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."

"Should Herman Cain end Presidential Bid"   "Cain Reconsidering Campaign After Affair Allegation"   "Is Herman Cain Running a Zombie Candidacy"

Headlines like this are running in newspapers, magazines and websites across the country in light of new allegations that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain carried on an extramarital affair for 13 years. The former Godfather's Pizza CEO's poll numbers are down significantly from their peak in late October, and the media has more or less given up on him. Cain has announced that he will reassess his campaign and a number of analysts are saying that he could drop out of the race as soon as next week.

This an interesting situation and I think most would agree that Cain no longer has a chance of getting the Republican nomination. The only question I have is: Why now? If sexual misconduct is enough to end a presidential bid then why is it that allegations of a consensual, seemingly affectionate, and completely legal relationship are what finally puts the nail in the coffin. Why wasn't Cain's campaign declared dead in the water weeks ago, when multiple women accused him of making unsolicited and very much illegal sexual advances.

It's a strange state of affairs in this country when allegations of sexual harassment have barely any effect on a presidential candidate's overall poll numbers. Yet this is exactly what happened after Herman Cain was accused of sexual harassment by four women at the beginning of November. A CBS News poll released just days after those accusations came to light still had Cain as the front-runner for the Republican nomination, and an ABC News/Washington Post poll from the same time period had him only one point behind Mitt Romney. However a more recent poll, released in the aftermath of the new extramarital affair allegation, has Herman Cain trailing the newest Republican front-runner by a very wide margin. Which brings me to my final point.

That newest Republican front-runner is none other than Newt Gingrich. Remember him? The same guy who left his cancer-stricken wife for his mistress, only to later leave his mistress-turned-wife for a new mistress after spending the better part of a year self-righteously attacking Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. With Herman Cain all but out of the race, the GOP has thrown its support behind the only candidate with even more extramarital affairs under his belt. Does anyone still wonder why confidence in our political system is reaching new lows?

I'm proud to say I'm a new fall intern at HeadCount. But before I even began the internship, the first thing HeadCount asked me to do was work the booth at this year’s moe.down Festival in Mo(e)hawk, NY. To be honest, I didn’t know much about moe. but I do like to get down so I accepted the task immediately. In the few days leading up to the moe.down I made it a point to let my roommate know that I’d be spending the weekend at an awesome festival while he sat around the apartment playing video games and watching Sportscenter. Fortunately for him, a spot opened up at the last minute and he was able to come too. Oh well, there goes my bragging rights.

We arrived at moe.down a day before the festival opened and camped out with the vendors and pre-festival volunteers. I liked this aspect of working with HeadCount a lot because it allowed me to see a side of a music festival that I never really get to experience. All of the vendors were really chill, nice people and some of the volunteers went out of their way to find a flashlight for us when we tried to set up our tent in the dark. However the best part of vendor camping (aside from the prime location in relation to the festival grounds) was the special vendor porta-potty, complete with flushing capabilities. Yes, you read that correctly. A porta-potty that flushes. Somewhere out there, pigs are flying.

One of the first things I noticed about moe.down was the lack of any electronic music on the lineup. I’m a big fan of the daytime jam/late night electric festival combo, but it was good to see that there are still festivals out there for people who don’t want to spend all night trying to sleep through an incessant barrage of womps. Once the festivalgoers showed up, the lack of any electronic music on the lineup made complete sense. The moe.down crowd was a bit older than any of the festivals I’ve been too, except for maybe the New Orleans Jazzfest. An older crowd isn’t a problem at all unless, of course, you’re trying explain the rules of a Facebook Photo Competition (“You know, Facebook. That thing on the internet from that movie written by the dude who used to do The West Wing.”) (I'm exaggerating a little. We got a ton of great pics!)

All in all the experience at moe.down was terrific. I met some really cool people and really got to see HeadCount in action. My favorite part of working with HeadCount was probably getting to hear how people responded to one question on our Fan DNA Poll about what their first concert was. Winners: 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Losers: the 15 or so people who said New Kids on the Block.

In any case, my time at moe.down gave me a better appreciation for what HeadCount does and got me really excited about the internship I'm starting. I'm pretty sure this is the only internship ever that started with a flushing porta-potty campout and three days of rock n' roll!

