Category: Commemorations

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Commemorations Concert tour

East Coast leg of Joe Hill Roadshow

roadshow.small7/23 – 8/2/2015 Joe Hill Roadshow, East Coast leg begins in Washington, D.C. and ends in Cambridge, Mass.

Thursday, July 23, Washington, DC:  Magpie, Charlie King, DC Labor Chorus and George Mann in concert. Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th St NW, 7:30 pm. $10-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Friday, July 24, Baltimore:  Magpie, Charlie King and George Mann in concert. First Unitarian Church, 514 N Charles St., 7:30 pm. $15, $10 students and seniors, no one turned away for lack of funds. Advance tickets: 410.685.2330

Saturday, July 25, Philadelphia:  Magpie, Charlie King and George Mann in concert. University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St., 7:30 p.m. Sliding Scale, $10 – $30, children $5. Sponsored by Crossroads Concerts; co-sponsored by Swedish-American Museum and IWW Hungarian Literature Fund.

Sunday, July 26, Ithaca, NY:  Magpie, The Burns Sisters and George Mann in concert. The Space at Greenstar, 700 W Buffalo St., 7:00 pm. $15, no one turned away for lack of funds. Benefit for “Fight for $15”

Wednesday, July 29, New York City:  Magpie, Charlie King, George Mann and New York City Labor Chorus in concert. Local 1199 Union MLK Auditorium, 310 West 43rd Street, New York, 7:30 pm, $10-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Thursday, July 30, Schenectady, NY: Charlie King, Magpie, Joe Jencks, and George Mann onstage in the underground theater. Eighth Step at Proctors, 432 State Street, Schenectady, 7:00 pm

Friday, July 31, Barre, VT: Magpie, Charlie King and George Mann (with special guests Anything Goes) in concert. Old Socialist Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, 7:30 pm, tickets $15, seniors and students $12, no one turned away!

Saturday, August 1, Springfield, MA: Magpie, Charlie King and George Mann in concert. Bing Art Center, 718 Sumner Ave., 8:00 pm. $15, students and seniors $10, none turned away for lack of funds.

Sunday, August 2, Cambridge, MA: Magpie, Charlie King and George Mann (with special guest Evan Greer) wrap up the Northeast leg with a concert at this venerable, historic folk music venue. Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge, MA 8:00 pm. Tickets $20, $18 for members.

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Commemorations

Still building internationalism! Conference August 13-15

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This summer, we will meet in Gävle, the birthplace of Joe Hill. 2015 marks a hundred years since he was murdered. We gather in his memory, not to mourn – but to organize!

One hundred years later, we’re sticking to the same values. Still organizing, still fighting, still building internationalism! Our hope is to strengthen bonds, build alliances, connect everyday struggles, learn from each other’s experiences – to gain hope and have a good time.

We have chosen to focus on the European level, since it’s obvious to us we have to try to build a common counter force against what’s going on in our workplaces, streets, neighborhoods and schools. Someone who doesn’t love us is making plans for our future, making our part of the world a golden cage. We intend to break it, together.

Each day of the conference will have a different topic, starting with a panel of people who have worked around the issue. The topics will be: work and repression, work and migration and finally, building internationalism – connecting struggles. We encourage each and every one of you who want to participate to contact us. In the afternoons there will be room for discussions, sharing of information, and workshops.

A book fair will take place parallel to the conference. Federativs förlag and Aparte will release a new anthology about Joe Hill on the occasion. And, of course, there will be music, lots of music!image

We welcome unions – self-organized, base-unions and unions from the red and black spectra. But also social movements, groups and grass-roots organizations doing work within the areas the conference is dealing with: self organizing of refugees and immigrants, student-organizing, neighborhood committees, anti-repression and Anti-fascism. We need to connect our struggles, considering all the aspects of the everyday life of working class people.

Together we will win. For every day, life under capitalism becomes more unbearable. We’ve had enough. Enough of the nationalist and fascist movements who tries to set us up against each other, enough of the dictatorship and exploitation by the bosses, enough of unemployment and lack of housing, enough of unions and social movements being targeted with repression, enough of a system which robs us not only on the fruits of out labor, but also our dignity.

We live in an unstable time. One thing we’ve learned from history – never again will we fight for nations or the rich! It’s clear neither political parties or top-down bureaucratic unions are able to do anything for us. True a hundred years ago, it is still the same: our liberation is possible only by the work of our own hands. We believe we are at a turning point. Self-organized unions and grassroots movements have a role to play. On the same time with steady signs of the downfall, people choose to struggle, connect and organize. Let’s come together, see what we can learn from each other, build alliances, and make things move on a larger scale. It’s about time to leave old conflicts behind and focus on what we have in common, instead of our differences.

