FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BORDER SONGS CD Release

A different message coming out of Arizona: Musicians, Poets and Artists come together to save lives

Border Songs–a new compilation album to benefit the southern Arizona humanitarian group No More Deaths—is available for purchase online at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bordersongs

All proceeds from the sale of the Border Songs CD will go to No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, a volunteer group that caches water in the desert, provides medical assistance and food to migrants, and helps recently deported people on the Mexican side of the border. Since 1994, more than 6,000 migrants have died along the US-Mexico border. According to the album’s co-producers Robert Neustadt and Chuck Cheesman, the mission of the Border Songs CD and No More Deaths is simple: to end death and suffering on the Arizona/Mexico border. In the first month since the album’s release, the project has raised some $9000 for No More Deaths. Each purchase will provide 29 gallons of water, or the equivalent in food or medical supplies to people in need.

The two-CD set features 31 performances in both English and Spanish from a variety of different genres and styles: blues, corrido, cumbia, folk/Americana, hip hop, instrumental guitar, mambo, Nicaraguan new song, reggae, rock, and even an electronic recording of the wall itself.

Renowned artists contributing to the compilation include Sweet Honey In The Rock, whose song “Are We a Nation?” was written in direct response to Arizona’s anti-immigrant law, SB 1070. Other prominent musicians include Amos Lee, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Calexico, Joel Rafael, Tom Russell and Eliza Gilkyson. Salvadoran Lilo González, who himself crossed the border without documents, contributes a cumbia based on his own experience, “Ningún ser humano es ilegal” (No Human Being is Illegal). 93 year-old folk music legend Pete Seeger contributed his call for unity, his song “My Rainbow Race”

Spoken word on the album includes a dramatic reading by Chicana performer Denise Chávez, excepts from an interview with Charles Bowden, and an animal fable by m. henry that will both entertain a child and inspire an adult to think. Poets contributing work include Chilean Raúl Zurita, one of South America’s most important living poets, Salvadoran Mario Bencastro, whose poem “Arizona” honors migrants who have died in the desert, and North American Margaret Randall, whose poem “Offended Turf” is blended with Glenn Weyant’s electronic recording of the border wall. This diverse collection of border songs is held together by a common thread—a deep concern and solidarity for migrants, for people of all ethnicities, regardless of their country of origin.

The complete list of artists contributing to the Border Songs project features:

Amos Lee, Calacas Blues, Calexico, Charles Bowden, Christa Sadler, Chuck Cheesman, Classik & Pachuco, Cyril Barrett, Denise Chávez, Dúo Guardbarranco, Eliza Gilkyson, Eric Skye, Giant Giant Sand, Glenn Weyant, Joel Rafael, Lakesigns, Lilo Gonzalez, Los Románticos, Margaret Randall, Mario Bencastro, m. henry, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Óscar Sarmiento, Pete Seeger, Raúl Zurita, Robert Neustadt, Scott Ainslie, Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Ted Warmbrand, Tom Russell.

Border Songs was released on October 12, 2012. The purpose of the album is to raise awareness and provide aid to migrants who suffer and die in Sonoran desert.

The Border Songs album is available for purchase for $24 at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bordersongs

Or, through the Border Songs CD Project web page: http://www.bordersongs.org

See also, Border Songs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BorderSongsCdProject

For information, contact Robert Neustadt: bordersongscd@gmail.com

Tucsonans will recognize many of the local people and musical groups included in this two-CD set. I’ve personally met author Charles Bowden, who has written several books about the Arizona/Mexico border.

“Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime.”

Flor de Muertos

One showing only! Thursday, Oct 25th 2012 at 7:30pm
Loft Theater, 3233 E. Speedway

General Admission: $8 • Loft Members: $6

Get ready for this year’s All Souls Procession with a special screening of the Tucson-made documentary Flor de Muertos, starring Calexico!

Flor de Muertos (Flower of the Dead) examines the cross-cultural collisions regarding death along the US and Mexico border, commencing with the Mexican celebration of the Dia de los Muertos and ending with the All Souls Procession when 20,000 locals turn out in skull face to rattle through the streets of downtown Tucson, Arizona, to remember, honor, and dance with the dead.

Flor de Muertos – the Aztec Marigold, ‘Cempasuchil’- the scent of marigolds forms a path the souls of the dead can follow back to the living on the annual Day of the Dead. Part documentary, part concert film, Flor de Muertos features acclaimed Americana/alternative band Calexico, playing a concert in Tucson’s historic Rialto Theater to their hometown audience.

Desert rat journalist Charles Bowden, who has roamed the borderlands in search of an elusive truth for decades, author Margaret Regan, artist Salvador Duran and others comment on the insanity of American immigration policies.

Locally made film about our very own All Souls Procession (in which my husband and I have walked, with calaveras/skulls on our heads in the past). I recognized all the names mentioned above who will be in this documentary. Enjoy Tucson and get ready for All Souls on November 4th.