I'll pick a title later... I like to write.

I’m going to put this in the form of a blog, instead of an email to all of my staff, because I want the world to have the opportunity to know how wonderful a group of people I am surrounded with on a daily basis.  

Today was unbelievable.  Not because I really had fun, because I pretty much didn’t.  Bled Fest is the hardest day of my life, every year without fail, and this year did nothing to dispel that trend.  While everything went smoother than it ever has before, and there were no real panic moments, I still couldn’t relax enough to even enjoy As Cities Burn or The Wonder Years, two of my favorite bands.  

But the insane amount of faith, trust, and pride I have in the team that we’ve built at Fusion Shows makes the day so much more rewarding, now that it’s over.  I’ve never been a part of anything so overwhelmingly positive and driven by the heart more than any other motivation.  These people love music, and they love to see people celebrate while watching others play music.  

So to Irving, my partner at Fusion Shows, thanks for helping me build a team and a culture that we can both be so proud of.  

Ron, I literally couldn’t do this without you.  Your boundless enthusiasm and energy keeps me going when I don’t want to, and your talent and leadership abilities impress me more every day.

Scott, you freaking hustled all week while not 100%.  Your commitment to music in all forms, and to treating people the right way is such an asset to what we’re doing.  Thanks for being a part of this.  

Ben, dude, you started Bled Fest as a pool party/basement show 8 years ago for 30 people.  We just moved 5,000 through over two years.  What the hell?  Thanks for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this.  

Connor, you need to graduate college already so I can hire you, hand the company to you, and go start a new company.  You have skills and leadership abilities beyond your years, and your energy was probably what kept me from just breaking down and crying today.  

Teresa, my beautiful wife.  You’ll never read this, but the effort you put into this event every year for me just solidifies how I feel about you.  I don’t know why you chose me, but now you’re stuck with me!  I love you more than any of this, and thank you for being so supportive of my crazy endeavors.  

Danielle, Chris, Sara, Marites, Mike, Lalita, Josh, Alicia, Katrina, Erica, Katelyn, Justin, Adam, Courtney, Erin, Corey, Anna, Devin, Rike, Matt, Seth, Devin, Greg, Daren, Joe, Erick, Austin, Avery, Jeff, and everyone else who pitched in this year in any way, I don’t deserve any of you.  But I’ll continue to absolutely revel in the fact that somehow, my good fortunes have allowed me the pleasure to have you as a part of my life.  Each of you deserve your own “yearbook signature” paragraph, but it’s 3am, so I hope that you’ll forgive me.  

This year’s Bled Fest wasn’t the biggest one.  We missed that by about 700 people.  But it was definitely the best one.  The bands were the best.  The vibe was the best.  The organization and the work ethic and the general air of respect and dignity and pride that radiated from you guys made this one of the most unique and wonderful musical event of its kind, in the world.  

So as we drag our tired asses to bed tonight, please sleep well knowing that you’ve earned my respect, my love and adoration, because you guys truly are the greatest group of people I could ever work with.  

I cannot wait to continue to build something with you right here in Michigan, the place where I’ve chosen to make a life for myself and be a positive part of our local community.  

And a real quick and probably not nearly adequate enough shout-out to the bands who played tonight and made today incredible, and to the absolutely wonderful 2500+ people that made their way through the building tonight.  Your respect for us and for each other truly inspire me to go out and double my efforts to change the way the music industry treats bands and fans alike.  Thank you for being you, and please, don’t ever change.  

Enjoy your holiday weekend, and I hope to see you all again next year!

I wrote this over the weekend, and Zack got it up today.  I hope people understand what I’m trying to say.  Would love to continue to hear your feedback.  :)

propertyofzack:

Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. It’s been a long time since we’ve had Nate on the site, but we’re stoked to have him back. In his new blog, Nate dives into phony “booking agencies” and how they, nine times out of ten, only hurt and take advantage of younger bands who might not know any better. It’s quite an interesting read for both general fans and musicians in young bands, so check it all out below!

Here we go, kiddies. 

It’s been a really long time since I blogged for Zack.  Fusion Shows has been insanely busy, and Bled Fest is next week, so I’ve been out of my mind.  But I have to speak up about something that’s been bothering me lately.  

