BRASS BAND REBELS BONERAMA TEAM UP WITH
GRAMMY WINNING BAND OK GO FOR YOU'RE NOT ALONE
The 5-Song EP will benefit New Orleans musicians displaced by Katrina
 Bonerama |
This Mardi Gras (February 5), Bonerama and OK Go will release You're Not Alone, a five-song digital EP. Bonerama and OK Go spent the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina recording at Piety Street Studios deep in the city's Upper 9th Ward. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the EP – available exclusively at iTunes – will benefit members of New Orleans' music community such as R&B legend Al Johnson, who are still struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives in the aftermath of the flood.
"New Orleans is one of the last places in America where music is truly a fundamental part of everyday life," says OK Go singer Damian Kulash. "People get together on the weekends and parade through the streets just playing songs; 12-year-old-kids learn funk on the tuba; everyone dances. Life elsewhere in the world simply isn't as celebratory. If we allow the culture of New Orleans to die by leaving its musicians marooned around the country, America will have lost one of its great treasures."
On Monday, February 11, Bonerama and Kulash will perform "A Million Ways" on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman.
Engineered by Mark Nevers (Bobby Bare Sr., Calexico, Bonnie "Prince" Billy), You're Not Alone is an astonishing collaboration, with Bonerama lending its loud, trombone-and-tuba New Orleans swagger to OK Go's bombastic rock. Together, they re-interpret three tracks from OK Go's most recent album, Oh No: "A Million Ways," "It's A Disaster" and "Oh Lately It's So Quiet." A pair of covers – David Bowie's "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" and Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" – round out the collection. Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, who wrote "Carnival Time," the unofficial anthem of Mardi Gras, contributes haunting vocals to the latter.
Enthusiasm for the project has proved contagious. iTunes has agreed to donate all proceeds from EP sales, and digital distribution powerhouse IODA is servicing and promoting it free of charge. In addition, free freight shipping was provided by EFM Worldwide/Horizon Cargo, and Music Travel Management contributed free airfare for the two benefit shows.
Bonerama Tour Dates
02.01 8x10 Club Baltimore MD
02.02 9:30 Club Washington DC Benefit performance with OK Go
02.04 Howling Wolf New Orleans LA
02.07 The Pour House Charleston SC
02.09 Berkeley Cafe Raleigh NC
02.10 The Garage @ The Biltmore Asheville NC
02.13 Smith's Olde Bar Atlanta GA
03.08 The Gretna Jubilee Gretna LA
03.26 Iowa City Yacht Club Atlanta GA
03.27 Cabooze Minneapolis MN
03.28 Overture Center For the Arts Madison WI
03.29 Martyrs' Chicago IL
04.04 First Energy Berks Jazz Fest Wyomissing PA
04.05 The Swamp Thing and Crawfish Festival Austin TX
05.02 Mid City Lanes New Orleans LA
05.20 Bourbon Street Music Club Sco Paulo Brazil
05.29 Chans Woonsocket RI
06.01 Mike Arnones Crawfish Festival Wakefield RI
06.05 Iowa City Jazz Festival Iowa City IA
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