HeadCount Blog

This seems more than fair: If you’re a Latino citizen (and even if you’re not), HeadCount partner Voto Latino would like to share twenty-five free tracks with you in exchange for pledging to participate in the 2010 census.

The Latino community has been traditionally undercounted in past censuses, which means political underrepresentation and underfunding of education, health, and employment opporunities in this community. Businesses use census information to identify markets, cities use it to determine infrastructure needs, and the government uses it to draw up electoral districts.

Voto Latino emphasizes that the census form, which comes in the mail and takes about ten minutes to fill out, neither asks about immigration status nor shares information with other government agencies. While there’s certainly plenty of things to be paranoid about as an immigrant these days, the census is not among them.

Here’s what you’ll get for your pledge:

Pitbull – “Across the Waters”
Morrissey -“When Last I Spoke to Carol (Toy Selectah mix)”
Aventura – “Su Veneno”
Mos Def – “No Hay Nada Mas”
Los Tigres del Norte – “El Emigrante”
Jaguares – “Visible”
Rodrigo y Gabriela -“Hanuman”
Juan Luis Guerra – “La Travesia”
Ozomatli -“Believe”
Los Tucanes de Tijuana -“Los Illegales”
Paulina Aguirre -“Esperando Tu Voz”
Ruben Blades – “Las Calles”
Kinto Sol – “Voy a Sacudirme”
Os Mutantes – “Querida, Querida”
Nortec Collective – “Tengo La Voz”
Antibalas – “Che Che Cole (Makossa Mix)”
Los Amigos Invisibles – “Mentiras”
Ceú – “Grains de Beaute”
Maleco Collective – “Yo Soy La Voz”
Panda – “Solo a Terceros”
Pacha Massive – “If You Want It”
Brownout – “Ayer y Hoy”
Hip Hop Hoodíos – “Agua Pa’ La Gente”
Alvaro Torres – “Te Sueno Grande”
Reyes del Bajo Mundo – “Cuanto Cuesta”
Mishka – “3rd Eye Vision”

While HeadCount is usually the recipient of donations from generous supporters – right now the victims of the Haiti earthquake are in much greater need.

To contribute, HeadCount will be donating 100% of the funds we collect at concerts (via raffles and donations) to Haiti relief and other natural disaster-related efforts through March 1, 2010. When you see a HeadCount table at a concert, please stop by and show your support.

And, at this point, you’ve likely heard about the astounding contributions that have been made via text donations. In an effort to support causes important to the music community, we encourage HeadCount supporters to donate $5 to Yéle Haiti, a grassroots nonprofit founded by Haitian-born Wyclef Jean, former member of the Fugees. Yéle Haiti (www.yele.org) is helping coordinate the delivery of emergency services and materials needed by victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

To donate $5 to Yéle Haiti TEXT “Yele” to 501501.

Alternatively, you can donate $10 to the American Red Cross.

To donate $10 to the American Red Cross TEXT “Haiti” to 90999.

In either case, you will get a reply text asking you to confirm your donation. The donation charge will be added to your next wireless bill. 100% of the proceeds will be donated.

Thank you.

HeadCount

(Photo by IFRC)

Among the myriad of things to do during the sunny off hours of Phish’s four-night Miami New Year’s Eve run, the Mock Show topped the list for many.

The poster and art exhibit featured the work of Jim Pollock, David Welker, Jeff Wood, AJ Masthay and many other artists and a set of music from the Heavy Pets (below). It was held at the Hyatt Regency Miami (a last-minute venue change caused by a Legionnaire’s Disease scare at the EPIC Hotel), on December 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

I was amazed to find fans lined up as early as 7 a.m. (when we started setting up) eager to get their hands on limited releases of Phish-inspired art as well as some leftover official releases.

HeadCount, which co-sponsored and benefited from the show, held an amazing silent auction, which included an EMEK-autographed Rothbury poster and a G20 poster and pass set by Shepard Fairey. Other artists donated cool raffle prizes.