Electric Forest was - as Kevin Smith would say - a big bucket of win. It was also a sort of homecoming for me. Rothbury 2008 was not only my first camping music festival, but also my first interaction with a well known voter registration organization by the name of HeadCount. I was hangin' out in the forest on a Saturday afternoon when a volunteer asked if i was registered to vote. I replied "Yeah, but what are you doing here?" He explained the organization and a couple years later I was interning at the HeadCount office in New York and another year later I am on the road returning from the very site that sparked my interest. The whole weekend I was on the lookout for the next me. Who knows? Perhaps I planted a seed.

The weekend started off without a hitch. We arrived early enough to beat the rush of traffic and got excellent camping spots. We even had time to make a Wal-mart run to purchase a healthy amount of Dunkaroos and water. I need to add, those Dunkaroos created quite a stir at the campsite, since not a single person, myself included, had seen a package of Dunkaroos since they were in our  paper lunch bags in the 2nd grade.

Some people said six sets of String Cheese was a bit much but in my opinion it wasn't enough. String Cheese was definitely the highlight of the weekend with the always goofy and fun "JellyFish" and a great Talking Heads cover. A few other acts did stand out, like Conspirator which featured a sit in by Adam Deitch and Darren Sheerer from the New Deal.

Not only was the music great but the HeadCount booth was chock full of interested people most of the day. Perhaps it was the signed Electric Forest poster we were raffling or genuine intereest in democracy. Either way, we talked to a lot of people who seem ready to hit the polls with a vengeance.

Well, I'm now on my way to Camp Bisco. Hope to see you there.

[Editor's Note: What Chris neglected to mention is that he lost the key to the HeadCount rental van, had AAA tow him to a nearby Chrysler dealer, and spent July 4th in Muskegon, MI waiting for it to open. Kudos to his co-pilot Liz O'Donnell, for not killing him.]

I'm only 22, so in my mind, marriage is a long way off. It's something that I don't even want to think about at this moment in my life. But last week, when the New York State Assembly voted for a bill that would legalize gay marriage, I caught myself dwelling on the topic.

In high school I never thought it would even be a possibility. A civil union? Sure, but a technicality put in place for tax reasons is not something that one romanticizes as a teen, or really ever.

It's hard to say how fundamentally the legalization of gay marriage can change the game for the LGBT community of my generation, a group of people who -- for the most part -- have not been an active part of "the" community at all.

Growing up in the fairly liberal northeast I never sought the protection or camaraderie of a specifically gay community. In high school or college, I just never felt the need. For most of my adult life I have enjoyed the company of heterosexual males, who never gave my preferences a second thought, so I never did either. The music scene, particularly the jam community, provided an environment that allowed me to feel more comfortable in public with who I am.

I never felt strongly about the issue of gay marriage in the past but perhaps it was because I was too young to understand its implications. Even as recently as a year ago, I would have said education was a higher legislative priority than gay rights. I never really felt discriminated against or as if I were being denied rights. So I thought "what's the big deal?" I figured this was a battle for someone else.

And now, watching the successes of the gay rights activists, I regret not being a part of the push to make it happen. This comes from the efforts of a pervious generation. I get to reap the benefits even though I can't claim any of the credit.

My generation has lived lives unlike any other. Our formative years were shaped by the tragedies of 9/11 and when we finally came of age we elected a biracial president. I think we see this accomplishment as something uniquely our own. On the other hand, the absence of interpersonal prejudices within my generation blinded us to the ongoing injustices of our times.

So as we sit on the precipice of history being made in New York, I want to say "Thank you": Thank you to Governor Andrew Cuomo who made this a priority. Thank you to the Republican state Senators who just said "fuck it" and crossed party and ideological lines to say they'll vote for the bill when it comes to them for a vote. Thank you to the gay rights activists in the 60's who -- in the name of equality -- got their heads smashed in or arrested, or those who endured ridicule and scorn from an unforgiving public, decade after decade.

You have provided a gift that was literally beyond anything I ever imagined.

Stand anywhere at Bonnaroo, and hundreds, maybe thousands, of faces will whiz by. Ever wonder who they are, or what they’re thinking? It’s hard not to.

So this year HeadCount went to Manchester, TN with a mission: to find out who goes to Bonnaroo and what’s on their minds. Having a deeper conversation with the music community is kind of our theme right now. It started with the Fan DNA Project, a poll about music and politics that debuted at the Hangout Festival.

