Prompted by a proposed Wal-Mart in the heart of Athens, Georgia, Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood teamed up with John Bell and Todd Nance of Widespread Panic, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and many more Athens-based musicians to protect the small businesses of their town. Their shared interest in keeping Wal-Mart out and supporting small businesses led the musicians to unite and create a powerful protest song: After It’s Gone.

The college town outside of Atlanta is home to the University of Georgia, as well as a small business district that thrives on the patronage of students, alumni and locals. The music video (featured below) highlights the areas that would be the most negatively affected by the proposed Wal-Mart and shopping center. The musicians, who recorded the song under the moniker “Patterson Hood and the Downtown 13”, hope that that the song will help bring the issue to the attention of the public.

“This Atlanta developer wants to clog our cultural heart and build a bunker the size of three city blocks next to the vibrant downtown scene,” said Hood in a press release “They hit the easy button: a big box store in our downtown district is clearly misguided and a somewhat ridiculous notion. Downtown Athens is a dynamic network of local businesses — Athens already has a meaningful brand and we are extremely protective of it.”

While the locals behind the cause are not opposed to any specific company, they are broadly opposed to developing the area, which they believe would detract from Athens’ vibrant downtown economy. "We don't need a big box retailer, the very definition of the past, to once again bring us back through that dark episode of closed down storefronts and empty parking lots" said Hood, "Protect Downtown Athens-- that's what this is all about."

Music and musicians have been at the heart of the Occupy movement. And while there may not be a single anthem that defines the cause; a notable, and badass artist who has used her voice to stand with the 99% is Amanda Palmer. The founding member of the Dresden Dolls has been performing impromptu ‘ninja gigs' all over the country including Oakland, Vancouver, New York, and in her hometown of Boston. Amanda uses social media outlets like Twitter (@amandapalmer) and her blog to share her travels and ultimately bring new faces to the movement. We got a chance to catch up with the ukulele cabaret punk who shared her thoughts on the power of music and her hopes for what the movement is really occupying in all of us.

What was your mission in playing at Occupy events?

Mostly to bring attention and awareness to the fact that it was happening. I generally do free, spontaneous outdoor shows (I call them "ninja gigs") everywhere I go, and since I had a tour coinciding with the start of the movement, it made sense to gather people at Occupy instead of a random local park. I like connecting the dots. A lot of my fans hadn't been to their city's Occupy site, and this was a good excuse to get them there to experience the site in person instead of just seeing footage on CNN. On top of that, I liked the idea that I could bring some random joy to the actual occupiers... like a traveling minstrel. I played music that was both geared towards the movement and played music that was totally irrelevant and simply entertaining... but that's not actually irrelevant, is it?

The Occupy movement has exploded all over the world. Since your travels to many of the occupation sites, what do you think is really at the heart of this movement?

People are discontent and this was a chance, an outlet, a platform from which to express their discontent. And yes, I think the Occupy movement has had an effect. It brought people together, it tightened communities, and it reminded a whole generation that democracy requires participation to function. If it only leaves a small wave in the ocean, that wave will hopefully grow to a tsunami when today's teenagers grow into tomorrow's leaders and recall the images of people trying to speaks their minds.

How did you see music play a role or place in the Occupy movement? 

I think music and protest are perfect bedfellows. Music can often get to to the emotional heart of a matter much more quickly than speaking, that's why songs are so powerful. Can you imagine the Vietnam War protests without the soundtrack provided by the generation of music-makers? Way more boring.

Do you think music has the power to cause real change?

What kind of change? I think music often changes people more than anything. Even if it's just for a moment. It's funny, I've been thinking lately what the world would look and feel like if music were suddenly removed from political TV ads, from commercials, from films? Imagine this clip about Occupy (my favorite) without the soundtrack. Music provides a bridge into the deeper parts of our emotional beings.

In your blog posts about your travels to the Occupy sites, you mentioned that “what was bizarre was how INCREDIBLY similar the feel of every occupation was; yet how different the energy was depending on the city.” Could you give an example of how the energy was different from place to place?