There’s too many “booking agencies” in the world. 

Let me explain. 

I don’t dislike booking agents.  In fact, I freaking appreciate them, and respect their work.  It’s hard work booking tours.  There’s a lot of bands out there that need them, and as such, there’s a ton of booking agencies out there. 

But there’s too damn many people out there pretending to be agents. 

Kids (and a lot of bands) don’t understand the difference between booking agencies and concert promoters.  They’re all “booking companies” to them.  And while yes, we’re all booking shows, there’s a difference.  Booking agencies work for the artists.  They book tours.  They reach out to promoters (whether they’re independent promoters, venue in-house buyers, or Live Nation/AEG) to secure gigs for their clients.  They’re involved in the entire process, but their focus is maximizing what happens for their client.  The promoters then put together, produce, market, and sell tickets for the show, and pay the bands.  I’m a promoter.  My company, Fusion Shows, buys shows from agents.  We love 95% of the agents we work with. 

Just like I used to spend a lot of time on MySpace promoting our shows, I now spend far too much time on Facebook, doing the same.  And I see far too many bands working with booking agencies I’ve never heard of.  It’s not that I’ve heard of every legitimate booking company.  That’s not true at all, but here’s the thing:

IF YOU DON’T ALREADY DRAW GOOD CROWDS TO SHOWS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, A SMALL BOOKING AGENCY CAN’T REALLY HELP YOU. 

What do I mean by that? 

Well, here’s the first part.  As a small independent promoter, we book a lot of shows with a lot of people.  I work with agencies who represent artists as huge as Weezer, Foo Fighters, etc.  We also accept shows from smaller agencies that have good buzzy, nationally known artists who play smaller rooms. 

We also work with independent local and touring acts with no representation whatsoever. 

Who we don’t usually work with is “Yippie Kay Aye Booking”.

Read More

Every time I see my friends play music, I am inspired.  To write.  To act.  To love.  

Tonight, it was Jeff Pianki and The Parlor Soldiers.  Other nights, it’s La Dispute, Mike Mains and the Branches, The Swellers, Joe Hertler, Sosaveme, Apathetic Critic, or a million others.  

I want to write.  I want to tell the world what’s right about music.  What’s so great about it.  I want to share with others, listen to what they see is right.  Tell me what you’re into, and why.  Dig deep.  Tell me about your favorite song, and how it got to be that way.  What emotions does it invoke in you?  Where were you when you first heard it?

Social networking, with all it’s greatness, seems so focused on thoughts, fleeting and incomplete.  It doesn’t accurately depict works of art, like songs.  

The beauty of a house show like tonight’s is that the focus is on the songs.  Everyone’s attention is fully given to the artist, and there’s a beauty in that one on one interaction.  My favorite bands are those that can capture that emotion on a larger scale, overloading the senses while retaining that unique, personal, intimate connection with the listener.  It’s a skill that’s rare, the ability to completely control one’s attention.  

I’ve had it happen a few times in the past year, most recently with a band from Seattle called The Head And The Heart.  The brilliant part about this show was that I had listened to very little of them before going, other than their radio single, “Lost In My Mind”, which I had heard on The Edge and enjoyed quite a bit.  My best friend from childhood asked me to take him, because they were one of his favorite bands.  And sometimes, when I’m going to see an artist, for fun I completely ignore them leading up to the event.  I don’t seek out music online. I don’t try to get a feel for who they are, what they look like, what they sound like.  I want to be surprised, and on this night, I found one of my favorite bands, and possibly one of my favorite records ever.  They were flawless live, and I’ve never been so moved by a band that I had no expectations of.  It was the definition of a religious experience.  

I highly suggest you give this band a listen.  If you’re a “one song and I’m out” kind of person, start with “Down In The Valley”.  Turn it up, and really listen to the lyrics.  This song alone makes me want to travel, to place I’ve never seen or heard of, with no worries about leaving behind what’s here at home.  

Click here to listen on Spotify to their self-titled record

My emotions have been wildly out-of-control the past few weeks.  I’m exhausted, I kind of hate humanity as a whole right now, and I feel like I’m surrounded by a lot of lies and mistruths.  I miss my friends.  Like the ones that called just to hang out.  The world becomes a lonelier place as you get older.  