Then, we took it to another level with the “Signs of the Times” photo contest, where fans and artists pose for photos holding a personal sign.

So what did we find out? Well, first the photos. We found out that Bonnaroo is full of creative, conscious and funny people. Over 500 created a sign and stepped into our photo booth. The albums can be seen on our Facebook page, and whoever’s photo gets the most 'likes' will win a pair of VIP tix to next year’s B’roo.

If you have a few minutes to spend on Facebook (oh, no, not you!), I recommend just scrolling through one of the albums. It’s a wild ride through humanity. A Rorschach Test of the young American psyche.

Over a dozen musicians also posed with signs – Warren Haynes, G. Love, members of Mumford and Sons, My Morning Jacket, Freelance Whales and SCI, Eric Krasno, Ben Sollee, Chiddy, Bruce Hornsby, Nicole Atkins to name just a few. None was as poignant as STS9’s Dave Murphy. Just months after surviving highly invasive cancer surgery, Murph wrote “Life Inspires Me.”

So what about the Fan DNA poll? 850 B’rooers answered a series of questions about music, politics and the comingling of the two.

It seems that compared to Hangout attendees, Bonnarooers see a lot less live music and are more likely to be Democrats, but are pretty similar in almost every other regard.

Here's what we found out (with comparisons to Hangout listed in parenthesis) ...

FAN DNA POLL OF 850 BONNAROO ATTENDEES (compared to Hangout festival)

How many concerts do you see a year?
• 1-4 – 46% (27%)
• 5-10 – 31% (25%)
• 11-25 – 12% (24%)
• more than 25 - 11% (24%)
When acquiring new music, which do you do MOST often?
• Buy mp3s online – 29% (27%)
• Get live shows from friends – 6% (23%)
• Buy physical copies (CDs/Vinyl) – 21% (17%)
• Let's just say I don't pay for it – 44% (33%)
Do you consider yourself a:
• Republican – 14% (25%)
• Democrat – 44% (18%)
• Libertarian – 11% (15%)
• Independent – 16% (25%)
• None of those – 17% (17%)
What do you think about the state of America today?
• It’s not so bad – 9% (15%)
• We've got problems, but what can we do? 15%(19%)
• It's messed up and we better do something – 69% (65%)
• I don’t really think about it – 7% (1%)
How do you feel when a musician supports a cause or speaks out?
• It inspires me to take action – 45% (53%)
• I think it’s cool, but I don’t take action – 44% (34%)
• No impact. I ignore it. – 7% (9%)
• It annoys me 4% (4%)
Which issue(s) do you care about most?
• Sustainability and climate change – 31% (22%)
• Personal liberty – 23% (39%)
• Human rights – 39% (45%)
• Food and farm policy – 14% (15%)
• Gulf coast recovery – 7% (8%)
• Education reform – 24% (21%)
How often do you “Like” or “Re-tweet” something related to politics?
• Almost every day – 14% (10%)
• Once a week – 21% (20%)
• Once a month – 15% (11%)
• A few times a year – 10% (8%)
• Rarely or never – 40% (50%)
What should be the government’s HIGHEST Priority? (New Question)
• Fighting for equality – 14%
• Investing in the future and education – 48%
• Meeting in the middle and compromising – 18%
• Cutting taxes - 8%
• Reducing the size of government – 12%
What headliner are you most excited to see?
• Arcade Fire – 30%
• Eminem – 19%
• The Strokes – 7%
• Widespread Panic - 9%
• Other – 32%

The "Signs of the Times" photo contest will be at another dozen festivals this summer, and the Fan DNA Project will be at every concert or festival we're at. So please stop by our tables, and let us know what you're all about.

Binghamtronica, the charity benefit festival to raise money for organizations Oxfam Japan and HeadCount.org, was a success, to say the very least.

I was told that as a first time promoter it would be near impossible to post a profit on a benefit concert. Not only did we manage to do just that, the concert also succeeded at entertaining each and every participant. Sure, we faced a few challenges on the day of the show, but overall, the night went off with a bang.