Oi vey. Sure. The energy at Occupy LA was slightly off-putting... Everywhere I turned people were getting pissed at each other. The main square was pumping techno and people were hula-hooping and playing soccer, but the vibe wasn't very...inclusive? I mean, in a way it was sort of cheerful, but it also just seemed like Burning Man had taken over a city block and people were just psyched for the party. Then again, my experience in all these places was based on an hour or so of walking around. Oakland had incredibly hard-working, peaceful energy around it. The energy in Boston was also very Boston-y, super-intellectual and slightly grumpy. The energy in Vancouver was stark ... A death by overdose had taken place there two days before.

What was single the most interesting thing you saw at Occupy?

i was definitely impressed by the vision of someone at Occupy Oakland providing ice cream en masse for the occupiers and the general public...  and for good measure, here's some beautiful graffiti at Occupy Vancouver: 

Some people think the movement is fading. What are your thoughts on that?  What do you think is (should be?) next for the movement, and the young activists involved?

My thoughts are that the movement will evolve. If it's fading, then it's fading and it's served whatever purpose it was supposed to serve. The real question is whether people will keep voicing their opinions without the romance and the drama of the tents and encampment. One of the best things I think could come of this is the opening of people's eyes to how they can take democracy into their OWN hands. On their own street. Maybe some barriers have been broken down and people will feel less reservations about helping their neighbors. I'd hope that's the case. If we're going to turn this system around, we have to go deep, to the root, and it means letting go of fear. Fear of helping each other. We're so disconnected from each other, and we've been convinced into it. We've all been raised by a culture that lead us to believe that to get ahead, we've got to step on the head of the person beneath us. And that's not really working, is it ...for anybody.

I have been pretty critical of the of the Occupy Wall Street movement. You can find my published thoughts on the topic here and here.
Standing outside the library the other night I was baffled as to why there were a bunch of helicopters hovering around my neighborhood. When I went inside and checked the news it was a bit unclear what was going on but it seemed like it had something to do with the occupy protesters. The news being unhelpful I went straight to twitter, immediately I was able to see the commotion was because thousands of occupy protesters were crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and assembling in Cadman Plaza Park. I did a double take; the bridge leads right past my school. In fact the park that the protesters were gathering in is across the street, I could see it from where I was sitting out the library window.

I'm in law school and certainly don't have free time to sit in a park with a bunch of protesters handing out free socialist news letters, calling for anarchy or even just to hold a sign with a cleaver slogan on it; so I haven’t made it down to Zuccotti Park. How could I pass up checking out a movement that I have been so critical of being across the street? I packed up my things in the library as quickly as I could and went home to get my camera and I was off. The closer and closer I got to the park the more and more cops I saw, many in riot gear. It seems that the cops in my neighborhood were ready for anything.

When I finally got there I happened upon a drum circle. The bane of  my existence. Nothing says don’t take me seriously like standing in a circle banging on a drum all day. But I have to say it created a festive mood as everyone was disembarking from the bridge on the path that leads into the park. People were laughing joking singing and chanting, waving flags, everyone was in high spirits. I took some pictures and then went on to the General Assembly meeting that the protesters were holding by the WWII monument in the park. A huge monumental structure straight out of lord of the rings, you know where there’s the statues of the giant kings, it’s kinda like that. (for a photo gallery of the night at SensibleReason.com click here)

The following video is one of many that I took that night. While many of the speakers are clearly on message some are not. Some of the "non leaders" leading the "leaderless" protest are addressing many of the same concerns that I have with the protest itself. They encourage the protesters to educate themselves. This of course is not a selfless call to bring people out of ignorance but the hope that when protesters are interviewed by the media, the movement can be portrayed as knowing what its fighting for. They encourage the protesters to clean up after themselves. An obvious reference to the mess left at Zuccotti Park after the protesters were cleared out. This video is unedited, I have a bunch more but this is the largest chunk I have of people speaking to the crowd. While I am still critical of OWS I do want many of the same things they want so I'll check back in at a later date and see where they are at that point. Please watch this video and make up your own mind about the protesters and the movement in general. This is the heart of movement, an open forum where anyone can speak about anything.

