Rock the Earth Tales from the
Road – August
 The
middle of July kicked off
with a run of Jack
Johnson
shows in New Jersey,
Virginia
and Maryland.
This tour was very special, with personal visits to the Rock the Earth
booth
each night by Jack, his wife and the entire All At Once
team. This tour
also featured smaller stage acoustic performances by Jack, G
Love, and ALO/Jack
keys player Zach Gill. These smaller stage performances were situated
near
where Rock the Earth was set up and were designed to highlight the
non-profits
on tour with Jack and it worked perfectly. The support that Jack
Johnson gave
the non-profits made the fans very interested to find out more about
Rock the
Earth and always led to increased interest in our organization and
projects.
After the Jack Johnson tour
dates, Team Rock re-joined the Tom Petty
& the Heartbreakers tour in the Midwest,
following it east,
returning Rock the Earth hotspots such as Cleveland, Detroit,
Philadelphia and
even to the city of our organization’s birth –
Pittsburgh. With Buddy Guy
opening most of these dates, and Crosby,
Stills, and Nash opening the rest, it was an all-star lineup.
Tom Petty’s
fans show continued interest in the environment, and their support has
been
wonderful and generous. Tom was even gracious enough to lend his
signature on a
bunch of Rock the Earth Summer Tour posters which will be up for
charity
auction soon (watch our
website for
more details).
Once August started up, Team
Rock began to throw some Umphrey’s
McGee
shows into the mix. As longtime supporters, there is a great
rapport between the band and Rock the Earth. The performances were more
intimate, which allowed for a more personal connection with fans. On
the heels
of Umphrey’s rousing and varied performances, Team Rock was
energized for a run
through the southern states. The run included Tom Petty & the
Heartbreakers
in Atlanta and Nashville
and Umphrey’s in Raleigh.
With more Phish and Tom Petty dates coming up,
the remainder of the
month is sure to be a busy one for Team Rock.
Also,
this past month, Rock the
Earth was one of several nonprofits at the 3rd
Annual Mile High Music
Festival,
just outside of Denver, Colorado.
Featuring artists such as Jack
Johnson, Dave Matthews Band, My Morning Jacket, Phoenix,
Keller Williams, Steve Miller Band and many others, Rock the
Earth
volunteers educated attendees about the organization and our work to
stop a
massive drilling plan for Colorado’s
Roan Plateau. In addition, Rock the Earth collected dozens of cell
phones for
recycling, gave away over a dozen prize packages, and thanks
to the generosity of AEG Live, gave away a pair of VIP passes to the
2011
festival to one lucky cell phone donor.
 THIS
JUST IN
– Starting this week, Rock the Earth will have
informational tables and booths on the Ray
LaMontagne and David
Gray
tour. Come see us as we travel through
the southwest and west coast leg of this incredible tour, where
we’ll be
educating and activating attendees about important RtE projects as well
as
collecting cellular telephones for recycling.
For more info, go to www.raylamontagne.com.
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Help Rock the Earth Win $20,000
Rock the Earth is one of 41 finalists in
Tom’s of Maine’s
“50
States
for Good” grant contest. Tom’s of Maine
is asking for the
public’s vote to determine five non-profit organizations that
will each receive
$20,000 through its “50 States for Good”
initiative. This year, the “50
States for Good” program drew submissions from every state
with a special focus
on non-profits that need volunteers to help get important projects
started in
their community or to broaden their reach. Voting runs
through September 10.
Help support Rock the Earth’s efforts to win these
much-needed funds by VOTING
EVERY DAY HERE. If
you can show us that you're promoting this
contest on your website, Twitter, MySpace or Facebook pages, let us
know at info@rocktheearth.org,
and you could win a RtE prize pack!
"At Tom’s of Maine,
we passionately believe in volunteerism and this year we’re
not only
recognizing important projects around the country, but also celebrating
volunteers, who are the true catalysts for change,” said
Susan Dewhirst,
goodness programs manager at Tom’s of Maine.
“The impact of just one volunteer can be so powerful and
there are so many
opportunities to get involved around the country. It could be with one
of our
finalists or any other non-profit.”
To help engage the public in service and provide
the tools needed, Tom’s of Maine has partnered with
VolunteerMatch, the Web's
most popular volunteering network, to make it easy to search and sign
up for
volunteer opportunities with non-profit organizations based on location
and
personal interest. At http://tomsofmaine.volunteermatch.org/
volunteers can also track their hours and share their stories to
inspire others
to volunteer.
Voting concludes on September 10 and winners will
be announced in early October. The five winning organizations will each
receive
$20,000 and a commitment from Tom’s of Maine
and VolunteerMatch to help recruit volunteers for the project.
Also, Tom’s of Maine and Network for Good
will be
giving away 40 $100 Good Cards®, a gift card for charity that
can be redeemed
as a donation to more than 1.2 million organizations through the
Network for
Good website at www.networkforgood.org/goodcard.
Network for Good is a non-profit that makes it easy for donors to
support any
charity, anywhere online and that helps other non-profits become better
online
fundraisers. For a chance to donate to your favorite non-profit, visit www.tomsofmaine.com
for details beginning August 23.
Tom’s
of Maine is a longtime supporter of
community involvement programs including clean waterways and greater
access to
affordable dental care, among many other programs. In addition, the
company
donates 10% of its profits back to the community and offers employees
5% paid
time off, up to 12 days a year, to volunteer in their local community.