The evening kicked off with local electronica sensation SOLARiS opening up the night with unbelievable energy. They even busted out a crowd pleasing version of “Linus and Lucy,” the Peanuts/Charlie Brown theme song. Next up was Binghamtronica veteran Horizon Wireless, who not only came prepped with heavy beats and powerful breakdowns, but was also accompanied by the well-respected drummer of the band Digi Front, Sol Montoya. Montoya’s tight drumming and relentless intensity combined with Horizon’s beats made the set unforgettable. Then, synth master Jeff Bujak tore it up on stage and from what I witnessed, surprised a few concert goers who were previously unfamiliar with his work. InK Line, a popular DJ amongst Binghamton students, played only the set break for Brothers Past, but laid down the darkest, most bass-heavy set of the night to a full room of party goers who were raging their hardest by then.

Brothers Past, the night’s headliner, was fantastic. The Philly-based Jamtronica band's first set was tight – a memorable hour plus – to say the least. Unfortunately, due to time constraints their second set was replaced with a double encore. By this point in the evening I finally decided to just let loose and enjoy the fruits of my, and many other individuals’. labor. After months of planning, patience and more planning, it became apparent to my co-coordinator Kristen and I that the last thing being demanded of us was to finally enjoy ourselves. For the second encore she decided to climb onto the stage and dance with Brothers Past, only to pull me up a few seconds later. For the last song of the night, the two people who put on the show were part of the show and we partied on stage hyping up the crowd to a fever pitch.

Through tickets sales and the generosity of our vendors, we netted several thousand dollars for Oxfam and HeadCount, while also raising awareness about the two nonprofits. Now a large portion of the Binghamton community and the university population is well-aware of what HeadCount and Oxfam do.

But the fundraising isn’t done yet. The artist collective trifectopaint performed a live painting at the event and it is currently on sale. Proceeds from its sale will be donated to Oxfam Japan and HeadCount, making Binghamtronica all the more successful.

Like many citizens, I’ve been peripherally keeping my eye on the national movement for Voter ID laws but haven’t been too concerned.  What about our budget crises? Government shutdown?  Libya?

In recent weeks, however, I have started to pay more attention in North Carolina because I read the proposed NC House Bill 351 (S352).  This law would immediately disenfranchise nearly half a million active lifelong voters in North Carolina, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of inactive or new voters.

Notably, the bill would drastically affect one of my favorite parts of registering voters with HeadCount … signing up 17-year-olds who will be 18 “on or before election day.”  I have countless wonderful memories over the past 7 years of registering voters in this category for the first time when they were at concerts with their parents.

In addition to eliminating registration of eager 17 year olds, the proposed bill would affect college students as they would not be able to use their student ID or out-of-state ID at the polls; it would turn away newcomers and young professionals by eliminating on-site registration during the early voting period; it would deter elderly, homeless and veterans who may not have valid driver’s licenses or be able to locate their Social Security Card or Birth Certificates in order to obtain a state-issued ID; and it would impact the poor who cannot afford the fees associated with getting updated documentation to secure a state issued photo ID.

I now know that the proposed NC Voter ID Bill isn’t just about having people verify their identity at the polls, which while a hassle, seems like a simple enough request.  Anything to stop voter fraud, right?

Wrong. First, you should know that there isn’t a significant problem with voter fraud in North Carolina.  This bill takes every measure possible to make voting and registration harder and more complicated and doesn’t even address the few instances of voter fraud that have occurred.

This morning I joined many North Carolinians of all ages and races at a nonpartisan rally on the steps of our General Assembly to speak out against the Voter ID Law.  The line of speakers included college students, homeless, elderly, disabled veterans, elected officials and many more.  Each affected demographic talked about how the proposed law would make voting hard or impossible for their peers.

North Carolina NAACP President Reverend Doctor William Barber II closed out today’s rally with a series of cries for justice beginning with “call it like it is.”  I keep playing his cry that “Voter ID laws are nothing but nuanced Jim Crow … we should CALL IT LIKE IT IS” over and over in my mind.

And he is right.  It is time to call it like it is.  46 years ago our country passed the Voting Rights Act to give African American citizens the right to vote.  That is in the lifetime of our parents, grandparents, teachers and friends.  But we’re forgetting that fight as we glaze over the racist Voter ID legislation that is sweeping states across our country.  We’re forgetting that these Voter ID Laws violate the 15th Amendment, which prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (i.e., slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870. And here we are again with a concerted effort to keep minorities and certain populations from the polls.