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When Roger McNamee and his band Moonalice play “American Dream Rag” at Occupy Wall Street protests, not everyone knows he’s one of Silicon Valley's most successful investors.

Here’s a 55-year old, long- haired guy singing “They took everything we have, but we don’t cry/We can’t afford to drink, but we still get high.”

Would anyone guess that he’s Bill Gates’ self described “sounding board”? Or that he’s an early investor in Facebook? Or manages $1.9 billion in investments with an Irish partner… named Bono?

But the truth is that McNamee, who has spent the last 30 years helping to build technology companies in Silicon Valley, is firmly on the side of the occupiers.

“The country has been stolen,” says McNamee bluntly. “I expect to be involved in getting it back for the rest of my life.”

The Facebook page for his band Moonalice includes posters created for Occupy Wall Street by the band’s artists, including Chuck Sperry and Chris Shaw. McNamee has also appeared on CNBC’s news show “SquawkBox,” explaining to individual investors why they should support Occupy and debunking false reports about the movement.

On the evening when 10,000 protesters flooded the streets of Oakland, he shared his thoughts with us…

On what really happens on Wall Street:

I have been angry about this way longer than Occupy has existed. My first boss told me that “Wall Street is not the world’s highest calling,” but it wasn’t a bad place until the past decade. Irresponsible deregulation combined with unbridled greed has broken the back of our economy. And no one has been held accountable.

On his unique perspective:

I really know Wall Street. At one time my firm was an investor in the technology system that makes NASDAQ work. It wasn’t designed to rip people off, but it’s being used that way now.

On how he came to write “American Dream Rag”:

Somehow we wound up with a two-tiered legal system, where there is frequently no consequence for rich people who do horrible things. Wall Street has been increasingly dishonest for a decade. Wall Street was never an angel, but until recently it also wasn’t the devil. Every step of the way it has been aided and abetted by our government. And the press slept through the whole thing. When none of the major banks had been prosecuted by 2009, I took matters into my own hands and wrote this song in 2009.

His visits to Occupy Wall Street:

I’ve visited Occupies in several towns. My favorite was Philadelphia. I was there on the day they launched it. 500 people who showed up... watching them organizing themselves was a thing of beauty. I loved the simplicity of it. The fact that there was no political agenda. There isn’t any magic to it. It is the American Spring. It is analogous to the Arab Spring . . . and based on the same issues. After all, our income has become as unevenly distributed as Saudi Arabia. This is so disappointing.

Getting caught in a police parade:

In New York, Moonalice had the most amazing experience. We went down in the rain and played the song a bunch of times at Zuccotti. The next day we were scheduled to play a gig at BB King’s, which is a club on the edge of Times Square. It happened to be the day of Occupy Times Square. We didn’t really know it, but the demonstration went right past our hotel. We boarded our bus to go to the gig, and only got around the block when police stopped us at an intersection. While we waited, 8 or 10 paddy wagons turned onto Broadway in front of us. Our bus went up Broadway behind the paddy wagons. They were pushing traffic onto side streets, so our bus was the only civilian vehicle going up Broadway. Next thing you know, we are in the heart of the demonstration. That’s when we began tooting the bus horn. At first the crowd didn’t react, but pretty quickly they figured out we were on their side. That’s when the crowd went CRAZY. We took a really funny video of it. Big Steve Parish, who was Jerry Garcia’s roadie, was convinced we were going to get arrested. I tried to calm down by pointing out the irony of me getting arrested for supporting Occupy.

On New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s comments that Congress, not the banks, is responsible for the financial mess:

He knows it’s not true. There is no question that the government played a huge rule in enabling everything that happened, but the notion that the banks are not responsible is just crazy. The sub-prime market is not the portion of the market that Fannie and Freddie [Mac] were doing. Nearly all sub-prime loans were made by commercial banks.

