The past two years, it's been an honor for me to participate in FODFest. "FOD" stands for "Friends of Danny" - Danny, being Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was killed in Pakistan back in 2002. Todd Mack, a local musician here in the Berkshires (he also owns and runs the Off The Beat 'n' Track Recording Studios in Sheffield, Massachusetts), played in a band with Daniel when the two of them lived in Atlanta. Since the death of his friend, Todd has been doing a series of free concerts, each done as "song circles" with local musicians who also serve as back-up band for each other.
These shows are nothing short of magical. Not only are they a fitting tribute to Daniel Pearl, they also serve as a testament on the power of music to bring people together.
Last year, Todd expanded the scope of FODFest, doing about two weeks worth of shows up and down the East Coast. This year, he's going even further, as he writes in this email I just received tonight:
Greetings friends,
Below is the schedule for FODfest ‘08, the concert tour honoring the life & ideals of the late Wall St. Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and celebrating music as a community building forum. Final lineups for each show will be announced in a week or so. If you can help land / organize a show on either of the two TBA dates in California, please let me know or get in touch with Bruce Houghton at Skyline Music (bruce@skylineonnline.com). All shows on the tour are free and open to the public. Donations are gratefully accepted at the door. FODfest is a registered event of Daniel Pearl World Music Days (http://danielpearlmusicdays.org)
Please help us spread the word and forward this onto folks you know in the cities the tour will hit.
FODfest 2008 Tour Schedule:
10/10 – Mahaiwe Theater, Great Barrington, MA
10/11 –Narrows Arts Center, Fall River, MA
10/12 – Acoustic Café, Bridgeport, CT
10/13 – Sullivan Hall, NYC
10/14 – IOTA, Washington, DC
10/15 – The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC
10/16 – The Handle Bar, Greenville, SC
10/17 – Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
10/18 – Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta Room), Atlanta, GA
10/ 19 – The Basement, Nashville, TN
10/20 – Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
10/21 – White Eagle Pub, Portland, OR
10/22 – Axe and Fiddle, Cottage Grove, OR
10/23 – Somewhere in CA, TBA
10/24 – Starry Plough, Berkeley, CA
10/25 – Somewhere in CA, TBA
10/ 26 – Hotel Café, Los Angeles, CA
FODfest ’08 Sponsors & Supporters:
Bergdorf Goodman – http://www.berdorfgoodman.com, Skyline Music - http://www.skylineonline.com, Off the Beat-n-Track - http://www.offthebeat-n-track.com, The Daniel Pearl Foundation - http://www.danielpearl.org, WKZE, Elaine Mack, Rachael Solem, anonymous, Shaula Yemini, Dan Hofmann - HIP Digital Video - hipdv@excite.com, Dutchess Sign, Elaine Lanyi, Michael Citrin, Jeff Diamond, Joe & Linda Gold, Bryan Gruley, Anne & Ernest Schnesel, Debbie Zecher, Joe Rose, John Van Vlack, Bob & Roberta Silman, Beansprout Productions, Will Curtiss, Helene & Mark Kaplan. Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, Robin & Michael Strauss, Pete Nugent, Nancsea Fischer, Glen Caroline, Arlyn & Owen Hoberman, Kim Angelis, Derek Nicoletto
See you out there,
todd
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Todd Mack
FODfest
PO Box 1190
Sheffield, MA 01257
http://fodfest.org
http://myspace.com/fodfest
http://youtube.com/fodfest
413.229.9939
FODfest, Inc. is a Massachusetts non-profit corporation. Donations are gratefully accepted at http://fodfest.org/Donate.html
Check out some of the videos and songs from last year's shows. Write to Todd if you want to help. And if a show is coming to a place near you, please come and see and have a good time. I'll be playing at the FODFest opening night in Great Barrington at the Mahaiwe Theater. Hope to see you there.
Peace