Today, I literally drove around to ten or so local baseball diamonds, hoping to join in on a random pickup game.  There wasn’t a single person playing baseball on any of them.  On the nicest March day in the history of the world.  As I drove around, I realized that even in neighborhoods that I know are full of kids, no one was outside.  It was like a ghost town.  People don’t play outside anymore.  

Yet, as I drove around, bars were full, bowling allies were full, there were thousands of cars on the road, headed somewhere.  

I don’t understand a lot of things.  I’m not looking to judge.  Life has become what it’s become.  When I’m feeling good, I overlook all of this.  But when I’m in a negative headspace, this shit overwhelms me.  I eat food that’s not good for me.  I don’t sleep comfortably.  I don’t groom myself.  I don’t look people in the eye.  

I went to get dinner tonight, and found myself talking to the bartender and the lady to my left at the bar.  It was really weird to talk to someone who wasn’t kind of in “my world”, show-going folks that are either in bands or interested in bands or whatever.  I think she worked in real estate, and the guy bartending was actually the head chef at the restaurant, filling in for someone.  They were both very nice, and they talked about things other than concerts, and it was refreshing.  No talks about albums and ticket sales and T-shirts and stage volume and whatever else.  Just friendly conversation, about the hope that the people of Pontiac have to revitalize their city.  

Tonight was rough.  We had 8 bands play our 2 shows.  3 of them tried to make people aware that they were playing.  5 could not be bothered with telling their friends and fans (?) that they were performing music in a public place where people could come and see them do so.  

I desperately need this Sunday off.  To not be bothered with all things Fusion, but also, probably from the internet in general.  We’ll see how that goes.  

I need to sleep now.  Wish me luck.  

KONY 2012 has been underway for a week now.  Now that everyone’s relaxed, had their say, offended their friends, and claimed to be an expert on the issue, things have died down a bit, haven’t they?  

Hopefully everyone’s done fair and balanced research on both sides of the issue.  Those who believe in the movement are on fire, more so than ever before (and are armed with a new $1.5 million in merchandise sales).  Those who don’t believe seem to mostly be of the thought that: 

“Well, I don’t support Invisible Children, but I do think Kony needs to be stopped.”

And there’s a still a sliver of this country that believes that what goes on in our own borders if the only thing that matters (and will tell you so via their iPhone made with conflict minerals from the very same region).  

So what’s changed?

Well, that $1.5 million just got dropped on IC’s bottom line.  And they’re being challenged to use it in a way that’s more focused than ever before on programs on the ground in Africa.  That’s positive.

My mom knows about the conflict now.  So does Teresa’s mom.  And everyone else’s mom.  That’s positive.  

WHMI, the whitest station on earth, ran news stories on it.  That’s positive.  

My biggest issue with the complains against the campaign is this idea of “White Man’s Burden”.  It’s true.  People (regardless of race) with comfort and with money sometimes see fit to call the shots for the whole world.  It’s like “well, look at us.  We obviously know how to live, because look at this nice car I have.”  

But here’s the thing.  The people around me especially can’t speak to the action that’s being taken around the world!  If you lived in LA, or Detroit, or China, or wherever else, you’d see that this isn’t a racial issue!  There are kids of all races that are equally as horrified about what’s going on, and they were tweeting, and blogging, and sharing that YouTube video.  Just because you are surrounded by other white people in your social networks does not mean that you can write this off as white people trying to make up for past injustices (heard that one too many times), or whatever other crazy arguments I’ve heard!

This is a global issue.  If this were a bunch of white kids getting slaughtered, would it be the same?  Would there be any racial inference whatsoever?  NO!  So stop with that.  I do not see color of skin as a reason, one way or the other, to get involved with this.  What is happening in that region, and not just in the LRA-affected regions, but also in areas where corrupt militaries control mines where we get our conflict minerals, is the worst human tragedy on the planet today.  It’s not just that kids are being forced to fight.  It’s that rape is an epidemic, beyond anything you could possibly imagine.  Women’s lives are a living hell in MANY (note, I didn’t say all) areas in central and eastern Africa.  