How this was all inevitable:

History is very clear that when an economy sustains unemployment around 20%, social unrest is an inevitable consequence. The official U.S. unemployment rate is 9%, but an equivalent number of people are either underemployed or have given up looking. More important, America is no longer a land of equal opportunity. A handful of industries have paid for the right to set their own government policy. This has produced a huge change in the distribution of wealth in this country, entirely at the expense of the middle class.

The ‘brilliance’ of OWS:

What Occupy is doing is merely leaning against any obstruction put in its path. So the organization system is really nothing more than that. And therein lies its brilliance.

About the future of Occupy:

When Occupy started, our country was buried in a ridiculous national conversation. One party had pushed our country to the brink of insolvency and was arguing that $10 in spending cuts was not enough to justify one dollar of tax increases. Then Occupy began. Within a month, the national conversation had changed completely. We’re now talking about the right issues: jobs, income distribution, the failure of government, and the limits of capitalism.

The vast majority of Americans support Occupy on the issues, even if some are ambivalent about tents in parks. My hope is that the movement has grown beyond -- and is no longer dependent on -- what happens in city parks.

About the attempts to eradicate Occupy:

There is a story going around that the Department of Homeland Security may have organized a conference call with more than a dozen big city mayors to coordinate the eradication of Occupy camps. If that story proves to be true, U.S. government will find itself in the position of behaving like the dictators we have worked so hard to eliminate. The First Amendment guarantees Americans’ right to peaceful assembly. Unfortunately, mayors and police officers in several major cities seem to have forgotten.

Occupy is not a political movement. It is a protest against overreaching by businesses and the government, which means the more the government behaves like Syria, the bigger the protest will become.

The status quo is bad for America. It’s going to change. It will change peacefully unless the government chooses a different path. I hope our leaders will wake up and engage in a thoughtful discussion about the issues being raised by Occupy.

The dawn raid on Occupy Wall Street Tuesday morning left New York City protesters angry and distraught, as well as "homeless" as hundreds of police officers evicted occupiers from Zuccotti Park. The NYPD piled all of the protesters belongings and threw them in the back of garbage trucks, claiming the protesters could pick them up later. This was after police in riot gear had forced the protesters out of the park, apparently injuring a City Council member in the process. A number of journalists also claimed to have been roughed up by the police in an attempt to keep the press from getting in to the park.

In an interesting twist to the whole thing, Jambands.com reports that a certain famous musician was one of the first people to call attention to the impending police raid:

As it turns out, Roots drummer—and active Twitter expert—Questlove was one of the first people to warn the protesters. Before midnight, the drummer—who lives in downtown New York—tweeted at Occupy Wall Street, “Omg, drivin down south st near #ows. Somethin bout to go down yo, swear I counted 1000 riot gear cops bout to pull sneak attack #carefulyall” He then reiterated, “im the only one talking cause sneak attacks aren’t planned. i drove past a soul train line of riot cops” and persisted by saying, “ok once again. South St in NYC. blocks from #OWS. saw a GANG (like at least 500+ geared up) standing in line gettin ready for somethin.”

Occupy Wall Street’s twitter team seemed to shrug off Questlove’s warnings by writing back, “Shift change as per usual? RTDiceyTroop: mcduh @questlove all quiet at the Park. What did you see questo? Maybe Batman stuff?” Less than an hour later, the park was raided and several protesters and journalists were arrested. Occupy Wall Street has since moved its headquarters to nearby Foley Square nearby Zuccotti Park.

Protesters have camped in Zuccotti Park for 60 days. In that time, Crosby & Nash, Joan Baez, Fitz and The Tantrums, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Jeff Mangum and countless other musicians have played protests in New York alone.

In any event, the eviction now leaves the future of the Zuccotti Park encampment up in the air. City officials have claimed that protesters will eventually be allowed to return to the park, though they will not be allowed to bring their tents, tarps and other items. However, as of this morning, a New York Supreme Court judge has ruled that the protesters must be allowed back in to the park and that the city has no right to keep them from setting up tents and other equipment. Mayor Bloomberg has said that the park will continue to be closed until the legal situation can be resolved.