We carry a new world in our hearts, Still building internationalism!

JH100 organizing committee, jh100@sac.se

The committee consists of members of SAC’s (The Swedish Workers Central Organization) international committee, Joe Hill-sällskapet and Federativs Förlag. The main language of the conference will be english, but we’ll try to provide interpretation into other languages. Follow http://www.internationellsolidaritet.com for updates.

http://internationellsolidaritet.com/2015/05/19/still-building-internationalism-conference-13-168/

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Commemorations Joe Hill songs

Joe Hill Events at LaborFest, San Francisco

July 2015

7/5/2015 Concert: David Rovics, Joe Hill Commemoration Concert, opening LaborFest 2015 at ILWU Local 34 Hall in San Francisco.  On July 5, 1934,  two longshore strike supporters  were gunned down by police, igniting the 1934 San Francisco general strike.  LaborFest is an annual working class cultural, music and film festival. www.laborfest.net

7/14/2015: Poetry & Music:  Bastille Day, Words on the Anniversary of Joe Hill’s Death. LaborFest, San Francisco. Tuesday, July 14, 7:00 p.m. Free. First Unitarian Universalist Church – 1187 Franklin Street. Poets Judith Ayne Bernard, Dorothy Payne, John Curl, Mahmaz Badihian, Jack Hirschman, Agneta Falk, Karen Melander Magoon and others. Music with Troubadour Vic Sadot.

7/15/2015: Film:  “The Ballad of Joe Hill”(1971, Sweden) by Bo Widerberg. San Francisco. FilmWorks United International Working Class Film & Video Festival. Wednesday, July 15, 7:00 p.m. Free. ILWU Local 34 Hall, 801 2nd St. next to AT&T Ball Park. Parking available at the union hall parking lot. The entrance is at the corner of King St. and 2nd, right next to the ball park.

This dramatic film tells Joe Hill’s story as an immigrant coming to the United States. This rarely seen Academy Award-nominated film is about an ingenious immigrant labor organizer who is framed on a murder charge in a highly sensationalized trial with little evidence.  Despite worldwide appeals, Hill is martyred by a Utah firing squad after one of the most controversial capital punishment trials of the 20th Century. Today, on the hundredth anniversary of his death, the state of Utah has reinstituted the firing squad. Despite the bullets that ended his life, his legacy, humor, principles and solidarity with workers of the world live on.

http://www.laborfest.net/2015/2015schedule.htm

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Commemorations

Labor Day Weekend Joe Hill Commemoration in Salt Lake City

joe-hill-who-is-singing-300x300Plans are firming up for a huge Joe Hill Centennial Celebration Saturday, Sept. 5, in Salt Lake City, Utah, with eight acts committed for a day-long free concert on the main stage, and several more on a side stage.

The free concert will be held Noon to 8 pm at Sugar House Park, on the site of the now-demolished prison where Joe Hill was murdered by Utah authorities 100 years ago.

Judy Collins will headline; other committed performers include Anne Feeney, Mark Ross, David Rovics, Joe Jencks and Mischief Brew perform on the main stage; additional performers (including an entire side stage) to be announced.

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Commemorations Concert tour

Joe Hill tributes in Great Barrington & Paris

NE Roadshow.Guthrie

A new edition of Franklin Rosemont’s book on Joe Hill, translated into French by Frédéric Bureau, will be released May 22.
A discussion of the book and performances of Joe Hill’s songs in French and English by Fred Alpi and several others will be held June 6 at the CNT offices, 33 rue des Vignoles, 75020 Paris, France.
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Categories
Commemorations Concert tour

Joe Hill Concert opens LaborFest, San Francisco

June 2015: John McCutcheon celebrates the release of his new album of Joe Hill’s music, Joe Hill’s Last Will, with a series of concerts in California (and one show in Virginia).

David Rovics will headline a Joe Hill Commemoration Concert opening LaborFest 2015 July 5 at ILWU Local 34 Hall in San Francisco.  On July 5, 1934,  two longshore strike supporters  were gunned down by police, igniting the 1934 San Francisco general strike.  LaborFest is an annual working class cultural, music and film festival. www.laborfest.net

Last week’s Wall of Power Radio Hour includes a segment on the Joe Hill Roadshow, with live performances and interviews with Bucky Halker, Jan Hammerlund, Professor Peter Rachleff, and a rousing tune by the Twin Cities Labor Chorus. Minnesotans can stream it at www.wallofpowerradio.com (the site requires listeners to verify that they are listening from Minnesota).