NC House 351’s title, “Restore Confidence in Government,” really says it all.  This bill is sponsored by 4 white women and 29 white men to restore confidence that only people like them will be able to vote and be elected.  State Representative Larry Bell called out the sponsor’s hypocrisy on the steps of the General Assembly today … “Let them resign if the voting process is so fraudulent!” How can the sponsoring representatives and senators claim that they were voted in this year to represent the needed change in our legislature and also claim that they have no confidence in the voting process?  We must speak to the illogical nature of the Voter ID Bills and “call it like it is.”

According to a nonpartisan study by Democracy NC, the direct effect of “Restore Confidence in Government” will lead to a decrease in ability to vote as follows:

These numbers are the harsh reality of disenfranchisement.  How can the sponsors of this bill think we will be so blind as to ignore that they are proposing targeted legislation?

Let’s be brave and face the truth. Racism, ageism, classism, these are forms of discrimination and it is time to “call it like it is.”

Let’s get outraged.  Let’s face the fact that these reactive laws are destroying our country’s history of democracy that REQUIRES EQUALITY IN VOTING!  I’m one that believes our system works when everyone votes. Do you? Why would we put up roadblocks? More importantly, why would we sit around and allow a few to reverse our history of action and struggle for equal voting rights?

Voter ID laws aren’t just going to go away or not really effect the process.  These laws are a tragic backwards step for democracy that is motivated by a fear of diversified voters.  I don’t want to be another 30-year-old white girl afraid to “call it like it is.”

Thought Don't Ask Don't Tell was gone? Well, sort of.

On Thursday, a panel at the Lemoore Naval Air Station decided to allow a Navy Petty Officer to remain in active duty despite being outed as a homosexual. Although pictures of the Petty Officer 2nd Class Derek Morado kissing another man had surfaced and spread on Myspace, the three-member panel in California voted unanimously to not discharge him, even though he is in direct violation of the still-active but soon to be repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy.

In December, President Obama officially signed a repeal of DADT, the contentious policy banning gay and lesbian citizens from serving in the military.  Nonetheless, the repeal is not scheduled to be implemented until this summer, at the earliest, given the need to develop new training that can be applied to all branches of military service.

As a result of permitting Morado to remain in the service, the California panel is technically acting against the current DADT policy of the U.S. Department of Defense. As such, not all agree with the ruling in his favor, and Morado's fight to serve the military openly gay isn't over. His case will now be referred to Navy Personnel Command for further review.

Still, gay rights activists are claiming a victory at this landmark ruling.

Now that judicial bodies within the military have set a precedent, it'll be interesting to see what follows.  Military sources have repeatedly said that they wish not to rush anything, in order to be sure that the repeal is implemented properly and fully in all of the branches of the military.  Meanwhile, prominent Republican lawmakers like Mike Huckabee and likely 2012 Presidential contender Tim Pawlenty are clamoring for the act's reinstatement, with Pawlenty going so far as to say that defunding the repeal process in order to kill it would be "a reasonable step."  So even once the repeal goes into full effect, the issue could continue to be debated for some time, and could become a talking point in the 2012 race and beyond.

It has only been a few days since the massive 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck and artists from across the musical landscape are already finding ways to help.

Lady Gaga is leading the way, imploring her fans (called "Little Monsters") to purchase a "Pray for Japan" bracelet.  The bracelet, in the style of the popular "Livestrong" rubber wristbands, can be pre-ordered for five dollars on Gaga's official site.  All money received from the sale of the prayer bracelet will go to relief efforts in Japan. (The website does not specify exactly which organization will receive the funds.)  For those that want to donate more than five dollars, Gaga's site offers several options for purchase that can be accompanied with extra donations from $5 on up to $100.

Even musicians who do not have the far-reaching fame of Lady Gaga are finding ways to help.  In Charlottetown, on Canada's Prince Edward Island, halfway around the world from Japan, a group of  musicians banded together to put on a relief aid concert.  Local acts Milks and Rectangles, Christian Ledwell, Meaghan Blanchard, Cory Roper and Morgan Palmer,  The Manifolds and VanWoes and Ryan Merry performed at Timothy's World Flavour's on Saturday, March 12th.  Five dollars was the suggested minimum donation and all the money received at the door was donated to the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.  To most of those reading this, a show on Prince Edward Island may not be relevant, but it's a reminder of how powerful music can be.  In less than 24 hours, these artists were able to collaborate and organize an event.

Were you not able to make it out to Prince Edward Island? Are rubber wristbands not your thing but you still want to help? Visit redcross.org to donate.