Tom Hamilton of the bands Brothers Past and American Babies has been hitting Occupy Philly since the movement started. American Babies even performed there. Hamilton sat down with a HeadCount blogger to talk about Occupy and what inspired him to get involved - primarily, he says, the it was the fact that so many of his friends can't find jobs. (for more, check out  Part 2 of the interview here on Sensible Reason, where he discusses  Brothers Past, the new American Babies album, and why he supports HeadCount)

Tom, you’ve been a supporter of the Occupy movement since its early stages. How does it make you feel that the protests have spread not just around the country but also around the world?

I think it's awesome, I think it’s a great thing. In theory, at least right now, it’s a great thing. There isn’t a clearly defined message yet, which kind of … you have this thing rising up everywhere but it's not quite unified. Everybody is just pissy, but everyone is not pissy about the same thing. I’m hoping that it starts to come to a head, sharpen the point, and to get behind the same message. Obviously Occupy Wall Street has a pretty definitive thing. For starters there’s the 1% vs. 99%. You know, getting corporate money out of our politics or letting our politicians govern instead of playing politics. Which is what I totally believe, which is why I’m such a fan of the movement. It’s exactly what I feel and what I want to happen.

But it’s not necessarily that same message everywhere. Even on Wall Street it's not that same message everywhere. Everybody has their pet cause. Down here in Philly it's pretty fractured still. You have people that are talking about the original message to people that are there because they want marijuana legalization. And it's like, “I get it but let's keep our eye on the prize here." It's going to be interesting to see how it goes. I think it needs to become something more focused and get more powerful and make a statement that actually affects what’s going on, that actually affects policy, affects politics.

So you’ve said you have been almost a constant presence down at the Occupy Philly movement. What are you personal grievances, what are you down there for?

Well fortunately I'm a musician and I can still find work wherever we can find it. But that being said, I have a lot of friends. Most of my friends aren’t musicians and are collecting unemployment. Not because they are lazy people who want to live off the government, but because they can't find a goddamn job. It's an awful thing to see people you’ve known your whole life struggling. You know people with law degrees waiting tables, electricians and contractors, they can't find any work doing anything. And it’s a goddamn shame. And I like to be there [Occupy Philly] and be supportive for all of the people that are in these situations. That are on unemployment. These people just can't find work because there are no jobs. For the people that lost everything when the economy collapsed. It's awful, it's infuriating. You know when this whole thing started in '08 I was paying very close attention to what was going on and seeing it affect my friends and family. Most of the new American Babies album is written about this stuff and for these people. So I feel like if I’m going to be writing about this stuff and using it in my career and trying to be a voice for these people, I should be down there with the movement. Showing solidarity and putting my instrument where my mouth is.

Do you have any concrete ideas to address these issues or do you think it should be left to the policy makers who are there right now to come up with solutions?

Well, everybody has an idea. But I feel that within the movement what people should be doing is educating each other. I feel like a lot of people are angry and upset about what’s going on, but they are not completely informed as to why they are where they are, why things happened and how it got to where it is. Within the occupation they should be educating everybody on what the banks did, what Wall Street did, how the government bailout affected them. To give them a very real understanding of what’s happening. I also feel there should be something set up at the occupation where people can go and tell them where they live and somebody give them the phone number, the email, the Twitter, and every kind of contact information they can for their representative. So they can write them or call them and tell them, "I’m your constituent, I’m who you're working for and I want you to govern. I don’t want you to sit there and just play politics and go golfing." There’s more than one way to go about protesting. You know, while you're out there having civil unrest you can also work within the system to try and change it. And I feel like that should be happening.

So I’m wondering, what does “constant presence” and involvement mean. What have you actually been doing while you’ve been down at the protest? Just talking to people, holding a sign…

Yeah I’m always just talking to people. To see why they are there, to see what they think is going on, how long they’ve been there, where they are from. Just trying to get to know people, their stories. And inherently that always leads to conversations about what do they think should be going on and what do they think about what’s happening. Just talking and finding out their situations. As I’m talking to people I’m telling them things they don’t know and other people are telling me things I don’t know. It’s a great learning experience in that way.

