Caroline Herring Takes Critically Acclaimed Music on Tour

Popular international folk singer, Caroline Herring, has announced a spring and summer tour that begins in Texas, and winds through the Southland before a whirlwind tour of London, Paris and the Netherlands in late May and early June. Creative Loafing Magazine credits Herring with “almost single-handedly making folk music ‘cool’ again with her great lyrics, fine finger picking, and unique interpretations of popular tunes."

We have written about Caroline in this space in the past and want to support her summer tour and urge readers to get out and hear her if she is in their area. Caroline is a fierce advocate for human rights and her music reflects this commitment. She deserves our support, as do all artists who work for what is right in this world.

Herring emerged out of the Austin music community ten years ago, beguiling critics and accumulating an international following with her provocative outpourings about southern life and pathos. Her subject matter takes its inspiration from the complicated and controversial history of the rural American South. As a onetime folklore scholar Herring also draws on her knowledge of traditional music and culture as a way of presenting her unique interpretations.

“I’ve learned a lot from academics and all the artists I’ve worked with,” she says, “but I do try to write from my own experience, as a poet would approach her work, rather than as an academic. Though I admire all sorts of traditional art forms, I would never call myself a traditional artist.”

In April, Caroline Herring won the prestigious Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for the popular music composition and her fourth critically acclaimed album, Golden Apples of the Sun (Signature Sounds).

The critics love Herring, and the Boston Globe named Golden Apples of the Sun one of the top ten folk albums of 2009. Scott Alarik said, “Herring’s haunting, honey-husk voice seems to be singing only to you. Full of fresh turns, yet as knowable as your best friend’s smile.”

Caroline's song “The Dozens” was featured as part of the 11th Annual Oxford American Music Issue CD in December. Featured in the “Southern Masters” section, the Oxford American says Herring’s Golden Apples of the Sun “Is the album of a woman who has come into her powers as a singer-songwriter, claiming as her ground the territory where folk meets alt-country.”

The summer tour will wind up at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on August 13 in New Orleans. Herring and fellow southern singer songwriters Claire Holley and Kate Campbell will reprise their critically acclaimed presentation, “A Celebration of Eudora.” The concept performance was conceived by the Eudora Welty Foundation and originally performed in Jackson, Mississippi in April of 2009 to mark the Pulitzer Prize winning author’s Centennial. Welty was a short story writer, photographer, and novelist credited for unique insights into Southern living, and traditions.

The New Orleans concert will coincide with an exhibit of Welty’s work and photography.

For more information on this and all other events, visit Caroline Herring’s website.





UPCOMING SHOWS:



Friday, April 16
All Good Cafe
Dallas, TX
8:00 PM
(214) 742-5362

Saturday, April 17
Anderson Fair
Houston, TX
9:00 PM
832-212-4057

Friday, April 23
Howard's
Greenwood, SC
8:00 PM

Saturday, April 24
East Cobb United Methodist Church
bobbonstein@bellsouth.net
Marietta, GA
8:00 PM

Saturday, May 22
Ivey House Concert Series
Fort Mill, SC
8:00 PM
704-877-9282


Sunday, May 23
Sundays on the Square
Roswell, GA

Wednesday, May 26
The Green Note
London, England

Thursday, May 27
La Pomme d'Eve
Paris, France

Friday, May 28
In the Woods
Lage Vuursche, Netherlands

Saturday, May 29
Naked Song Festival
Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Sunday, May 30
De Schalm
Westwoud, Netherlands

Tuesday, June 01
Folk in de Wâlden
Oentsjerk, Netherlands

Wednesday, June 02
Qbus
co-bill with David Olney
Leiden, Netherlands

Friday, June 11
Mountain Heritage Literary Festival
Lincoln Memorial University
Harrogate, TN
6:00 PM
606-344-0662

Saturday, June 12
The Melting Point
with Jim White
Athens, GA
8:00 PM

Saturday, August 07
Music at the Lakes Concert Series
Flat Rock, NC
7:00 PM

Friday, August 13
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art
CELEBRATING EUDORA with Claire Holley and Kate Campbell
New Orleans, LA
8:00 PM

Friday, Sept 1
San Angelo New Folk Series
San Angelo, TX
7:00 PM

Friday, Sept 17
Camp DeSoto - private event
Mentone, AL

Saturday, Sept 25
Jammin Java
Vienna, VA
7:00 PM

Saturday, October 16
Our Kind of Folk Music Series
Seminole, FL

Congo: New Year, New Ops, Same Questions, Same Fears

Georgianne Nienaber

The notoriously failed Kimia II operation in eastern Congo has ended today, December 31. Soundly and forcefully criticized by Human Rights groups for the devastation it wrought on civilian populations, it will be replaced sometime in January with a new mission, dubbed Operation Amani Leo, sources say. North and South Kivu commanders Colonel Bobo Kakuji and Colonel Delphin Kahimbi will have their respective operation zones closed, according to information received from sources close to MONUC. Former Nkunda loyalist Colonel Makenga Sultani will lead a military sector, and this will hopefully reduce and or limit the influence of wanted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda who has established a parallel government administration in Masisi territory, sources add. It was Ntaganda who orchestrated the military coup against CNDP General Nkunda in January 2009.