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Yarmonygrass Festival Rocks the
Earth
 The high country
camping event known as Yarmonygrass,
featured unrivaled mountain activities and top shelf national talent
such as
Railroad Earth (2 nights), Kyle Hollingsworth Band with DJ Logic, EOTO,
the
Contribution, and more. The festival took place along the
shore of the
Colorado River in scenic Bond, CO
on August 20-22nd, offering
concert goers an experience that is as good for the soul as it is for
the
ears. $1 from every ticket sold was donated to Rock the
Earth. In
addition, our organization offered an educational float trip down the Colorado
on Sunday,
August 22, guided by Rock the Earth Advisory Board member, Bob
Lippman.
 Over
the course of a 25-year career, Bob has been an attorney, a college
professor, a river guide and an activist, with ongoing
environmental
campaigns involving protection and restoration efforts on the Colorado
River,
Grand Canyon National Park, and Glen Canyon, most recently focusing on
issues
of sustainability and watershed bioregionalism. Anyone attending
YarmonyGrass
who made a qualifying donation of $250 to Rock the Earth was welcome to
join us
that afternoon. We want to thank our
Advisory Board members Jason Mastrine and Bob Lippman, Yarmony founder
Andrew
McConathy, Pam Hackley, John Weisheit as well as EVERYONE who attended
Yarmonygrass for supporting
Rock
the Earth.
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Rock the Earth Member Benefits:
Tree Greetings
 Have
you ever a tree planted for someone special in your life? Do you know you can have
it done where
absolutely no paper is used throughout the process? Check out
www.treegreetings.com. It’s
a very carbon-positive choice. You order
the planting of your gift tree online, and the recipient receives his
or her
notification through a beautiful animated nature e-card.
Several
criteria are used when selecting the specific tree: soil conditions,
species
diversity, native varieties, what trees are needed and how much
moisture is in
that area that year. These important considerations help to insure your
gift
will thrive. You can choose flowering trees, shade trees,
fruit
trees or evergreens; the trees are planted in Central America and
several
locations in the U.S.
Rock the Earth members receive a 20% discount on all orders! In addition, one percent of
all sales are
donated to 1% for the Planet.
To
see a list of all Rock the Earth membership benefits go here.
To
find out how you can take advantage of these members-only benefits,
write to info@rocktheearth.org.
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Rockin’
the North Coast Festival
Chicago
has never been light on local talent and the North Coast Music Festival
will put that talent on
display in full force. Featuring Umphrey’s McGee, Chemical
Brothers, Nas &
Damian Marley, Disco Biscuits, Moby (DJ Set), Pretty Lights and many
other
bands, the North Coast Music Festival will keep rockin’
throughout Labor Day
Weekend (Sept. 3-5). Rock the Earth will be on hand to educate
attendees about
important environmental issues and collect cell phones for recycling.
Everyone
donating a cell phone will receive 35 free music downloads from our
partners at eMusic, a 20% discount from
Musictoday, AND, gain entry into a daily drawing for fantastic
prizes
including an artist-autographed North Coast Music Festival poster, CDs,
DVDs, T-shirts, Live Download cards and more! Please
help us keep toxic
materials out of our drinking water by recycling your old phone today
at www.rtephonedrive.com.
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What
Rocks Your Earth: Joe Principe (Rise Against)
Joe Principe plays bass in the Chicago-based
melodic hardcore band Rise Against . A band now for 10 years, Rise
Against rose from the local Chicago
scene through its earliest independent releases, The
Unraveling (2001)
and Revolutions Per Minute (2003). After landing
the opening slot on
high-profile national tours and joining the Vans Warped Tour roster,
the
profile of Rise Against sharply rose outside of the occasionally
insular
underground. In 2004, the band released its breakthrough, Siren
Song of the
Counter Culture to an amazingly receptive response, and in
2006 The
Sufferer and the Witness was released and saw three of its
singles top the
radio charts.
Rise Against released their fifth studio album, Appeal
To Reason, in the fall of on 2008 and it debuted at #3 on the
Billboard Top
200 album chart and spent a week at # 1 on the iTunes album
chart. The
band’s highest debut of their career and a nod to the fanbase
they created.
Vocalist Tim McIlrath, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and
guitarist Zach Blair spent the last year and a half on the road
bringing their
friends along for the ride –Alkaline Trio, Thrice,
Gaslight Anthem,
Rancid all made support appearances. The band played some of
the biggest
US and European festivals in 2009 including the Beale Street Festival,
Bamboozle and Lollapalooza to name a few and found the time to play a
benefit
show in their hometown of Chicago to celebrate their 10 years as a
band!
1. What environmental issue(s) do you
consider to be the most critical at this time?
The Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I suggest
everyone check out www.healthygulf.org for info. A disaster of this
magnitude affects everything
and anything in its path and there's no quick fix. We unfortunately
live in a
culture where money and greed allow for deregulation to infiltrate
important
government agencies such as the mineral management service.
2. What has inspired you to
combine environmental activism with your art?
We feel it's our duty to
take
care of this earth that we temporarily inhabit for future generations
(our
children, our children's children).
3. Where is your favorite
place in nature to go to find solace or
inspiration?
Any lake in
seclusion. I find I can only relax when I'm at a lake. The calm of the
water
and the sounds of the forest surrounding clear my mind.
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Stay
Connected
Rock
the Earth invites you to follow
our musings and up-to-the-minute events and issues coverage at www.Twitter.com/RocktheEarth,
and become a fan of Rock
the Earth on Facebook
to stay updated on the most notable news stories, photos and events in
the Rock the Earth realm.
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