One of my really close friends is a comedian and has a radio show that we do down here in Philadelphia called The Panic Hour. We play music, but he’s a comedian so it’s a comedy thing. It's basically me and him and 3 or 4 other people. Before the occupation it would be a weekly thing where we would sit around and in a pretty light way just talk about the news and what’s going on in the world. The range of the people on the show go from extreme conspiracy theorist to more rational people. So it's basically just a pissing match between all of us and we just sit around and bust each others' balls and talk about politics and the world and whatever. His name is N. A. Poe and he’s in charge of the media branch of Occupy Philly. He’s been living there since day one. And so when I am there that’s who I’m with; I’m in the media pen a lot. He goes around and interviews everybody he can find from random people that are down there for the right reasons to people that are obviously there for the wrong reasons. Like the trust fund kid with dreads that wants to just smoke pot and play in the drum circle. We interviewed the previous mayor of Philly when he was down there, the chief of police; we kind of run the gamut. It's looking at what’s going on, interviewing people and getting information out there. But we don’t have an agenda, like I said there’s everyone down there. There’s hippies, there's anarchists, there’s all of these people down there that have their own agenda and they are always pushing things one way or the other. My buddy N. A. Poe, he’s just a comedian, but also really believes in this thing that’s going on as much as I do. We’re trying to get the message out, get that content out, because the press isn’t reporting on it. So we’re going to get it out there and make it unbiased. You know, what the media is supposed to be doing, but also funny at the same time. You can check out the hundreds of interviews he’s done on his YouTube channel, which has gotten a huge number of hits so far. And I think it's because he’s just telling it how it is and being an unfiltered voice. That’s why I like being down there. Just trying to help as much as we can. And do things the way we feel is the right way.

Do you think the real problem is Wall Street and big business or do you think the real problem is the politicians and bureaucrats who regulate them?

Or don’t regulate is another way to say that. For me it's lobbyists really. I feel like that’s the problem, big business gets lobbyists into D.C. and there are all of these backroom deals being cut. And that's not the way its supposed to go. Even as the 99%, we don’t have lobbyists. We can't afford lobbyists. This is about lobbyists, that’s not what the government should be about. It's supposed to be about “we the people” and what we want. And that’s what should be going on, what's in the best interest of the country and the best interest of its citizens. And if you have been paying attention to what’s going on in Congress and the Senate right now you know that nothing’s going on, nothing's happening. Because there’s this fucking mandate that the right has put out that says that nothing that comes from the left -- especially the president -- goes through. And it has nothing to do with Americans. And has everything to do with some pissing match that’s going on in D.C. And we're suffering for it, and a bunch of guys [are] sitting there measuring their dicks, and it's like “hey man, that’s not governing.”

Is there a politician that you support that you think can get American where it needs to be? Or at least someone that has ideas that you agree with?

It's not something that a politician can fix. That’s not the solution. It's not a person, it’s the system itself is cracked right now. Some will say broken. And as for who I personally support politically, I'd really rather not say. I don’t think that that really matters. The system is what’s wrong. And that’s what needs to be addressed.

One of your projects, American Babies, performed at the Occupy Philly protest. How did it make you feel to “entertain the troops?"

It was an absolute honor. And that’s exactly how I looked at it, as entertaining the troops. These people are down there freezing, getting rained on, getting snowed on. They put themselves out of their comfortable homes into this situation, to try to make a difference and change things for all of us. The least I can do is strum a guitar and make them smile and dance for an hour.

Part 2 of the interview continues here on SensibleReason.com

Last week, I went to a Beats Antique show and it was amazing to listen to them bang on marching band drums and shout out support for ‘Occupy Wall Street.’ Everyone was dancing on this wild wave of energy.