In addition, 180 captured CNDP casualties from the last years of fighting have been relocated into barracks in the Katindo neighborhood 5 km from Goma and at the Himbi District of Goma under the auspices of the "Social Affairs" advisor to Governor Julien Paluku Kahongya, Theophile Mpabuka. A former CNDP official, Mpabuka was kidnapped by Mai Mai at the Kiwanja massacre in November 2009.The Mai Mai executed two of those in custody, tried to kill two others who managed to escape, and released Mpabuka in return for a promise of ransom.

The goal of the transfer of the CNDP combatants is said to be so that Ntaganda should "have no reason or pattern" to continue his illegal collection of taxes at the villages Kilolirwe and Mushaki" in Masisi territory.

Image: For Information only (from jrs.net)

This potential shift in personnel, combatants and allegiances coincides with the end of a controversy-plagued UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). A twelve-month extension was changed to a five-month mandate, which will require additional UN oversight. The Security Council approved the resolution to impose the mandate on December 23 after reviewing the recommendations of the Panel of Experts. (See Final Report) The Council also requested that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon submit a review by April 1.

Although critical of MONUC's role in abuses endured by the civilian populations in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch cautions that troops should not be withdrawn until some kind of safety mechanism is in place.

"The civilian cost of the current military operations in eastern Congo has been catastrophic," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The secretary-general should ensure that MONUC's new mandate is implemented in a way that ensures peacekeepers do not find themselves aiding those who are committing war crimes."

Human Rights Watch called for MONUC's conditionality policy that sets out conditions for the mission's support to Congolese army units to include the removal of Congolese army commanders with a documented track record of grave human rights abuses.

Al Jazeera, the only news organizations with consistent video and reports coming out of DRC, released this video today. It sums up the conflict, the spin, and the effect upon the civilian population. If you do nothing else today, watch this report.

So what does this all mean? In Congo, nothing is certain, but if ground reports pan out it does indicate that Bosco Ntaganda has outlived his usefulness to the regime of Joseph Kabila. "Regime" is a loaded word, but to call the failed state of DRC a "government" seems to fly in the face of reality there. When Ntaganda engineered a coup against the commander of the CNDP rebel group in January 2009 because of a secret deal negotiated between former enemies in the capitols of Rwanda and DRC, the CNDP was expected to integrate with the Congolese army (FARDC). Talk to the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) or Nkunda loyalists, and the answer morphs from completely integrated to up to 90 percent remaining loyal to Nkunda.

According to human rights groups, Ntaganda became the region's worst nightmare, setting op a parallel administration in Masisi territory. Ntaganda had expected the government of the DRC to negotiate his warrant arrest by the Hague, however the outcry from human rights organizations and especially support from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for his arrest made that impossible.

A hardened rebel fighter, Ntaganda won the support of the Congolese government by retaining control of the region as well as some operational successes. That is not all he accomplished. The report of the UN Panel of Experts on DRC details pilfering of funds earmarked for soldiers' salaries, illegal timber harvesting and sales, smuggling across the Ugandan border at Bunagana, and collusion with the Rwandan rebel army (FDLR). The humanitarian havoc wrought by the FDLR in eastern Congo was the impetus for the disastrous joint Rwanda/DRC operations in the first place. It has become exponentially worse as detailed in human rights reports.

Meanwhile, sources say Ntaganda has taken his ill-gotten wealth and purchased buildings, cars, motorcycles, cows, and even a fuel station in Goma. The fuel station should raise some eyebrows. Ntaganda has taken advantage of the frustrations of rebel groups in both North and South Kivu provinces that promises made by the DRC government of Joseph Kabila in March 2009 have not been fulfilled. In order to protect himself, Ntaganda has formed a political collective, CPC, with the support of Ugandan Tutsi generals to fight FARDC. The alleged goal is control of an oil rich zone along the Ugandan border which falls within the confines of Virunga Park, from the Mabenga Bridge on the Rutshuru River to the Ishasha custom station.

Here is where it gets really interesting. According to sources, Heritage Oil made a secret visit to the Kasoso stream near the Nyakakoma fishing village. Heritage Oil is the same company that exploited oil in Ituri during 2003-2004.

