A Backbone Benefit Music Extravaganza

Yes….it’s that time again…whether you are a musician or a music fan, this is going to be an event worth checking out...

The next Backbone Campaign Benefit is coming up on Friday night, March 23rd at the Red Bicycle Bistro & Sushi at 8pm. There is a $20 Cover.

And man....what a wild and crazy one this will be.....this event has the craziest theme yet. It is called:

"Red Hot Police Who Clash for Kinky Petty Cash"

This gives our participating local musicians a wide choice of music with songs (preferably relevant to protest, power, money, etc) by the following musicians/bands:

1. The Red Hot Chili Peppers

2. The Police

3. The Who

4. The Clash

5. The Kinks

6. Tom Petty

7. Johnny Cash

We thought we’d continue the theme concept again, calling out to our unbelievably talented musicians on this Island to participate. If you missed out on performing in the previous benefit shows, now is your chance to be a part of an spectacular night of music by a huge variety of musicians, all under one roof and for a great cause. If you’ve performed at these events before, we welcome you back!

Bill Moyer and the Backbone Campaign staff and supporters continue to do some incredible things out in the world right now – this is your chance to contribute to their efforts. For information on what the Backbone Campaign has been up to lately, check out their website at www.backbonecampaign.org.

For all seven of the previous Backbone Campaign Benefit events at The Red Bicycle, it was ‘standing room only’ in the back and it was about as packed as they’ve ever seen that place. We even ended up having to turn some people away because there just wasn’t any room left! The event is a unique way to gather with your community - visit with neighbors and old friends and share a wonderful night together, but I cannot urge you enough to get there early!

Musicians may perform one song by the above mentioned bands/musicians at the benefit, either as a solo act or with accompaniment. There have been some great solo performances in the past, as well as some wonderful collaborations that people are still talking about, so we’re hoping for more of the same for this event.

Although it won’t be an acoustic event, it won’t be a big amplified huge extravaganza either. We’ll rotate quite a few people through (maybe 25 or so time slots) each playing one song. There is not much time for set-up, sound check, or tear down, so we want to keep it simple. It’s difficult to accommodate large bands, but not impossible if the transition time takes place quickly. Pick a song, email me back and let me know what it is as soon as possible, and we’ll add it to our list so we don’t have any duplicates. The list tends to fill up pretty fast and please remember, it will have to be first come, first serve…there’s just a certain amount of time slots available and so many more musicians to fill them out here on the Island. Have a second choice in mind, just in case your first one is taken already. We need to try to solidify everything by the end of February i n order to print posters and get the word to the local papers by their deadlines. This is a great audience to play to and if you have CD’s of your own music, it’s a great event to make some sales!

You will be able to see an updated list of the artists who have signed up for this event and what songs they will be performing on the Red Bicycle Bistro web site at www.redbicyclebistro.com as soon as people start submitting their songs to us. We’ll have the standard sound setup at The Red Bicycle with the in-house equipment they have, and then run everyone through a guitar amp so that we can keep the flow going and not have to do a sound check for each person. Any songs with drums, we prefer that there is only one shared kit and if bass players can share an amp, that helps a lot as well.

Also, we would like to have some sort of representation by the youth on the island if at all possible…if you know of anyone under 21 that might be interested in performing, please let us know. We think it would add another wonderful dynamic to this special night. There is a window of time between 7:30 & 11pm when anyone under 21 can be in the restaurant where we could make this happen.

John Sparks will be our soundman for this event—he has become the resident soundman at The Red Bicycle. This night should be fun and something a little different than the norm. It’s an excuse to get out of the house, socialize a little bit, and enjoy some first class entertainment.

As always, a huge thanks to everyone who takes the stage and also to those of you who will come to enjoy the music. We are blown away by this wonderful community of musicians and music lovers that continue to support each other every day.

Music creates community. Music matters. –Pete-