Grammy-Winning Reggae Group Steel Pulse Releases New Song for Haiti
Partners In Health (PIH), The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) and Grammy-winning reggae band Steel Pulse announced the release of Hold On [4 Haiti], a new song composed by lead singer David Hinds and recorded to raise funds for the solar electrification of health clinics for PIH in Haiti. The clinics, operated by Zanmi Lasante, are located in the remote mountain highlands and do not have access to the electric grid. In the aftermath of the January earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the facilities have experienced a rise in demand for health-care services, countered by dangerous fluctuations in fuel supplies needed to operate their generators.
Steel Pulse has launched a new website, http://www.holdon4haiti.org , where the song is available for download on a donation basis. One hundred percent of donations received will benefit Haiti.
Explained Mr. Hinds: “Because the initial media coverage has waned considerably, we want to revitalize the focus on Haiti’s plight. We wrote Hold On [4 Haiti] to support the people of Haiti through the work being done by the Solar Electric Light Fund and Partners In Health. We’ve got to make a real difference on the ground – that’s what this project is all about.”
“Steel Pulse’s Hold On [4 Haiti] is a song of hope,” said SELF’s executive director, Bob Freling. “Our hope is that we can solar electrify all 12 hospitals and health centers for Partners In Health in Haiti. We were already working on electrifying PIH clinics, but in the wake of the earthquake we’ve been requested by PIH to accelerate our timeline for bringing solar power to all of their sites in Haiti.”
Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health, has been an advocate for the Solar Health Care Partnership between the two organizations from the very beginning, when SELF worked on electrifying PIH clinics in Africa. “We know that solar energy is self-replenishing and sustainable. It works for us in Africa, and we want to use it across all our facilities in Haiti; diesel is already in short supply and will likely become even more difficult to obtain as time goes by,” said Dr. Farmer. “This song by Steel Pulse serves as a reminder that we stand with the people of Haiti in solidarity and compassion.”
BUJU BANTON’S RASTA GOT SOUL NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY
Documentary-Style Video For New Single “Optimistic Soul” To Drop Early 2010 -
Since its release, the album has received rave reviews from an array of international media outlets including Billboard, Exclaim!, Hip-Hop Weekly and All Music Guide, who called the album an “instant classic.” Project highlights include “Magic City,” “I Rise,” “A Little Bit Of Sorry,” “Rastafari,” “Sense Of Purpose” featuring Bunny Rugs of Third World and “Bedtime Story” featuring Wyclef. A documentary-style video for the new single“Optimistic Soul” will be released next month.
This prestigious Grammy nod for Rasta Got Soul is the artist’s official fourth. Banton was previously acknowledged by the Recording Academy for his albums Too Bad (2007)Friends for Life (2004) and Inna Heights(1999).
FOUR TIME GRAMMY NOMINATED REGGAE STAR BUJU BANTON WRAPS HISTORIC RASTA GOT SOUL US TOUR IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
Music Video For New Single “Optimistic Soul” Documents Final Leg Of Outing –
Gargamel Music, Inc. is proud to announcethat four-time Grammy nominated Reggae icon Buju Banton successfully wrapped the final leg of his Rasta Got Soul US Tour with a string of successful dates in the Sunshine State last week. The roots rocking revue, which featured opening acts Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage, vocalists Nikki Burt and Angel Shalome, plus special guest Wayne Wonder, steered its way into Florida for five stellar performances in Melbourne, Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami and Orlando.
In just seven short but eventful weeks, Banton, backed by his Shiloh Band, played jam packed venues in Philadelphia, Bladensburg, Providence, New Haven, Portland, Boston, Rochester,Newark, Charlotte, Norfolk, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, Columbus, Denver, Aspen, Berkeley, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Los Angeles, San Diego, Albuquerque, Dallas, Austin, Houston andAtlanta. Despite the misguided efforts to derail his musical movement, Buju Banton’s Rasta Got Soul US Tour proved unstoppable with nearly 30,000 fans attending 32 shows across the country, making it the biggest-selling Reggae tour of the year.
The last few days of the Rasta Got Soul US Tour also served as the perfect backdrop to lens an accompanying video clip for Buju’s rousing new single “Optimistic Soul” and a special behind-the- scenes documentary short entitled This Is Buju Banton. Gargamel Music partnered with esteemed Atlanta-based photographer/videographer Zach Wolfe (www.zachwolfe.com), who simultaneously shot and directed both projects guerrilla style.
Meanwhile, the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) publicly chided the gay community for trying to silence Buju Banton for “Boom Bye Bye,” a twenty-year-old song that he does not promote, perform or profit from today. “It is disheartening that some of our colleagues in the gay and lesbian equality movement have embraced censorship as a tactic,” begins the official statement recently printed in the Op Ed section of the Miami Herald. “This is terribly short-sighted: Giving the government the power to censor messages it thinks are dangerous never advances the cause of equality and freedom.” READ COMPLETE ACLU STATEMENT HERE!