Auction to Keep New Orleans Rock Rolling

The New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund, Global Green, Habitat for Humanity, Make it Right and Saving NOLA Now hosted Mardi Gras Day at the Circle Bar for relief workers and musicians including Papa Mali, Kirk Joseph (Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove), Viki Peterson (The Bangles), Mike Mills (REM), Bill Davis (Dash Riprock), Rev. Goat Carson (Dr. John), Don Williams (The Revealers), Susan Cowsill, Russ Broussard, Abby Travis (The Bangles), Dave Clements (Plowboys), Joey Torrez (Clockwork Elvis), and as many as we could fit on the balcony.

To keep the help rolling, you'll soon be able to bid on items including an autographed Dream Girls poster by Jamie Foxx; cast-signed script to Criminal Minds; 40th anniversary strat signed by Little Steven; and signed, numbered museum quality prints by legendary rock photographers William Coupon and Curtis Knapp including the Marsalis family, and an original book print of REM.

With a new cd and tour in the works, REM has supported New Orleans musicians by releasing an Entertainment Weekly video at the Katrina anniversary, donating a live South Central Rain track from Dublin to ReDefine 8/29, signing the lyrics to Everybody Hurts for auction, and Mills playing at our Dr. John benefit for Wardell Quezergue.

A series of Rock Tree posters signed by Little Steven (E-street Band), Mills, Dr. John, Susan Cowsill, John Sinclair (MC5, now with Radio Free Amsterdam) and Jeff Beninato (the dB's), will be available soon. William Coupon's museum quality Dr. John print (below), embellished by the Good Doctor, is the first photo up for auction at (www.nomrf.org)



This trip home, we were able to help a musician out with medical bills, and donate replacement instruments. NOMRF has been blessed with some of the best friends New Orleans musicians could have, and they still need all the friends they can get.

Love Is All Around Us. So is Elvis.

It was great coming home to see John Rankin, Susan Cowsill, Johnny Sansone, Beatin Path, Joe Topping, Mike Mills, Spencer Bohren, Rickie Castrillo, Alfred "Uganda" Roberts, Craig Klein, We Are the Pretenders, Rev. Goat Carson and the Rolling Elvi at the NOMRF Carrolton Station Download Celebration last night. Musicains shared their download songs and we all pitched in for Barry Cowsill's Kid. Susan and Mills did a beautiful version of 'Love is All Around."

Later, Mills stood in the center of Willow Street saluting the Elvis Krewe, proving that members of REM are impervious to Flying Elvi and their smoking engines.

"South Central Rain" on the ReDefine 8/29 Platform is flying off NOMRF's virtual shelves, so love is all around us thanks to lots of musical support.

New Orleans Music and the Impact Awards

This just in - the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund is a MySpace Impact Award finalist. What's exciting is the potential to have New Orleans front and center on the MySpace banner for music lovers around the world. 75 million to be exact.

New Orleans music has had Rolling Stone, New York Times, The Economist, Entertainment Weekly and others covering displaced musicians this month alone, so maybe the steamroller will continue into the fall.

Winning an Impact Award would involve a featured placement on MySpace for a month, reaching its millions of members with the message that displaced musicians need help. Thanks for asking.

Last month, an environmental charity won out over Save the Dolphins and Erin Brockovich. Not that charity's a competition, but a banner with New Orleans in its name would be very nice.

Voting starts on Aug. 14th and ends on Aug. 24th - just in time for the Anti-versary commemoration at Carrolton Station.

If NOMRF doesn't win, at least we'll be back home and in the middle of some great music and all our friends. Thanks for the downloads at nomrf.org. Susan Cowsill, Johnny Sansone, Spencer Bohren, Craig Klein, Backyard Tire Fire and Ian Hunter are the popular hits this week. Catch Susan and Johnny at the Carrolton show.

In other charity news, the Fund is donating a used van to a brass band this week.

Nothing else on that until we're sure it starts.