It’s been a tough, strange and oft-brutal year by any measure. Rough Trade Publishing is determined to get the New Year off to the right start.
The music publisher today declares “war on complacency” through its music-led, fundraising project “2017: A Song a Day Keeps the Pain Away.”
The winter-warming initiative will feature a previously-unreleased song from one of the publisher’s roster of artists released each day for the first 90 days of 2017 via Bandcamp.
Rachel Grimes, Juliana Hatfield, Delicate Steve, Kevin Devine and High Highs are among the participating artists, with others to be revealed in the days ahead.
Subscriptions begin at $20.17 and all proceeds will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and seeking justice for those who need it the most.
“This is a call to arms,” comments Lyle Hysen, president of Rough Trade Publishing. “These songs will be our daily ration to help preserve us for the upcoming winter of our discontent. At this point in the game, we need as many shots fired across the bow as possible. These 90 songs are just a start. We all need to be volunteering, making donations and using our time as wisely as possible. It’ll take more than sad FB posts to combat the 2016 election results.”
Daily updates will be posted via RTP’s Twitter account and Bandcamp.
The campaign drops some nine months after Bank Robber Industries acquired 50 percent of Rough Trade Publishing and announced plans to merge the company with its own publishing division, House of Hassle, under the Rough Trade Publishing name.