FEB 22, 2012 - President Barack Obama hosted a blues concert at the White House last night with BB King, Mick Jagger, Buddy Guy and more, and at the end when he was telling everyone goodnight, Buddy Guy told the President, "We were trying to get you to help us sing! Because I heard you singing Al Green, so you done started something, you gotta keep it up now!" Then Mick Jagger offered his mike to Obama. The crowd chanted, "Sing! sing!"

President Obama was hesitant at first, but ended up singing a few lines of the blues classic "Sweet Home Chicago", and just like the Al Green song he sang awhile back, he nailed it. Watch the performance below. The show will air on PBS on February 27, find and check your local PBS listings here.

FEB 21, 2012 - Music has always been a part of activism and social change, and the Occupy movement is no exception. Recently, many activist bands have kicked out the jams at Occupy locations often to raise funds, and the word everyone is using is Roccupy! Just do a search for "Roccupy" on the Internet, and a myriad of local Roccupy groups and events come up from small towns and big cities across America. There are also tons of Roccupy Facebook Pages popping up, so check to see if there is a local chapter of Roccupy near you. For those of you living in the Virginia Beach area, there will be a Roccupy Virginia Beach benefit concert this Saturday, February 25, 2012 to help the activists out there Occupying Virginia Beach, read more here. Many Occupy musicians have even Roccupied public locations such as a Taco Bell (watch below).

Photo of Strings and Indian Ocean. Credit: Aman ki Asha and StringsOnline.net

FEB 21, 2012 - Strings, a Pakistani band that fuses great music and activism together, were recently part of a "Bands Across Borders" concert bringing together Pakistani and Indian musicians and fans in support of peace. The concert was part of an initiative called "Aman ki Asha" which means "Hope For Peace", where they are working for peace and understanding between the people of Pakistan and India. Strings was chosen particularly for their involvement in social issues. Read about the concert here, and check out the Aman ki Asha Initiative website here. Check out Strings in a video below.

FEB 20, 2012 - Numerous musical activists have sprung up in Myanmar in a "Saffron Uprising" by the youth calling for more freedom and democracy in Myanmar/Burma, and one group ACID who put out the first hip-hop album ever in Burma/Myanmar, had songs that contained lyrics about the hard life in Burma/Myanmar and got them into trouble with the government. Two of the members of the group were arrested in 2008, including Zayer Thaw (photo left by Daisuke Furuta) and was sentenced to five years imprisonment for “breaking State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 6/88, Organizing under the Unlawful Association Act.” He was finally released in May of 2011 and in an interview told MSNBC, “I have to be careful about saying things now, Big Brother is watching.” 

ACID is back together, and is part of a group of over 50 musicians coming out in support for Suu Kyi, who is running for a parliamentary seat. Many of the musicians gathered at her house last November, to plan an album to help her raise funds for her campaign. Then in December of 2011 Zayer was fortunate to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a part of a Burmese Civil Society group. 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meeting with Zayer Thaw (to right of Clinton) and Burmese Civil Society members
(photo State Department public domain)

When asked in an interview by Free Muse about how it felt to be in prison he replied, "Once you get involved in politics in our country, you have a 90 percent probability of ending up behind bars. I took this into consideration before I decided to take part in politics, so I don't feel sorry for myself. In fact, I feel honored. They also asked him, “Why did you decide to get involved in politics?” and he told them, ”As an artist, I am always in touch with people and their feelings. Their hardships and sufferings always touch my heart. That's why I tried to give voice to their feelings.” Listen to a song from ACID and Zayer below, and you can get more informed and involved on this issue over at the US Campaign For Burma website here.

FEB 20, 2012 - Coming off the heels of his great performance on the Grammys singing his new song from his new album "Wrecking Ball" titled "We Take Care of Our Own", Bruce spoke to a small group of reporters in France and said about Occupy and the broken promise of the American dream alluded to in the song, "Previous to Occupy Wall Street, there was no push back at all saying this was outrageous—a basic theft that struck at the heart of what America was about, a complete disregard for the American sense of history and community. Nobody had talked about income inequality in America for decades—apart from John Edwards, but no one was listening. But now you have Newt Gingrich talking about 'vulture capitalism' - Newt Gingrich! - that would not have happened without Occupy Wall Street." Watch a video of the event below.

FEB 15, 2012 - The Zak Smith Band has sent us one of their new music videos containing footage of Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park of his new song, "Brand New Party", which pays homage and supports the Occupy movement. Zak hails from New Jersey and in an email to us he says he is a "musician who has a passion for writing about political views and his love of people." Watch the video below, and check out Zak's website here.

FEB 15, 2012 - A young girl, Avalanna Routh, who has been battling an aggressive and rare form of cancer known as ATRT got a "dream date" with Justin Bieber. The young musician has been recently getting more involved with activism and speaking out about issues such as working with PETA to promote animal lovers to adopt pets from shelters, to raising awareness and funds for clean water for developing nations. The family put up a Facebook Page hoping to get the two together, and with help from the non-profit  The Jimmy Fund that has been supporting the fight against cancer since 1948, and a local news report featuring young Avalanna that Justin Bieber was watching, the encounter came to fruition. Watch a Today video report about the event below.

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FEB 13, 2012 - Bruce Springsteen, long known for his activism, opened up with a song at the Grammy Awards Show last night called, "We Take Care of Our Own", a new song from his upcoming album, "Wrecking Ball". He was met with a standing ovation and cheers, and chants of "Bruuuce!". The song has lines such as, "From the shotgun shack to the Superdome, We yelled help but the cavalry stayed home", and "Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea, We take care of our own". Many are taking this song to be a statement on the government's response to Katrina, jobs being outsourced, and the American dream being threatened by recent actions such as attacks on unions and teachers and government entitlement programs. There is another version of the video Bruce released, which contains images of working people, a group Bruce has long supported and fought for over the years. Watch Bruce singing "We Take Care of Our Own" when he opened up the Grammys last night, and then a black & white "studio version" below.
(Photo credit: Thomas Uhlemann/Wiki)