There will be detractors.  There will be people who spew hate.  But the fact remains that in 2012, on our planet, women wake up every day, wondering if they’re going to be raped again.  Children wake up to every noise, wondering if this is finally the day that the rebel army will get them.  Our awareness, leading to direct action, is PART of a solution.  And when I say “our”, I don’t mean 99% white Livingston County.  I mean the global community, because that’s what we are.  Regardless of color, race, gender, age, location, wealth, or any of the other things that we use to divide ourselves, we can stand up, tell Apple and Motorola that we want our electronics to be conflict-free.  We can tell our governments to work together, France and Germany and China and the United States, to apply pressure on the governments of these countries to make the changes that they’re capable of making.  We’ll provide our advanced technologies, and some advice, and a little muscle if needed, and they can go into these places, and see that justice is served.

It’s a tricky situation.  I get it.  But our awareness is a very small positive step forward towards healing in the region, mixed in with a thousand small positive steps that have been taken by the people who live there, coupled with groups that are helping on the ground.  

For every video or blog that stands against this polarizing issue, there’s ten that stand for it.  I’m OK with that.  What I’m not OK with is this cop-out:

“See, I told you, after a few days, it’s already died off and no one cares.”

That’s madness.  People still care.  The goal of last week was to spread the movie to the world.  Consider that done.  You wouldn’t be talking about it if it wasn’t done.  Advocacy takes place in waves.  This was not the first wave.  As long as there has been an LRA, there have been people standing up to it, first and foremost those in central Africa.  It’s like saying that since I’m not talking about my favorite band today, trying to get you to buy tickets to their show that’s in three months, that they’re not my favorite band anymore.  I’ll pipe up when I need to, and when it comes closer to the show, I’ll pipe up more often, building to a fever pitch the night before the show.  

That’s where this conflict is at.  When needed, there’s a legion now of millions that will speak up for those who have asked for our voices, our dollars, and our direct action to help them.  They’re not needed every day.  If they waste their voices at a time where direct action cannot be taken, it’s like crying wolf.  No one’s going to pay attention when the masses are actually needed.  Besides, since this issue has proved to be so polarizing, what’s the point of continuing to bring it up, if your friends and family are going to turn on you?  

The KONY 2012 campaign blew up in a way that no one could have predicted.  One of their goals was 500,000 views on the video.  Another more important goal was to get the attention of key policy makers on the government side, and media stars on the public side, to sway people’s opinion.  Instead, EVERYONE knows about it now.  75 millions views and counting.  The whole problem has changed.  It’s no longer an issue of awareness.  It’s now been proven that people are paying attention, and that people are upset that the LRA is still a thing.  Now, it’s an issue of what action steps to take next.  Sadly, in a situation like this, when time is not really something that these soldiers and their families have to spare, things do have to move very slowly.  We’re not just going to hop on a plane and dive into the jungle and ask Kony to “stop it, please”.  The LRA is one of the most complex problems on the planet.  The very soldiers who protect the brass of the LRA are the ones that we’re trying to bring home to their families.  Even if we wanted to use force, force would be 100% counter-productive.  

So we build radio networks.  We provide intelligence and support for the Ugandan Army.  We train.  We don’t train them in military tactics.  We train them in how to properly handle social issues.  We build schools to replace those burned to the ground.  We build rehabilitation centers, where former LRA soldiers, who have just come out of the bush, can learn to be a human being again.  We fund these programs, because we know that these programs are important.  Everyone claims that “Kony’s no longer in Uganda”.  Well how in the hell do you think it got that way?  If the world hadn’t come, united, to try to bring peace to the region, the LRA would still be running rampant throughout Uganda.  But they ARE still in the Congo.  In Sudan.  In the CAR.  And they’re still raping, still looting, still killing, and still abducting.  

And I’m not OK with that happening on my planet.  Call me names.  Unfollow me on Facebook.  I don’t care.  I care deeply about this situation, in the same way that I care deeply about music and art and what’s going on around me, right here in Livingston County and in Michigan.  I’m going to continue to be loud about this.  

In the continuing saga that’s unfolding surrounding the “KONY 2012” campaign, the most common argument against getting involved seems to be, in a nutshell, “You’re a white suburban American.  Stop trying to make yourself feel better by caring about something so far away from home.”

WHAT?!?!??!

Because you’re born into a wonderful situation here in the most powerful, richest, most comfortable country in the world, you’re not allowed to get involved in something else?  