HeadCount also held an online Mock Vote allowing fans to elect their favorite 2009 poster art. More than 1500 votes were cast and the results are in (Golden Tube winners Isadora Bullock,
Tripp, and Jon Lamb pictured to your right):

Best Official Phish Print of 2009 – Tyler Stout, “Noblesville”
Best Phish Fan Print of 2009 – Isadora Bullock, “Tower Jam”
Best Hampton Phish Fan Print 2009 – Jon Lamb, “Hampton”
Best Red Rocks Fan Print 2009 – David Welker, “Lady of the Rock”
Best Festival 8 Fan Print 2009 – Isadora Bullock, “Indio Llama”
Best Phish Series – Official or Fan 2009 – Tripp, “Red Rocks”
Best Non-Poster Art of 2009 – Jim Pollock, “Masks”
Best Political Art of 2009 – Banksy, “Monkey Parliament”

HeadCount also asked fans to vote on their favorite art unveiled at the Mock Show:

Best New Year’s Eve Fan Print – AJ Masthay, “Miami Heat”
Best Mock Show Print – AJ Masthay, “Mock Show”
Best Art of Mock Show – David Welker, “The Levitator”

All winning artists in attendance received the coveted Golden Tube Award.

As both HeadCount’s art director as well as an artist showing at Mock Show, I was working double duty. The show went by in a whirlwind of handshakes, sales, hugs, and, when I had a minute to view the art, a feast for the eyes. My highlight was presenting the awards. It felt wonderful to acknowledge these artists’ hard work and talent. I wish I could have awarded every nominated artist.

If you didn’t make it to Miami, or couldn’t get up early enough to attend the Mock Show, you can always support the artists contributing to the scene by purchasing their work. A list of all participating artists can be found at the Mock Show website.

(Photography copyright Presscott McDonald.)

HeadCount supporters the Dave Matthews Band topped the Associated Press’s list of the decade’s 50 biggest concert tours, selling 11.6 million tickets for $529.1 million (“based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers”). Other top moneymakers include Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones.

Phish squeaked onto the list at #49 – between Barbra Streisand and James Taylor – with receipts of $116.7 million from 2.6 million tickets. Phish were off duty for more than half the decade, however, so doubling that figure would have kicked them up to #15, replacing Metallica.

The Dave Matthews Band’s Grammy-nominated Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King also came in at #5 on Apple’s list of the best-selling iTunes albums of 2009 (AKA iTunes Rewind 2009). The Kings of Leon, though, topped the albums chart with Only By the Night (right above the Twilight soundtrack album and Lady Gaga) The Kings’ “Use Somebody” also rated #10 on the download store’s singles list, which was topped by the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” and Flo Rida’s “Right Round,” a song I have never heard. And finally, the Fray’s The Fray made #7 on the albums list.

There’s a strange phenomenon any true Phish fan is familiar with: When you hear a Phish song outside the usual context, on television or at a stadium or in a store, it stops you in your tracks and sometimes puts a lump in your throat. I’ve gotten up and danced to “Guyute” on The Weather Channel, even though I don’t even like “Guyute.” And when Madison Square Garden started playing “Tweezer Reprise” before the second period of each Rangers game this season, I felt like my life had truly reached its full circle zenith.

With that in mind I share something that will choke up even the most hardened among you: “Backwards Down the Number Line” on “Good Morning America”’s Three Words segment.

Happy Holidays.

Click below to view:

Phish on Good Morning America\'s Three Words Segment

HeadCount will add a full-time, salaried position early next year to work in our New York City office. Candidates must be passionate about both music and grassroots organizing, dedicated, self-motivated, creative and ready for a true adventure. Most importantly, he or she must bring a unique set of skills and demonstrate a clear ability to be an essential member of our team. This can include any combination of marketing, communications, artist relations, digital media, grassroots organizing, sponsorship sales, fundraising or nonprofit management experience. Recent college graduates with relevant extracurricular activities or professionals with 1 to 4 years of work experience are encouraged to apply. Salary, title and responsibilities will be determined based on the qualifications of the most outstanding candidate. To apply, please visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZDH2QDV.

This Sunday at 8 p.m. (EST), the History Channel will air “The People Speak!,” based on A People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

Through dramatic readings by pop-culture icons, this two-hour special brings to life the words of ordinary people who used their voices and the power of democracy to advocate for social change. Performers include Matt Damon (see video below), Benjamin Bratt, Viggo Mortensen, Sandra Oh, Rosario Dawson, Don Cheadle, John Legend, Marisa Tomei, Bruce Springsteen, and others. The soundtrack includes music by Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Springsteen, John Legend, Pink, Taj Mahal, and HeadCount artist Eddie Vedder.

