Playing for Charity

Artists are always being asked to play for nothing because it’s a “charity gig”, and we can get rather annoyed about that. As we have moaned in the past, do security get asked to turn up for nothing, or the people who run the bar to donate all their profit? People now expect artists to make their music available for free, through youtube, streaming, soundcloud etc. They are constantly being asked to play for nothing, be it in bars - (where live music increases customers and therefore takings), festivals, venues etc. They are asked to bring along their (often thousands of pounds worth of) kit, give up their time, advertise the event to their fans beforehand, put on an entertaining show using skills that they have paid hard cash to learn and many hours practicing often with their original material which has been crafted over a long time. The audience enjoy fabulous music, the venue improves its reputation, media, broadcasters get great material. The artists get - well umm a few quid for petrol.

Then there are those things that we just get passionate about and feel the need to do something. We wrote about Emily Barkers response to the story of one immigrant child and her struggle to cope with her families hardships in an earlier blog. Emily was moved to respond by recording a song which she wrote in response to the little girls story. She recorded a track to highlight the plight of immigrants and refugees generally.

Another group that is inspired to reach out are the Ganda Boys.  Gloucestershire’s own Craig Pruess along with other band members Daniel Sewagudde and Denis Mugagga, world class musicians all of them, yet their biggest passion is to work to alleviate suffering in the country that has done so much to inspire them musically. So passionate about helping Ugandan people, they set up a foundation seven years ago and since then have worked tirelessly raising money and awareness through the Ganda Foundation. 

These guys are also planning great things to reach out to the world about the refugee crisis using their amazing gifts and talents. The Forgotten People Campaign, which is working through the World Peace One organisation is all about putting money and talents on the line to do what is right by the people caught up in this humanitarian crisis. Craig Pruess succinctly said of the campaign, “This will take you right to heart of what has fired up our hearts to go to Germany for the refugee crisis next week. Thanks to our Wonder Woman, Jeanne Holm (at World Peace One), and thanks to UCLA in USA, we have an amazing & concrete way to bring info, networking, re-training, language courses (and more) directly to the refugees in Europe, wherever they. Many were highly skilled professionals before fleeing a war torn country, since being reduced to becoming a refugee statistic in a strange land. Let's give them a chance! Find out more here, Donate here.”

We all have to put bread on our table, and the trappings of fame are often just about the fortune that can come with it. But there is only so much that one family can consume, and then these people open their hearts to the rest of humanity, to shed a spotlight on the need and suffering in the world, and to raise money where it is needed. Ganda Boys, we salute you.