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Commemorations Concert tour

Joe Hill Roadshow video

JoeHill.TV has posted a 50-minute video of excerpts from the Joe Hill Roadshow: null

The site also hosts an interview with U. Utah Phillips, the Bo Widerberg film “The Ballad of Joe Hill” (the film is mostly in English with some Swedish), and an eclectic range of other material include documentaries, interviews, concerts, etc.

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Commemorations Concert tour

Joe Hill Roadshow Midwest Tour a Success

The Midwest leg of the Joe Hill Roadshow has finished, drawing sell-out crowds at some venues and bringing Joe Hill’s music to several cities. Lil’ Rev, Bucky Halker and JP Wright did most of the shows, joined by Anne Feeney and Jan Hammarlund on many stops and a veritable host of musicians for the Madison show. Photos from several shows are in the gallery.

Bucky Halker & Little Rev in St Paul
Bucky Halker & Little Rev in St Paul

A preview of Bucky Halker’s forthcoming CD (which will be released in June) of Joe Hill’s songs was available at every stop — we will add it to the JoeHill100 store as soon as it’s available.

David Rovics’ Joe Hill European tour concludes with three shows in Switzerland this weekend.

John McCutcheon kicks off a tour celebrating the release of his new album of Joe’s songs, Joe Hill’s Last Will, June 5. Several shows are scheduled in California, with a June 19 show in Virginia.  There’s a couple more dates set for late November in Madison, Wisconsin, and Maryland.

We hope to release dates for the Southern and East Coast legs of the Joe Hill roadshow soon. The Joe Hill centenary t-shirts are available in our store (we’ll get photos up as soon as we can get someone to model them in decent lighting – there are some shots in the photo gallery, but they hardly do the design justice) in sizes ranging from small to triple XL. Coming soon are listings for songbooks, buttons, and more.

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Commemorations Media

Video podcast on the Joe Hill Roadshow

An hour-long podcast (also broadcast on local access cable in Madison) showcases the Joe Hill Roadshow. Norm Stockwell (a member of the national organizing committee) and host John Quinlan spend an hour discussing the life and legacy of Joe Hill, and share clips from some of the musicians who will be performing on the Midwest leg of the tour.
This show was produced at the facilities of the Sun Prairie (WI) Media Center.  It will be widely distributed via other community media stations throughout Wisconsin.  While some of the broadcast is Madison-specific, Norm provides extensive background on the national nature of the tour, and both the local and national resonance of the themes it embraces.
At the outset, we share the Phil Ochs/Billy Bragg youtube video that chronicles Joe Hill’s life through picture and song, and use clips throughout the show to offer viewers a sampling of the repertoire of eight of the participating artists.  Here’s the link to the video: http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T02098&video=234065
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Commemorations Concert tour

John McCutcheon: Joe Hill’s Last Will

Folksinger John McCutcheon has released a new album, Joe Hill’s Last Will, marking the centenary of his execution. His blog describes the album this way:

Joe Hill was a songwriter for the Industrial Workers of the World, the Wobblies, back in the early 20th century. He was the ultimate utilitarian songwriter, composing pieces to be used at meetings and picket lines and rallies. He wrote songs to be sung and to be used. To be useful.

His songs “The Preacher & the Slave” and “Casey Jones, the Union Scab” are what some people know of his work. But veteran folk musician and longtime labor activist, John McCutcheon, has released an album bringing Joe Hill’s music to a whole new audience. With fresh arrangements, stunning musicianship, and released on a palette that makes these songs feel as though they were written today rather than a century ago, there is a life and vitality that is both rare and refreshing.

Joe Hill was executed by a Utah firing squad at dawn, November 19, 1915. This album is being released in honor of the centenary of Hill’s death.

Songs on the album: Casey Jones, It’s a Long Way Down to the Soup Line, The Tramp, Joe Hill’s Last Will, Mr. Block, What We Want, The Preacher & the Slave, Overalls & Snuff/The Connaughtman’s Rambles, The Wooden Shoe/Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay, The Rebel Girl, Stung Right, Where the Fraser River Flows, There Is Power in a Union

Tour dates:

Saturday, June 6, Sutter Creek Theater, 44 Main St., Sutter Creek CA

Sunday, June 7, Grass Valley Center for the Arts 314 W Main St., Grass Valley CA

Monday, June 8, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company 1075 E 20th St., Chico CA

Wednesday, June 10,  Fresno CA

Thursday, June 11, Church of the Brethren, 2301 Woodland Ave., Modesto CA

Friday, Jun 12, St. James Episcopal Church, 37051 Cabrillo Terrace, Fremont CA

Saturday, June 13,  Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison, Berkeley CA

Sunday, June 14, Sebastiani Theater, 476 First St. East, Sonoma CA

Friday, June 19, Singleton Center for Performing Arts, 922 Park Ave., Richmond, Virginia