As 2009 comes to a close, this gives me the perfect opportunity to reflect on all of the work HeadCount has done this year to encourage and enable concertgoers to “Make Your Voice Heard Everyday”. “The People Speak!” should inspire us to continue to use our own voices to bring about the change we wish to see in the world.

HeadCount will host a panel at the South by Southwest Music Conference titled “Effecting Social Change via Music and Technology.”

SXSW is the premier US music-industry event, attracting up-and-coming musicians, filmmakers, promoters, executives, and entrepreneurs to Austin, Texas, for a week of music, meetings, and revelry.

Selected and elected from among hundreds of candidates,“Effecting Social Change via Music and Technology will take place Saturday, March 20. Speakers will include:

Andy Bernstein, Executive Director, HeadCount (Moderator)
Scott Goodstein, Consultant, Air Traffic Control
Ann Jones Donohue, Director of Marketing, Musictoday
Michael Martin, CEO, Effect Partners Inc.

If you happen to be heading to SXSW, please stop by. Special thanks to SXSW organizers – and everyone who VOTED for this panel – for recognizing HeadCount and the topic’s importance.

What do you get when you mix four White House cabinet members, a slew of campaign-workers-turned-staffers, and 120 or so young climate activists? Something to tell your grandkids about.

I had the privilege of attending the White House’s Clean Energy Economy Forum yesterday. The name doesn’t quite reveal the nature of the event. Most of the people in the invite-only audience were under 30 and a few hadn’t reached drinking age. It was a peace offering of sorts from President Obama’s top advisers to young leaders in the environmental movement, many of whom were rapidly turning on the administration for seemingly not making energy policy a priority.

More specifically, the meeting was spurred by a “demand” (I hate that word, but it seemed to work here) from the Energy Action Coalition, an amalgam of 50 youth-oriented environmental groups. The EAC launched It’s Game Time, Obama to insist that the President meet with young people to discuss climate change and attend the U.N. Climate Change Summit this month in Copenhagen. There has been little movement on climate change since the House passed a controversial energy bill in June, and Obama was fairly silent on the issue until the last two weeks. That also spurred EAC executive director Jessy Tolkan took to the Huffington Post to assail Obama the president and Obama the candidate for wearing two different faces on energy policy.

The White House was livid. So livid that they invited everyone over to talk it out.

Wait a second. Are we talking about government being responsive to the people? Could the administration care what critics have to say? Does it actually want to have an open dialogue with activist groups? Is this really happening?

I can tell you as an eye witness that it is, at least on the surface. And after spending three and a half hours at this potentially historic meeting, I’m fairly convinced it goes beyond rhetoric. The administration appears to be making an earnest attempt to reclaim young Americans – particularly socially and environmentally conscious young Americans – as a core base of support. Read the rest of this entry »

This and other awesome posters are on display over at our Mock Show: Epic NYE page, where voting in a “mock election” to decide the year’s best Phish-related art has begun.

Categories include best official print, best fan print (including David Welker’s lovely “Lady of the Rock,” at left), best series, best non-poster art, and best Hampton, Red Rocks, and Festival 8 art of 2009. And of course it wouldn’t be a HeadCount event without a special category for best political art of the year, such as Shepard Fairey’s “Global Warming” image (below). Winners in each category will receive the secret and sacred “Golden Tube.”

Winners will be announced at Mock Show: Epic NYE, which takes place December 30, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the fourteenth floor of Miami’s Epic Hotel, within walking distance of the American Airlines Arena, where Phish will perform December 28-31.

The show is a sequel to this summer’s Red Rocks Mock Show, which HeadCount art director Jamie Huntsman documented very nicely here, where she said, “Mock Show was all about connections: connecting fans of the music to the art inspired by the music to the artists who were inspired by the music.”

Jim Pollock, Jeff Wood, David Welker, Sei Ray Ho, Erin Cadigan, and Aunt and Uncle Ebeneezer are just a few of the artists who will be exhibiting and probably signing things, too. Tickets (which include a 2010 calendar) are available on the show’s website, where you can also pick up David Welker’s cool poster and T-shirt.

Along with HeadCount, the Mockingbird Foundation and Waterwheel Foundation will benefit from ticket and merchandise sales.

But it’s really all about immersing yourself in Phish-inspired visuals, a venerable tradition since the Charlatans band members Mike Ferguson and George Hunter drew “The Seed,” the first psychedelic rock-concert poster, in June 1965.