The very next day,  Beats Antique stopped by the office that HeadCount shares with Relix Magazine to play a rooftop set (how cool is that?). So when they stopped by the office, we talked about the experience of musicians and fans moving each other to unity. Before I walked away, I blurted out “Look out for us at Occupy Wall Street! We are going to make the music community into an unstoppable force!"

The following night, I headed downtown with another HeadCount intern, and we hit the square with registration forms and clipboards.

As we approached Zuccotti park, I began to wonder “How does voter registration inspire a movement?"

I spotted some young men, surrounded by incense and playing guitars. I thought that they would totally understand HeadCount. I approached one of them and said, “Are you a musician? You should really check out HeadCount! We do voter registration at concerts.” But, this group of Nag Champa lovers ended up being self proclaimed Anarchists who didn’t believe in any form of government.

Next up, I found a circle of people who were passing the time by spitting rhymes and rolling cigarettes. -- Let’s try this again! -- But they were not impressed. The group talked about their disappointments in Obama and how corporations can buy both parties and “this is nothing new and it won’t ever change.”

I felt defeated; I was thinking that voting was the key to people gaining power, but many protesters expressed their distrust in the electoral process and frustrations about corporate money tied to the government.

As we continued though, we did find people who were excited to hear more about HeadCount and wanted to register to vote. In a couple of hours, two of us registered as many people as we would at an average concert. I met a lot of young people who had just turned 18 and were ready to find out how they could vote in local and federal elections. I met one man who came all the way from California to encourage people to take a pledge to not vote for any politician who took corporate donations.

One of the most interesting and inspiring people I met was a woman named Saima who moved to the States from Nigeria with her family last year. I asked her what she thought of Occupy Wall Street.  She said that she was experiencing true freedom by being part of the protest. She also told me that in her home country, it is dangerous and hard to vote but people are determined to get to the ballot box. She said, “I have hope. With my hope, I vote for leaders that want changes.”

I ended up taking her to the other side of Liberty Square to show her the drum circle and we danced around. I too was experiencing "true freedom," seeing everyone’s spirits high again because of the music. I realized that HeadCount could be a bridge that brings the power within Occupy Wall Street into the broader context of policy and culture in this nation. Both HeadCount and Occupy Wall Street are about engaging in conversations that create solidarity, promote action and produce innovations to change our current circumstances.

The experience was so much more than getting people to register to vote. I know that what I was really doing was starting conversations with people that I might never have met otherwise, and that is the essence of a real movement.

Since the trip to ‘Occupy Wall Street’, I can see that HeadCount is about more than just voter registration or letters to congress. Whether I'm at a concert or a protest, my work for HeadCount is about engaging people and exploring our power to dance to the beat of a new future.

Protest songs have had a place in America’s political tradition for some time.  From the pro-Labor folk songs of the Depression era to the anti-war ballads of the 1960’s and 70’s, various movements have used music as a means of highlighting perceived injustices. Occupy Wall Street is no different. As anyone whose spent time at Liberty Plaza knows, brass bands, drum circles and other forms of musical expression have become commonplace at the protests.

Now, a musician by the name of Scott Sier has created a Facebook page dedicated to showcasing protest songs for the new generation. His page, Occupy Wall Street Protest Songs, features a number of tracks with themes relevant to the emerging movement. There are songs with more traditional roots, such as “We Are the Working Poor” by the Tin Bird Choir, reggae/hip-hop anthems like The Roaring’s “Finally Here” and some good ole punk rock tunes like Burnaby Leather’s “I’m Not Your Slave” to get your blood boiling. Never heard of them? That's part of the idea. Just as Occupy Wall Street aims to give voice to the anonymous masses, the song page aims to connect obscure protest hymns with an emotionally available audience.

To date, the page hasn't exactly caught on. But Sier has been working digital channels in search of fans and media outlets who will take notice

“Now more then ever, we need to bring to light the problems we face as a nation,” says Sier, “By creating this music page, I hope to bring together musicians and music fans from across the globe to share their concerns and ideas on how to create a more sustainable and peaceful future.”

