Bands
Each school will be asked to choose from our list of affiliated bands to fill up the Human Rights Awareness Festival. Affiliated bands vary in price ranges and genre so that the best style and fit can be matched to your school's needs. At the top of the list is the Human Rights Awareness Tour Lighting Designer.
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All Night Lights- http://www.allnightlights.com - The lighting design company in charge of lighting the Human Rights Awareness Festival, the No Sweat Fashion Show, and the Fair Trade Coffee Night. The company is headed by concert lighting genius Aaron Winkler.
ALO- http://www.alomusic.com - Soulful California pop with feel-good, danceable grooves and born for live performances.
Aphrodesia - http://www.aphrodesia.org - 10-piece Afrobeat Ensemble featuring monstrous horns, polyrhythmic beats, and rich female vocals.
Big Light - www.myspace.com/biglightband - This San Fransisco-based sound most resembles inde-rock but is more accuralty described as a conglomeration of rock, folk, pop and psycholedlic grooves. Although a relatively young band, Big Light has already used their music for the progression of social and political causes.
Blue Turtle Seduction - http://www.blueturtleseduction.com - Eastern European & reggae influenced fiddle rock & roll!
Brandi Carlile - http://www.brandicarlile.com - Brandi Carlile's revelatory imagery, stark emotive vocals and finely-detailed songs provide the keys to who she is, where she's been, and where's she's going.
Dead Prez - http://www.deadprez.com - Continuining on the path of politically minded artists like Public Enemy, 2pac and KRS-One, the Florida-formed New York based outfit known as Dead Prez has been crafting revolutionary but gangsta hip-hop since the late 1990s. Taking inspiration from the life and social activism of Malcolm X, Sticman and M-1, the duo is heavily aligned with challenging the status quo.
Garaj Mahal - http://www.garajmahal.net - Innovative fusion of funk and jazz with a world music flare.
Golden - http://www.peddlingmedicine.com - Golden is a music maker infused with the best of hip-hop legends, new-school rhymes, break-beat wizards and slam-poets. Golden delivers substance with the hype. Intelligence and wit in the lyrics join with beats that strike powerfully.
Hot Buttered Rum - www.hotbutteredrum.com - This high-altitute string band was born in the High Sierras of California, and has committed themselves to making positive social, environmental and political change through music, education and outreach. They were one of the first bands to initiate touring the country on a recycled veggie oil-powered bus, and they continue to make waves throughout the country both musically and educationally.
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - http://www.jfjo.com - Imaginative new jazz that shatters any kind of identity, much less categories and classifications.
Joseph Israel - http://www.josephisrael.com - Joseph Israel's live show is incredible and heartfelt. He has toured with the likes of Steel Pulse, Israel Vibrations, Abijah, Mikey General and many others. He performs both solo and with a full band.
John Butler Trio - http://www.johnbutlertrio.com/ - Raging Austrailian Roots Rock that speaks to social equity, justice and the human spirit
Leslie Helpert - http://www.myspace.com/serpentfly - Leslie's music explores and disfigures traditional social concepts and explores the constant evolution of language. Her music is self-coined "lovelypunk" and her artistic stance is based on the premise of natural change.
Les Nubians - http://www.lesnubians.com - Afropean hip hop/R&B duo
Michael Franti and Spearhead - http://www.spearheadvibrations.com/ - Pushing boundaries, musically, lyrically, and socially, Michael Franti has been an artist of conscience who with the power of his group Spearhead has continued to challenge himself and his audience to seek fresh perspectives on our ever changing planet.
Magicgravy- http://www.myspace.com/magicgravy - Formed and born in the high deserts of Mexico's Baja California, this hard-hitting, jazz-rooted, pshychadelic impovisational trio features members of ALO and The Motet. The freedom to expand beyond the roles each member assumes in their main project, offers another side of these musicians and the musical peaks are high and long.
The Motet - http://www.themotet.net - A group full of musical exploration and innovation, fusing instrumental, indie-rock, and electronically textured improvisation
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - http://www.sierraleonesrefugeeallstars.com - Formed in a refugee camp in the West African nation of Guinea, SLRAS tour the world playing traditional afro-beat/reggae and spreading their message of peace and love in a "can't help but dance" show that fans from all musical backgrounds enjoy.
Taarka - http://www.taarka.com - A breathless synergy of sounds that strikingly blends bluegrass, folk, gypsy and jazz
Tea Leaf Green - http://www.tealeafgreen.com - Honoring a long lineage of rock bands that have come before them, Tea Leaf Green pays tribute to the past while carving out a distinct name for themselves.
Toubab Krewe - http://www.myspace.com/toubabkrewe - Blending Malian, American and Dirty South influences, bridging the gap between West African and American music
Zion I - http://www.zionicrew.com/ - Conscious hip-hop from the Bay Area.
Wisebird - http://www.myspace.com/wisebird - This Rock n' Roll band out of Salt Lake City, Utah mixes dirty blues, rustic country and mean Rock 'n Roll to create an original and powerful sound. They were one of the first bands to participate in the HRAT, and they remain equally committed to social and environmental issues.
Zilla - http://www.zillamusic.com - With their focused brand of live electronic dance music, Zilla is sweeping the country by storm with a rare breed of beats, bass and uncontrollable musical fury, full of spontaneity and groove. End result: dance party.
