Baltimore reaped a side-benefit of the National Conference on Organized Resistance, as Riot Folk artists traveling to attend the conference played at Red Emma's Cafe & Bookstore Friday, Feb 3, 2006.



The event was a fundraiser for the Radical Book Fair in June 2006. The show was video taped for broadcast on Fairfax, VA Public Access TV. A copy will be made available to Red Emma's.

Riot Folk describe themselves as "an anti-profit mutual-aid collective of radical artists and musicians. We make music to provoke, educate, heal and inspire, with the end-goal of doing away with capitalism and building a free and just society."

Their motto, "Making folk a threat again!"

Although their self-characterizations aren't explicit, the word "poets" might be the most susinct way to describe these creative and committed people. These contemporary trubadours document personal experiences and world events in lyrics set to songs, most of which they compose. Their words are both subtle and jagged, finding the right balance and projecting memorable images that truly "provoke, educate, heal and inspire."

Local artist, Kevin Wykoff, kicked off the evening. Currently working under the project name "Slug's Revenge," Wykoff played a clever and cutting song he wrote to counter-act the military recruitment slogans.

ARMY: "Army of One." (One more pawn in the rich man's wars). NAVY: "Accelerate Your Life." (Accelerate yourself to a scene of blood-red saltwater). MARINES: "The Few. The Proud." (The Duped). Every Marine should read Marine Major General Smedley Butler's Essay "War is a Racket."



Shannon Murray, from Minnesota, opened with "Hallelujah! I'm a Bum," which is also the title under which she has collected a number of labor songs available on her web site.

Murray also sang a song about a women's abortion clinic system called "Jane." The song recalls recent history (1960s) when women in Chicago were forced by necessity to create a collective that provided abortion services. Murray closed her set with a sing-along of "Solidarity Forever."



Ethan Miller and Kate Boverman, traveling from Maine, opened with a multi-verse gospel tune. The initial verse explains that "This freedom that I have, no government gave me" and closes with "no government can take it away." It continued with "This knowledge no textbook gave me," "This vision, no television gave me," "This beauty, no model gave me," "These seeds, Monsanto didn't give me," "This Power, No One gave me."

Miller and Boverman also reminded the Baltimore audience that Harriet Tubman was from Buck town Maryland, that she was a militant leader whom the Union army consulted on strategy, and who made 19 trips "behind enemy lines" to bring slaves north.

They played a song of theirs, "White Lies." The song explores the reality that, regardless of white people's benevolent views on racism, the color of their skin represents a privilege in the context of our society. They note that the phrase, "color blind" is a code word, which hides the insights they expose in their song. The chorus of the song begins, "Shame hangs its head, Guilt tries to run." and ends, "Shout it out loud. With angry cries. No more white lies."



Baltimore's Ryan Harvey opened with a song of his about the 1877 Baltimore rail road strike and riots, which spread across the Nation to places like Pittsburg, St Louis and Seattle. See IMC Article with Graphics Following the song, he noted how we're led to believe that US soldiers always fought for freedom. He recalled that US soldiers have been unleashed on the civilian population by the government during slave abolitionist struggles, labor struggles, women's rights struggles, and civil rights struggles. Referencing these cases he said, "Didn't seem to me like they were fighting for freedom."

Harvey sang a song with the tag-line "New Orleans got Iraqed," making reference to no bid Haliburton contracts to "clean up" New Orleans. Other musicians touched on this topic as a gross example of how our government is able to over throw entire countries, yet failed to prepare for and respond to Hurricane Katrina, creating a situation in which capital is filling the vacuum and pushing the poor out of New Orleans for ever. It's no accident.

Harvey shared his sobering observation that the global justice movement circles in which he travels has displayed a marked degree of burnout since the Nov 2003 Miami protests of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This prompted him to write a song of hope and strength intended to inspire others when they're feeling down. The chorus went something like this.

"Remember me when you loose hope in the future,
Remember me when you're scared to look around,
Remember me when you need to find a reason,
Remember me and please don't let me down."

Evan Greer, from outside of Boston, shared his energy with songs that touched on personal fears we all have and reflections on the state of our world. He also included a ballad on hurricane Katrina, which included the line, "Good morning America. How did you get this way?"



Greer got the audience on its feet for a labor song about not crossing a picket line…. that would be the "Picketline Song." He is taking his contagious energy on the road, with shows scheduled in DC, Norfolk VA, Greenville NC, Atlanta GA, numerous stops in FL, and Cambridge MA all by May 9, 2006.

Lia Rose, traveling from San Francisco, was introduced by Ryan Harvey who described her as something special. Opening with a personal song, she immediately brought Harvey's allusion to life.

She shared her strong melodic voice on Bob Dylan's "Masters of War," with which several audience members joined. Rose alerted the audience to her forthcoming band project, "Built for the Sea," a reference to ships being kept in the harbor, but being built to withstand the power of the sea.

The evening closed with Tom Frampton, who opened with Ryan Harvey on air harmonica, while Evan Greer ran to his car for a G harp with which Harvey seamlessly finished the traveling song. Frampton, from DC, shared a second humorous traveling song that touched on riding in a trailer in underwear in 90+ heat and a run-in with the "heat."



Before the night was through, Frampton had most all of the musicians on stage at once, with a mandolin playing and happy crowd fully engaged.



The power of music and poetry was on full display for those who were fortunate enough to be at Red Emma's Feb 3, 2006. For those who couldn't be there, a hint of the energy can be downloaded for free at the following web sites:

www.riotfolk.revolt.org
www.shannonmurray.com


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