Oh, here’s another one: “This has been going on for years, why is it just now that everyone is getting involved?”

So because an organization (the suddenly much-maligned Invisible Children) finally found a way, after ten years, to make the general public aware, the ten years of work that hundreds of thousands of people have been doing worldwide is no longer valid?  PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS ISSUE SINCE THEY FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS HAPPENING.  Day and night.  With every ounce of their being, with every penny they own.  Don’t act like people are just now trying to end this.  It’s one of the most complicated military issues ever, because the people that you have to “fight” through to get to Kony are the exact people that you want to save.  They’re the same abducted kids.  

And every single time there’s peace talks, Kony disappears into the bush, abducts a whole bunch more children, re-builds, and the peace talks generally end in a HUGE massacre, where Kony’s rebuilt LRA kills hundreds in the most horrific ways yet.  

And finally, my least favorite argument of all:  “All that anyone’s doing is posting on their Facebook.”

Nope, that’s all that YOU are doing.  As I explained in an earlier blog, I’m writing letters and setting up meetings with my senators.  I’m helping host rallies.  

Some of the amazing disregard for humanity as a whole, as well as a sudden recent surge in jokes involving “white people”, it makes me sad.  The “white people” thing has kind of spread throughout the music community I’m in over the past 3 months or so.  Probably derived from the Twitter hashtag topic “#whitepeopleproblems”, it’s amazing to think that seeing a world that’s now engaged on an international issue, showing concern and care for an entire population of people different than themselves, is not being met with joy and favor, but with scrutiny.  For years, people have prayed and hoped and fought so that racial lines would blur.  So that black and white and all other colors would be viewed as one.  

Instead, today, as this worldwide cause is gathering steam, it’s written off by those who look at the glass as half-empty as nothing more than “White suburban kids with nothing else to do than to share stuff on their Facebook”.  THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BLACK OR WHITE.  NOTHING.  It has to do with humanity, and believing that if we all raise our voices together, we can come to the aid of a group of people who have been trying to aid themselves unsuccessfully for 26 years!  

Which leads me to the next argument.  People have said that Invisible Children just wants our government to sweep in and make all of these things happen, by force, with guns.  NOTHING is further from the truth.  The entire mission of Invisible Children (and their many partner NGO’s) is one of local sustainability and empowerment.  It’s the central African people who are going to make these changes.  It’s the cooperation of their governments and their militaries that will bring Kony to justice.  Not American soldiers.  Our goal, as an international group (that just happens to be hosted on US soil), is to train and provide tools by which they can do this.  They’ve tried.  In fact, we’ve tried together.  And failed.  It’s not an easy task.  Kony’s sneaky, the area they operate in is vast, but as more and more former LRA soldiers come out of the bush, and are accepted into rehabilitation clinics and returned to their families, intelligence will spread.  He will be found.  

The bottom line is this, because I can ramble about this all day and night, every day.  If you believe something’s right, you should stand up for it.  And if enough people believe along with you, things will happen.  Changes can be made.  If you want to see changes on the streets right here in our own country, let’s get it going.  If you believe that the unrest in Egypt is where we should direct our love and attention, let’s get that going.  If you believe that our government should be held accountable for the horrible things that it allows to happen, then let’s get after that.  

But more than anything, please believe in your fellow human being.  If you really have that much disdain for things being posted by friends and family that you follow on Facebook and Twitter, the problem isn’t so much what they’re posting.  You might want to take a look internally and see what you really feel about the people around you.  Show some faith.  Give them the respect that you want them to show you.  And believe that they’re posting what they’re posting because they want to get more involved, do the research (and subsequently, the dirty work), and actually make a difference.  

Today has been absolutely mind-blowing.  One of those days that shakes the foundation that you’ve built your life upon.  It’s been heart-wrenching, full of arguments and emotions that I had forgotten I had.  It’s taught me so much about the era that we live in, and about the people around me.  

I’ve got a lot to say today.  

As I blogged about this morning, Invisible Children, a non-profit organization from San Diego, launched the “KONY 2012” campaign yesterday, with the intention of “making famous” the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group who has for 26 years changed the landscape of central and eastern Africa by raping, killing, pillaging, mutilating, and abducting children to keep their ranks up.  Those abducted children have been forced to kill their families, and commit unbearable atrocities on their communities.  

