Folk singers unite through song
Paul M. Ross
Issue date: 10/9/09 Section: News
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Their fall tour, called "Union Makes Us Strong," is making its way across the Midwest.
Feeney is a former attorney who was president of the Pittsburgh Musician's Union. She is the granddaughter of a union organizer and folk singer.
Feeney's recordings include "Heartland," a live recording from the annual Mother Jones Banquet in Springfield, and 2008's "Dump the Bosses off Your Back."
Rovics has been called the musical voice of the progressive movement in the United States. His songs and speech have been featured on national radio programs around the world.
He has made much of his work freely available on downloadable MP3 files from his Web site www.davidrovics.com.
He also has a number of blogs called Songwriter's Notebook that can be accessed online at www.songwritersnotebook.blogspot.com.
The evening kicked off with an IndyMedia Video of the press conference response to the militarized police action that took place during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh.
The video showed reports of eyewitness accounts of the use of police tactics against unarmed citizens who were in opposition to the G-20. In the video, the witnesses called for an investigation into police action through independent and governmental agencies.
In a pamphlet passed out before the show, Feeney - who was a witness to the police riot - said, "Over 4,000 cops from around the country occupied my hometown, and they brought a lot of expensive and dangerous cop toys ($20 million worth) with them. I knew they'd find some excuse to use them all, and they did."
As the video came to a close, it depicted police using intimidation tactics against peaceful demonstrators.
Dr. Lisa Barr, assistant professor of journalism and mass media law, appeared on the stage to introduce the artists.
"Despite what that video suggests," Barr said, "this will be a fun night."
During the introduction she posed the question, "What does journalism have to do with music?" She elaborated on this connection by saying that there is a movement with activists and musicians alike to produce material based on current events.
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