Ntaganda was in Ituri during this same time period. The atrocities allegedly committed by Bosco in Ituri as documented by human rights reports including the following: August 2002: Massacres of civilians, burning of homes and looting in Songolo, Zumbe, Lipri and other villages; November 2002: Massacres of civilians because of their ethnicity, in the towns of Mongbwalu, Kilo and surrounding area in the Ituri district; August 2002 to March 2003: Ethnically-targeted arrests, torture and killings of Lendu and Ngiti civilians 2004: Murder of a UN peacekeeper in June and abduction of another later that year. (Source: International Center for Transitional Justice)

Now, sources say that in Goma, Beni and Butembo, petrol with a "light red color, totally different from the petrol normally imported from Kenya," is being sold. Government sources confirm that Dominion Oil has also been exploring in the same corridor. The Congolese Ministry of the Environment has ensured UNESCO that there will be no oil exploration within Virunga, but exploration maps tell a different story.

Sector 4 is the focus. It is in Virunga Park which is to the west of Lake Edward

A consideration of the roles of Colonel Bobo Kakuji and Colonel Delphin Kahimbi, and the introduction of Colonel Makenga Sultani to a possible command position is also in order.

Kakuji has been the operational commander for Kimia II in North Kivu since March, where many of the atrocities against civilians have occurred. Kahimbi is the Deputy Commander of the Forces Armees de la Republique Democratic du Congo (FARDC) in North Kivu.

According to section 184 of the Report of the Panel of Experts, Sultani is a very interesting choice if he assumes command of a military sector.

According to interviews with several members of CNDP in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, the decision to remove General Nkunda caused a division within the CNDP officer class, many of whom felt betrayed by General Ntaganda and remained fiercely loyal to General Nkunda, notably Colonel Sultani Makenga, formerly the third most senior officer in CNDP. In particular, these divisions culminated in a near shoot-out between rival factions of CNDP at the Grands Lacs Hotel in Goma on 5 June 2009, following an argument over the control of the smuggling of timber sourced from Rutshuru and Masisi territories through the Bunagana border post. Active CNDP elements have informed the Group that these internal divisions are still significant, although there have also been moves by top CNDP political and military figures to bridge these divides. A fuller discussion of these political movements will also be outlined in the present section of the report.

If all of this unfolds as sources predict, will the "divides" be "bridged?" Or is this an occult move by the Kabila government to sit back and see who ultimately becomes the winner in a war that has claimed six million? With Big Oil now in the mix, it is anyone's guess and everyone's fear.

####

Researcher Sarah Markworth contributed cross-referencing with UN documents to this report.

The Price of Silence with Introduction by Laurence Fishburne

Speak out for sing out for peace, human rights and an end to torture, war and exploitation.

Sidebar for this video:

AmnestyUSA
December 19, 2008

http://pth.amnestyusa.org/

A music video that brings together 16 of the worlds top musicians—some of whom have fled oppressive regimes—in a rousing musical plea to guarantee human rights for all. ...
http://pth.amnestyusa.org/

A music video that brings together 16 of the worlds top musicians—some of whom have fled oppressive regimes—in a rousing musical plea to guarantee human rights for all.

The track, donated by Aterciopelados and arranged by fusion music guru Andres Levin, combines the voices of Hugh Masekela, Julieta Venegas, Stephen Marley, Angelique Kidjo, Yungchen Lhamo, Aterciopelados, Yerba Buena, Natacha Atlas, Rachid Taha, Kiran Ahluwalia, Chiwoniso and Emmanual Jal with those of U.S. artists Natalie Merchant, and Chali 2Na of Jurassic 5. Introduction by Laurence Fishburne.

Video produced by: Link TV: Television Without Borders for Amnesty International
Directed by: Joshua Atesh Litle
Music produced by: Andres Levin for Music Has No Enemies
Nacional Records
Photos courtesy of Magnum Photos

Bush/Cheney's Homeland Security Is Out Of Control

Check This Out

Why does our government have such a bad record of backing bad apples and opposing good folks???

Yell Fire

Here's Michael Franti's new Yell Fire music video, shot at his San Francisco concert this year by Brooke Duthie. Franti is becoming a major artistic force for love, peace and humanity. "Stay human" is one of his core messages to soldiers around the world, as they are ordered to do inhuman things by their lost-in-purgatory governments.















(photo source)

Thank God(dess) for Michael Franti. Michael is becoming a cultural icon and hero of progressive forces on the planet. His head and heart are in very solid, loving places and he is moving America along toward higher consciousness in these dark times.

A key component of the Peace and Justice Movement: building resistance against war and enabling Peace though music and the arts.

Franti in concert

Franti has also made a terrific documentary of his recent musical and Peace odyssey through Iraq, Israel and Palestine entitled I Know I'm Not Alone. Check it out, I've seen it and it's terrific. Music can open people up and unite them, even in a war zone.