The Roots Report: Look What’s Going Down: Artists have a duty to voice their opinions Okee dokee folks… “It’s s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down.” This is from one of the most famous protest songs ever written, “For What It’s Worth,” by Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield). It was written more than 50 years ago in response to the Sunset Strip curfew riots in California and is still revered as one of the best songs of that generation. A few years later, Neil Young wrote his song “Ohio” about the Kent State shootings. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young quickly recorded this song, and when it was released as a single, it was backed with another Stephen Stills protest anthem “Find The Cost Freedom.” At the time, “Ohio” was banned by some radio stations, but today it is one of the few actual protest songs still being played on radio. These songs, the bands and the writers were major inspirations and influences for me as a musician and songwriter. Not only do I perform “Ohio” with my band Forever Young and “For What It’s Worth” when I play solo, but I have written many sociopolitical songs of my own that are part of my body of solo work. I feel protest songs need to be written, but they are the hardest type of song to get right. They need to express the concern and anger of the subject matter and marry it perfectly with a melody to make the song viable. One of the best protest musicians of all time was Woody Guthrie and though many don’t really know it, “This Land Is Your Land” is a protest song. It was written in response to Irving Berlin’s (irritating) “God Bless America.” He was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing the song and originally, but sarcastically, wrote it as “God Blessed America for Me.” I actually remember cringing when I saw Kate Smith perform “God Bless America” on TV when I was young. Woody’s guitar bore the words “This Machine Kills Fascists.” During the Bush 2 days, the phrase “What Would Woody Do” (WWWD) became popular, and I often saw people at folk festivals wearing shirts emblazoned with the saying. Folk festivals used to be a place of political discourse and a venue to speak out about the wrongs in the world. Nowadays, performers seem more concerned with their careers and the fear of being “Dixie Chicked.” If you don’t know the term, it comes from when the Dixie Chicks spoke out about the inept Bush 2 at one of their performances and were blacklisted for it. Some think that artists should keep their opinions to themselves and not speak out, but I disagree. It is an artist’s responsibility to “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable,” as Cesar Cruz said. If there has ever been a time for disturbing the comfortable, now is it! Read on… You can hear a sampling of the area’s finest songwriters at the Love + Harmony benefit concert presented by Common Fence Music on Saturday, March 23, at the Casino Theatre (Tennis Hall of Fame) in Newport. This concert is an updated edition of CFM’s renowned Fiddlers and Fisherman fundraising show that took place annually for many, many years and sold out every time. Unfortunately, CFM has been dealing with financial woes because of the costs of having to present their programming in other venues during the remodeling of the Common Fence Community Hall where the shows were typically held. I have the pleasure of both emceeing and performing at this show along with Allysen Callery, Atwater-Donnelly, Cardboard Ox, Chris Capaldi, Flowers & Rain, John Faraone, Patina, Seamus Galligan, Slackwater String Band, Steve Delmonico and The Vox Hunters. Common Fence Music is in serious jeopardy of shutting down for good, so please support them by buying a ticket and attending this show. RI shouldn’t suffer the loss of another great music presenter! Help them continue to bring folk and world music performances and educational programs to Rhode Island. For more, bull rake to commonfencemusic.org Heather Rose is one of RI’s most enduring performers. She has been part of the music scene for more than 20 years as a solo artist and in various band incarnations. She just released her latest CD, Canyons. The album showcases her trio: Heather Rose in Clover. Heather handles the vocals, Chris Alvarado bangs drums and Heather’s wife, Lisa Middleton, plays bass. The bulk of the songs were written solely by Rose, but a few were co-written with her bandmates. This disc gives the best representation of Heather’s vocal prowess and dynamic range, as well as her songwriting and talent for complex arrangements. “My City, My Skyline,” which was originally released as a solo track on the Singing About Providence CD a few years back, is the recording’s stand-out track and in my opinion, one of Heather’s finest songs. She expresses her music in a power pop style that in a roundabout way reminds of Matthew Sweet’s music. It is an extremely well done and very listenable CD. I suggest you get to her CD celebration at Askew on Saturday, March 30. Also on the bill are Weakened Friends, Dream Job and Breachway. For more, “Bingo, Bingo” to heatherroseinclover.com The BoDeans are coming to the Narrows in Fall River on April 5! If you have followed the BoDeans’ 30- year musical career, you know that their blend of roots rock, great harmonies and high energy performances have earned them and helped them keep a loyal fan base over the years. They are best known for their catchy singles, “Closer To Free,” which was TV’s “Party Of Five” theme song, and “Fadeaway,” which was on the charts in ’86. For more, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams to narrowscenter.org That’s it for now. Please go to the Motif Facebook page from time to time to check out some of my concert photographs and quick reviews. I added a couple this week! Thanks for reading. JohnFuzek.com John’s Favorite Protest Songs Here is a list of my favorite/the best protest/sociopolitical songs. It is important that this kind of music is written and heard. Some songs are in your face while some are more subtle. Either way, hear the messages! “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – The Who “Volunteers” – Jefferson Airplane “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” – Phil Ochs “Born In The USA” – Bruce Springsteen (I actually hate this song but it is a great example of people being fooled by a protest song) “Jeremy” – Pearl Jam “Not Ready To Make Nice” – Dixie Chicks (written in response to the backlash they faced after their comments about Bush 2) “Dear Mr. President” – Pink “American Idiot” – Green Day “Ohio” – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “For What It’s Worth” – Buffalo Springfield “Keep On Rocking In The Free World” – Neil Young “Everyday People” – Sly and the Family Stone “If I Had A Hammer” – Pete Seeger “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution” – Tracy Chapman “Beds Are Burning” – Midnight Oil “Russians” – Sting “The Way It Is” – Bruce Hornsby “Death On Two Legs” – Queen *“Dogs” – Pink Floyd “Tin Foil Hat” – Todd Rundgren School of Rock Rocks! Okee dokee folks… The Providence Performing Arts Center was bustling on a Tuesday night for the opening night of School of Rock in Providence. All ages filled the PPAC auditorium and even though it was a (regular) school night, junior theater-goers were strongly represented. Many of you may have seen or are familiar with the 2003 film School of Rock starring Jack Black. Based on the success of that movie, a musical adapted from the movie, with new music by Andrew Lloyd Weber, premiered in 2015. Lloyd Weber, along with Julian Fellows and Glenn Slater, created this new musical and introduced School of Rock to a new audience. The story follows passionate rocker Dewey Finn as he is kicked out of his band No Vacancy and into a fraudulent role as a substitute teacher at an uppity prep school. As a way to keep up the con of substitute, he teaches the students how to be in a rock band when he learns of their musical talents. His ultimate goal is to have the kids compete in the Battle of the Bands contest. The house lights dimmed and a dude-like voice came over the loud speaker proclaiming that all the kids in the musical do in fact actually play the instruments in the show. A smoke machine activated and a light fog descended on the stage to accent the band No Vacancy who were performing their heavy metal type number “I’m Too Hot For You.” The band were agitated by guitar player Dewey Finn and kicked him out of the band, which starts the sequence of events that make up the musical. If you know anything about Jack Black then you know about his off-kilter style of comedic acting but you may not know about his actual music career with Tenacious D. They are a quirky, “lampoonish,” pseudo heavy metal duo. This is the musical style of many of the rock numbers in the show. Tenacious D’s music, Jack Black’s bizarre comedy approach and maybe even a little Spinal Tap seems to have heavily influenced the musical. The score consists of rock, pop and straight-on Broadway musical genres. The first 10 minutes are enjoyable but (I never in my life thought I would say this) the show really takes off when the kids enter the mix.