Today, the internet absolutely exploded, with the Kony 2012 film receiving over 17 million views between their YouTube and Vimeo accounts.  

Watch the Kony 2012 film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

As with all things viral, there’s been an incredible outpouring of support, from the close-knit community surrounding the issue, as well as celebrities such as Puff Daddy, George Clooney, Kristen Bell, Rihanna, Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey.  As also always happens, there’s been an incredible backlash spreading like wildfire throughout the internet.  From snarky tweets to impassioned Facebook pleas to news articles and blogs, there has been an impressive amount of immediate push back towards the Invisible Children folks.  

I spent an hour on this blog with a line-item list of criticisms I’ve seen on the internet.  Then a friend forwarded me this link: http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

Invisible Children took the time to address many of the most common responses they’ve seen from those who choose to speak out against them.  Give it a read.  

I’ve spent four years of my life engaged on this issue.  I’ve led meetings with senate staff in Lansing, I’ve driven to Indianapolis to meet with a key senate member there, and I’ve driven to Washington DC to meet with our two state Senators and with members of Mike Rogers’ office.  I booked an entire tour with the organization Resolve to spread the issue on a grassroots level.  I stood in the rain in Grand Rapids to get people’s attention all day.  I drove to Chicago overnight, slept on a gym floor, and stood outside Oprah Winfrey’s studio, singing songs and dancing and being generally ridiculous, to get the issue on the air (it worked!).  So I’ve been engaged.  

I deleted most of my line item list, but a few of them remain below.  

WHAT ABOUT THAT PHOTO OF THE 3 FILMMAKERS POSING WITH THE SUDANESE ARMY, HOLDING GUNS?  AREN’T THEY ACCUSED OF RAPE/TORTURE/ETC.?

Photo: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-PnDZmngAhM/Sa_KBGNySiI/AAAAAAAAAJY/uBOfiAysghs/s1600-h/IMG_2941.JPG

On many of their trips to Africa, the IC filmmakers spent a lot of time in very unsafe situations.  In order to talk candidly to soldiers in many of the countries, they had to break down barriers.  That included speaking with the soldiers, many of them in their teens and early twenty-somethings, whose only possession (and therefore, immediate talking point in casual conversation) would be their guns.  

To even insinuate that these guys were glorifying themselves and the atrocities that soldiers commit by posing for a photo with soldiers and guns basically makes me wonder about humanity.  God forbid some kids (they were pretty young when they made their first video) go on a trip like this to find out more about the world.  

I’D RATHER PUT MY MONEY AND TIME TO THIS CHARITY THAT “DOES IT BETTER”

That’s OK!  No one’s stopping you!  In fact, if you walked up to one of the chief members of the IC organization and told them “I’m giving all of my charitable contributions to someone else”, they’d likely thank you for giving at all.  If people choose to get involved with this issue, you should support them for caring.  

“I DON’T ADVOCATE WAR IN ANY FORM” - “NO SOLDIERS SHOULD BE SENT TO OTHER COUNTRIES” - “WE HAVE OUR OWN TROUBLES HERE”

I agree with all of these statements.  I’d love to never send soldiers anywhere.  I’d love to fix all the problems here.  I’d love for there never to be another war.  

But I’m not OK with kids being forced to do what they’re doing.  Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made.  And I’m not a soldier, so don’t give me the “don’t send my son into battle” thing.  They’re not being sent into battle.  They’re providing support, technology, and advice.  That is all.  If I were a member of the armed forces, I would be proud to serve in such a way as to make such a difference.  But I’m not, so I’m going to support however I can, from here.  

BUT ALL THAT YOU ARE DOING IS POSTING ABOUT IT ON SOCIAL NETWORKS, THAT’S NOT GOING TO HELP!

If all I did was post online about this, I’d be selling this issue short.  But as I pointed out above, I’ve put plenty of time into this.  Direct action.  I challenge EVERY SINGLE PERSON who’s tweeted, Facebooked, blogged about this to use your voice, and take direct action.  Tell everyone you know.  Write your Senators.  Set up meetings.  You can make a difference, about anything you choose to.  If you feel that homelessness is more important in your eyes, I encourage you to do the same thing.  TAKE DIRECT ACTION.  It freaking works.  We’ve already proved that.  

