BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – A family band and an award-winning duo have joined the lineup for the Repairing the Breach sing-along concert with Annie Patterson and Peter Blood Saturday, May 8 at 7 p.m. to benefit the Community Asylum Seekers Project.
“We’re thrilled to have them bring the passion, fun, and musical gifts of Munit and Z Lovebugs to another one of our shows,” said Blood.
The new family band performed at a recent Peoples Music Network weekend at the March Long Line for Racial Justice concert to benefit The Respect for Girls Project in Sierra Leone and the Repairing the Breach concert for the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign.
They will be joined by Emma’s Revolution with Pat Humphries and Sandy O, who are known for fearless, truth-telling lyrics. The award-winning activist duo has sung for the Dalai Lama, won praise from Pete Seeger, and been covered by Holly Near. Their recent release, “Our House is on Fire,” was selected as the opening track for Hope Rises, a compilation CD from a nonprofit co-founded by Noel (Paul) Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary.
The benefit concert will support the work of the Windham County-based Community Asylum Seekers Project and is part of a tour that encourages the pursuit of social justice and charity within communities.
According to Patterson and Blood, Repairing the Breach, Songs for the Journey is inspired by the Rev. Dr. William Barber II and the Poor People’s Campaign and will focus on the specific theme of immigrants and asylum seekers among us, using music as a path to justice, spreading hope and putting a spotlight on the value of working together for a better world.
Patterson and Blood have played a central role in creating a singing movement in North America and abroad with their songbooks “Rise Up Singing” and “Rise Again.” Together, they have led hundreds of sing-along concerts and workshops across North America, New Zealand, and the U.K., and have made it their lifelong mission to help create change for peace and justice through song. They accompany their songs with guitars, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, African drum, and pennywhistle.
Concertgoers can register online at www.riseupandsing.org/events/repairing-breach-brattleboro and will be sent a Zoom link and a song sheet to sing along with Patterson and Blood. Admission is by freewill offering, with suggested donations.
CASP provides basic needs and a supportive community for those in the process of seeking asylum in the U.S., including local host homes, food, shelter, and other daily needs. Its largely volunteer-based network assists seekers in navigating the asylum claim process and helps them achieve eventual independence as they settle into the community.
For more information about CASP, go to www.caspvt.org or email info@caspvt.org. Further information about the concert is available by contacting unadolny@gmail.com.