DEAR NOLA: A CONCERT FOR NEW ORLEANS” RETURNS TO THE BIG EASY

New Orleans’ own Bonerama with very special guests Cody ChesnuTT, DJ Spooky/That Subliminal Kid, Grammy Nominated Helen Bruner + Terry Jones, Ira Tuton of Yeasayer, Jenny Toomey & Kristin Thomson of Tsunami, M1 of Dead Prez, Mirah, Sage Francis, Shawn King of DeVotchKa, Sunpie Barnes, Vernon Reid, Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave to perform at Blue Nile on February 17, 2011.

Musicians from around the country celebrate New Orleans’ rich musical heritage & the community working to sustain it.

NEW ORLEANS, LA—New Orleans brass-fueled sensations Bonerama team up with Cody ChesnuTT, DJ Spooky/That Subliminal Kid, Grammy Nominated Helen Bruner + Terry Jones, Ira Tuton of Yeasayer, Jenny Toomey & Kristin Thomson of Tsunami, M1 of Dead Prez, Mirah, Sage Francis, Shawn King of Devotchka, Sunpie Barnes, Vernon Reid … Read More »

A recent Topspin blog post highlights how ATC and Topspin having been working in partnership with several musicians to create successful and engaging social change campaigns. The post also notes some of the ways in which ATC can help to support artists in their efforts – helping to identify a beneficiary, collecting & delivering funds, managing compliance paperwork, evaluating the donation’s impact and more. Below is the original post showcasing some of the most successful case studies from the past year.

(Original post by Topspin can be found here: http://www.topspinmedia.com/case-studies-2/musicians-for-charity/)

Musicians For Charity

At Topspin, we talk a lot about how artists can use our tools to make money for themselves. While that’s certainly our core mission, we also love to see our artists raise money for others. Whether it’s … Read More »

With the goal of inspiring charitable giving amongst his fans, Dave Matthews played two benefit acoustic shows in Seattle, WA on Dec. 6th & 7th, 2010 where concertgoers were given a full credit back of $150 for each ticket purchased to donate to a charity of their choice.  Through a partnership with JustGive, fans were able to pick from the 1.8 million charities featured on the nonprofit organization’s online platform for giving. The two acoustic shows are said to have raised around $1 million dollars.

This is just one example of how musicians and their managers are coming up with more creative ways to involve their fans in philanthropic endeavors through live shows and touring.  By adding charitable aspects to ticket purchases, artists not only encourage concertgoers to make giving a part of their everyday lives and … Read More »

It’s that time of year again! ATC has compiled a list of recommended nonprofits working on lead issues to consider for the 2010 holiday giving season. The list highlights effective organizations working on a range of issues important to the music community including education, food justice, gay rights, immigration, net neutrality and more. Below is a sample or download the full list here: ATC’S RECOMMENDED NONPROFITS FOR 2010 HOLIDAY GIVING.

GULF RESTORATION NETWORK (GRN) is committed to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the natural resources of the Gulf Region for future generations.

GET EQUAL inspires and equips the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community and its allies to fight back against discrimination.

PARTNERS IN HEALTH (PIH) has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years, and ranks … Read More »

Over the last five years, there have been many articles lamenting a false conclusion that there are no good protest songs these days. In fact when asked, most writers and even many music fans think that the art of the protest song died in the sixties. In an effort to both highlight some of the great and creative examples that came to mind when pondering the question, and to attempt to curtail those naysayers continuing to report that they are none, here is ATC’s list of the best protest songs of THIS YEAR. Please email us with any we may have missed: info @ atctower.net

It Ain’t My Fault: Mos Def + Preservation Hall
Written about British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gay Vatos in Love: Ozomatli
Written in reaction to the Prop. 8 debate in California … Read More »

ATC Supper Club is an intimate dinner event series designed with a guest artist with the goal of hosting an evening of music, food and community. Each event features a guest musician who curates and cooks a full dinner menu before giving a private acoustic performance.

ATC developed this idea with Thao Nguyen in the middle of 2010, after she attended one of our Artist-Activism Retreats in New Orleans. Thao piloted the first event, which sold out in a matter of days of its limited announcement and raised over $1200 for ATC and People’s Grocery.  Future ATC Supper Clubs will be presented according to artist schedules.

The twenty-five guests at Thao’s Supper Club not only enjoyed a delicious three-course menu of fresh, seasonal ingredients, but also a short presentation by Jumoke Hinton-Hodge, Program Director … Read More »

While policies around gays in the military and same-sex marriage remain unmoved and harassment of gays in schools has led to dozens of suicides across the United States, pop music remains an arena where gay rights and tolerance is embraced. Several songs such as Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R”, Taylor Swift’s “Mean”, Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”, many of which were written in response to the recent wave of gay teen suicides and anti-gay bullying incidents, contain themes of overcoming persecution and self acceptance. Lady Gaga, who has spoken out many times against “don’t ask don’t tell” both in public appearances and on her website, will also add her upcoming single “Born This Way” to this list.

Ozomatli also released a song earlier this year … Read More »

Raising money for a charity should be easy for bands. But beyond consideration of the issue or organizations to support, there are also legal issues to think about that differ by state. These laws and regulations are overlooked by bands and their managers.

To streamline the information on this legal compliance, ATC and Joe Voss, a lawyer at Clark Hill’s Entertainment Division, have created a checklist on the process that you can download here. ATC has also created a philanthropic advising program that can provide focus, administrative oversight, identification and vetting of organizations, management of compliance and nonprofit relations, and impact reporting to bands that want to raise funds for charities. For more information about this work, please contact us by emailing tara at atctower dot net.

It feels really good to say it and sell it! The response to Dear New Orleans has been overwhelming and wonderful. The album has garnered much press and coverage. On Monday, Amazon offered the 31 track album as its daily deal and the compilation quickly reached #1 of Amazon’s most purchased Mp3′s and remained in that position until just yesterday evening.

Dear New Orleans is available for purchase from all of the major on-line music outlets: iTunes, Amazon, emusic and Rhapsody. But of course, we prefer it if everyone purchased it from our own TopSpin store on www.dearno.la so ATC can raise more funds for New Orleans and you get 3 bonus tracks and stream the full album before purchasing.

Some recent news & links for the album:

‘Dear New Orleans’ online benefit album features OK Go, Tom Morello, … Read More »

ATC has been working with My Morning Jacket on a range of philanthropic efforts over the years. Jim James and Patrick Hallahan both participated in our New Orleans artist activism retreats and, along with their band, have gone on to do incredible philanthropy and activism work that is making a real impact for the issues they care about. We love this interview where they talk about how we collaborate, their time in New Orleans and our upcoming album, Dear New Orleans.