Regarding Invisible Children, they do need to make more information public.  They need to acknowledge more of the difficulties.  However, it’s easy to understand why you wouldn’t publicize what make this campaign difficult.  The video itself is intended to rally support.  But if the video said “this is probably impossible, it’s never before been done, and though we’re going to try hard, we’re probably going to fail”, no one would be talking about this today.  Their confidence is sexy, and inspiring.  

Here’s a great blog that addresses a lot of the things that Invisible Children isn’t saying, written by a Ugandan citizen who wants nothing more than to see the LRA brought to an end:  http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/07/stop-kony-yes-but-dont-stop-asking-questions/

My good buddy Corey Bickford put it best today in a blog.  No one’s right, but it’s human nature to believe that you are.  The most important part, to me, as I posted earlier today is to maintain respect for one another, their beliefs, and their choices.  I choose to support the effort to end LRA violence.  If you don’t, I still love you, just like I still love people who choose not to eat meat (I love to eat meat), who drink alcohol (never had a drink in my life), and who vote a certain way.  I STILL LOVE YOU NO MATTER WHAT.  

A part of my life that’s been dormant for the past few months got shaken up last night, and I’m reeling to collect my thoughts on the whole thing.  So far, I’ve seen people take to Twitter and Facebook to call those of us spreading the word (and not donating one dollar) “idiots” or far worse.  People I consider friends.  

Here’s the rundown:

An organization called Invisible Children has been drawing awareness (and doing an awful lot of fundraising) to a problem taking place in central and eastern Africa, where a rebel army called the Lord’s Resistance Army has been running rampant for 26 years, looting villages, killing and maiming people, and worst of all, kidnapping children for the purposes of making them sex slaves and child soldiers.  

It’s a VERY long story, but the basic premise of the organization is that they want more than anything to apprehend the crazed, elusive leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, and publicly bring him to justice, which will hopefully disarm and diffuse the LRA, allowing the abducted children, some of whom have been soldiers now for most/all of their life, to come out of the bush and return home to their families.  

It’s an incredibly complicated problem, and one that requires a ton of research on the subject to even begin to understand it.  Immediately, many American jump to the thought of “We’ve got our own problems.  Let’s spend our money here.”  I agree.  We should take care of the issues here.  When funding is scarce, you have to make tough decisions, and I believe that in those times, people should give to where their heart is led.  If you believe that the insanely high rates of prostitution in Atlanta, GA is your calling, then get involved.  If you want to feed the homeless, or save the whales, or work with special needs children, I applaud you.  

However, if you’re one of those people who just sits back and lashes out at anyone who tries to do anything, tries to show support, and doesn’t actually do anything on your own, then you are part of the problem.  This issue of the LRA is not an American issue.  No one says it is.  It is a WORLD issue.  If you truly feel you are a part of a global community, then you realize that borders have been torn down long ago.  The internet has connected us in a way that has never before been felt on this earth.  Things that were hidden are now at our fingertips.  If the internet was around when Hitler was rounding up the Jewish population of Europe, we would have acted faster.  If we could see on Facebook the devastation that was taking place in Rwanda, or in Darfur, or in Eastern Europe, we would have acted.  

And I think the “action” itself is the part that the people who attack our ideas least understand.  We’re not asking you to give your money.  We’re not.  The ability is there, and especially with Invisible Children, the fact is out there that it’s a VERY high overhead organization.  They have a lot of staff.  They have vans touring the country.  They have a huge office, a “roadie house” where 60-80 touring roadies gather each year to prep for their tours.  They have an insane amount of merchandise.  So when it’s seen that 30% of their money goes to “the charity”, as reported, those numbers are skewed.  The other 70% does not just go to pad pockets.  It goes back into the marketing efforts.  Into the merchandise.  Into the vans.  Into the awareness campaigns.  

I.C. is far from perfect.  I’ve been one of their biggest supporters, but I’ve also asked MANY questions, directly to those who make the decisions.  I’ve not only written letters to and met with my senators and representatives, but I’ve also kept in touch with many of the people involved directly in what Invisible Children is doing.  I’ve told them when I thought my donations weren’t being well spent.  I’ve told them when I feel like what they are doing is frivolous.  