Occupy Wall Street Protest Songs has a presence on Soundcloud and Twitter as well. The SoundCloud page is particularly useful because it allows more songs to be streamed than on the Facebook, and people can upload their own songs. As of Tuesday, 30 different people have contributed 58 tracks.

This 21st century approach is a far cry from the truck beds that doubled as stages for the protest songwriters of the Depression era, when driving from town to town was the best way to spread their message.

While numerous celebrity musicians have already come out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, so far none of them have written any songs on the subject. Many in the movement would say that they don’t need famous people to do their singing for them. The Occupy Wall Street Protest Song Page shows that the 99% are capable of doing that themselves.

On September 21, Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed following a 1991 conviction for murdering a Georgia police officer. Sounds like a particularly heinous crime; however, this conviction was based on witness testimony loaded with inconsistent recollections of the events. There has never been any physical evidence to implicate him, and now, seven of the nine original witnesses have recanted their testimony citing police coercion.

Oddly enough, the only two who stand by their original statements are police officers. Meanwhile, Sylvester Coles -- a participant in the original skirmish who was the first to accuse Davis -- has been implicated as the killer by nine people in signed affidavits.

All of this doesn’t mean Davis is innocent. In fact, Amnesty International doesn’t say that he is - only that serious doubt to his guilt remains. And many people feel that any time there is serious doubt, the death penalty should be off the table.

With the clock ticking, people all over America and around the world  are asking the Georgia parole board to consider the case and halt the execution, including more than half a million Change.org petition signers, Pope Benedict XVI, President Jimmy Carter and the NAACP.

The band State Radio is offering a free download of a song called "Ode to Troy" on a website where you can sign an Amnesty International petition.

Davis supporters are even calling on Obama to speak out in favor of a stay of execution. But as in every human rights issue, politics is certain to play a role. This is a racially-charged case involving a black man accused and convicted of shooting a white police officer.

The clock is ticking.

For those that were there, the four night Umphrey's McGee run was about more than just mind-blowingly amazing music. It was about the community. What the Brooklyn Bowl gave us last week was not just eight amazing sets and six amazing encores of a band we love - they gave us a chance to feel a part of something and to feel at home in their venue and bowling hall.

Don't get me wrong - the music didn't hurt either. From the surprise Bobby appearance, to hearing "Nipple Trix > Booth Love > Miss Tinkle's Overture" right off the bat on Thursday, to the unbelievable electronic jam of "The Triple Wide" on Tuesday night, to the Divisions reprise on Friday and then the sing-along enthusiasm of "Front Porch" to end it all - it was a dream come true for lovers of Umphrey's McGee, live music, and jams.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a huge Umphrey's fan and the very thought of a 4-night run was enough to put me in a good mood for the entire month of September, but I really felt something real was happening there those four nights. I had just moved down to New York City from Boston on September 3rd, and decided to take on the task of leading HeadCount's teams at every night of last week's run. By Friday night, I felt like a part of the city and a part of this music community in New York. Seeing and talking with the people who were there every night created a sense of community and friendship that made the Brooklyn Bowl feel like more than just another venue - but like the familiar meeting place of you and 1,000 of your closest friends. Being able to say "goodnight, see you for the show tomorrow!" put a smile on my face and connected me to the community that I was a stranger to only days before.

Even the band members could be seen walking around the venue: chilling out eating fried chicken and drinking Brooklyn Lager at the restaurant, chatting up Pete Shapiro and the rest of the Brooklyn Bowl staff, and even visiting the non-profit tables and taking the opportunity to talk to volunteers and get to know what we were doing (drummer Kris chatted with HeadCount on Wednesday before the show and even answered our community question).

Which brings me to my next point - what these four nights of Umphrey McGee showed me is that our music community is something real. It's filled with good people who all have good things to say and who bring good things to the table other than their mutual love for live music. I know this because I spoke with so many of you over these past four nights, and know all the amazing things you have to offer.

This is why HeadCount is here. To mobilize the music community and give a voice to a live music force that deserves to be heard. For me, realizing that and seeing it in action was the ultimate highlight of Brooklyn's four-night run of Umphrey's McGee.