots opens for The Coup, PUTS, Japanther!
4) MLK’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech is copyrighted. Share it anyway.
5) Upcoming Shows and Tours

1) Touring Europe this Summer! It’s happening.

The rumors are true. It will have to be a whirlwind trip, and I hope we can get to all the places that people are and will be inviting us to, but WE ARE COMING BACK TO EUROPE THIS SUMMER!

My two year old, Saoirse, is obsessed with trains, so I can think of no better way to spend the summer than with a Eurail pass, my family, and a guitar.

I already have some shows in the works with rising star UK Riot-Grrrl punk artist Louise Distras, and am planning at least a week long stint in Ireland and a quick but epic journey across as much of the rest of Europe as I can get to.

It all depends on you! Do you know someone who can book a show, help promote, or put up a family of 3 in a smoke-free bedroom somewhere in Europe? Let me know! Email: evangreer@gmail.com with any ideas or suggestions you have. Last time I toured Europe you all were so incredibly supportive and the tour really booked itself. I’m hoping for a wonderful reprisal!

2) A simple thing you can do to spread the message

I do my best to use my social media presence not just to promote my music but to support important activist projects, campaigns, and spread the word about what’s happening in the world.

Can you help me reach more people with that message by sharing my Twitter and Facebook pages with your friends and asking them to follow me?

It’s one of the easiest things you can do to support my work, and it really does make a difference. Thanks so much for your support!

3) NEW VIDEO: Back to the Roots opens for The Coup, PUTS, Japanther!

One of my last shows of 2013 was seriously one of the most fun shows of my life. Sometimes things just come together and a last minute change led this night to be one of the most absurd lineups I’ve ever been a part of.

Here’s a little DIY video I pieced together of all the performances. It features about 2/3 of my Back to the Roots set with spiritchild and Kirsten Lamb on upright bass, plus clips of explosive hip hop funk band The Coup (fronted by Boots Riley), last minute headliners People Under the Stairs (old school west coast hip-hop legends), arty-punk rockers Japanther.



4) MLK’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech is copyrighted. Share it anyway.

You’ll find this hard to believe, but versions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech are regularly taken down off of YouTube. Because the speech itself is copyrighted. EMI purchased the rights from the King family in 2009. Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the speech that was taken down by EMI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PbUtL_0vAJk

We at Fight for the Future felt that this was absurd. Dr. King’s call for racial justice is too painfully relevant today to be censored by a broken copyright system. So we made this video that included the full 17 minute MLK speech plus a short introduction explaining the dangers of overzealous copyright law and saying that Dr. King’s message should never be silenced.

We uploaded the video to Vimeo on January 18th, also known as Internet Freedom Day, the anniversary of the massive internet blackout protests against SOPA / PIPA.

It was taken down by Vimeo within a few hours, just as it was receiving thousands of views.

We got coverage for this in Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, Mashable, CBS news, and many other places.

The video is now back online on YouTube. For MLK weekend, please share this video with as many people as you can, and make sure this message is never censored again.


Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PbUtL_0vAJk

5) Upcoming Shows and Tours

Check my website for the latest show details!

January 27, 2013: JAMAICA PLAIN, MA
EVAN GREER, DAVID ROVICS, & FOUNDATION MOVEMENT
@ Spontaneous Celebrations
45 Danforth St., JP, MA 02130
7:00pm. $12. All ages.
Advance tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/318696
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/362255287206529

January 30th, 2013: HARTFORD, CT
Hart N Sol presents Evan Greer@ Kabbalah House
1023 Albany Ave, Hartford, CT, 06112
$5 - 10 sliding scale. All ages.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/324852567629098/?ref=ts&fref=ts

February 8th, 2013: BOSTON, MA
Headlining @ Jacque’s Underground
79 Broadway St., Boston, MA (near Back Bay)
9pm show. 21+ (as always if you are underage i will play outside for you, contact me.)
I go on last around 11pm. $10.
With: Bozo Nightmare, Death Waltz ‘76
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/568796253149493

March 1st, 2013: EAST BOSTON, MABenefit for Jericho Movement @ Zumix
260 Summer St., East Boston, MA
Time TBA. Very special guests TBA.

March 10th, 2013: JAMAICA PLAIN, MA
First Unitarian Universalist Church
6 Eliot St, Jamaica Plain, MA
Parental Advisory!
Cabaret of parent performers.
Not a kid-show, but a show you can bring your kids to. ;-)
3:00pm - 6:00pm. Free! Donations accepted.

April 3rd, 2013: ALLSTON, MA@Whirlybird Co-Op
With Blackbird Raum and more
Details TBA.

SUMMER 2013: IRELAND & EUROPE TOUR!
I plan to spend at least a week in Ireland and a few weeks touring the rest of Europe this Summer. This will be a whirlwind tour as usual and I won’t be able to play all the countries I’d like, but please do get in touch if you have any ideas of where we should go!

As always, email me with any booking ideas: evangreer@gmail.com, setting up a show is easier than you’d think.