But here’s what they have inspired the world to come together and do, through a combination of fundraising, empowerment, and grassroots raising of awareness:

1.  Night commuting ended.  Children no longer walk miles to city centers to sleep in horrifyingly unsanitary conditions to escape capture.

2.  The LRA has fled out of Uganda due to military pressure, but also due to simple enabling and empowerment of the citizens to stand up for themselves and their families.

3.  A network of radio towers has been built to send early warnings around of the position and numbers of LRA, which has cut attacks significantly.

4.  LRA attacks are down.  Sure, they’ll tell you that they’re still happening, because they are, but they’re way down from the past few years.  

5.  LRA commanders have been captured.  MANY child soldiers have been returned to their families, and enrolled (free of charge, mind you) in intense emotional rehabilitation programs to help them fit back into a society that has every right to not want them anymore.  

6.  Schools have been built, clinics have been built, and areas decimated by LRA attacks have been rebuilt.  

Anyway, like I said, no one’s perfect in this scenario.  The goal of making Kony “famous”, so that people react, is controversial for sure.  Invisible Children certainly does excel at tugging on the heart strings, playing on your emotions.  They may even be sensationalists.  

But when your other option is to know that these things are happening, that children are being abducted, raped, mutilated in ways that if it happened right here, in Michigan, we’d all pick up whatever weapons we could find and march together in unison to see an end to it, to know this but to not do anything is nearly as criminal, in my mind, as it is to actually be doing the looting, raping, and killing.  I, as a human being who cares about others, can not stand by idly and watch this happen.  I won’t.  If you want to call me names because of that, that’s OK.  

Just know that when I decide where to put my efforts, my allegiances, people who belligerently write against what I’m trying to say, and don’t use an educated approach, I’ll remember that when it comes time to book your band, shake your hand, etc.  Show me the respect, tell me that it’s OK to feel the way I do about this situation, and even if you don’t want to help, understand that awareness of the issue (and the ability to question it) is something that all of us should have.  If you KNOW that this is happening, and you KNOW that your money and time is best spent elsewhere, then I love you for that.  But if your time is best spent on the internet, being a pessimist and assuming that we don’t have the ability to check into both sides of an issue for ourselves, it’s that disrespect that causes many of the issues that affect our everyday lives.   It’s that disrespect, among supposed friends, that makes me have a hard time with humanity some days.  It’s that disrespect that I choose not to show you.  And it’s that disrespect for one another that makes me try all that much harder to show love and compassion and care for an entire continent that has been forgotten, that we use for our conflict minerals, that we’re perfectly OK to just allow to sit there and be our little gold mine, dipping into it when we need it, and otherwise, we’ll just sit back and let people suffer, because they weren’t lucky enough to be born into a place that offers those comforts and those protections freely.  

Pretty inspired tonight.  Not so much because of the show, or the ensuing aftermath of incredibly drunken Strutt employees and patrons throwing down in epic fashion to mark their closing.  More so because of the great conversations I had with my friends tonight.  

I’m really inspired to write, and write a lot, and really focus on music with meaning.  Real meaning.  Depth.  Thought.  Insight.  Songs that were written with a purpose.  Don’t get me wrong, all songs are written with a purpose.  Some to cause the listener to dance, to laugh, to let out aggression.  

But there’s a lot of music being released these days that has true soul.  A window is opened to the writer’s heart, and they become vulnerable.  

I want to start a blog highlighting bands that I believe have that kind of thought process, a true deep, beneath-it-all story behind the songs that they write.  I want to break the songs down, learn where they came from, how they came to be.  What they mean.  What emotions they evoke in the writer, and not just the listener.  

I know what I feel when I listen to songs from my favorite artists.  And while I feel like I’m getting a decent idea of what the writer feels, I feel as if in-depth interviews will bring out some really, really interesting stories.  

Lord knows if I’ll ever have the time or the energy to do this and do it right.  And lord knows if this idea’s even good (I seem to have a lot of crazy ideas that sound good at 3am, just to have them sound stupid the next day).  

I just know that some songs and some records strike me on a whole other level, and I would love to examine why that is.