Hurray for the Riff Raff, fronted by Alynda Lee Segarra, performed at Willie Mae’s Rock Camp for Girls on August 1st in New York City, inspiring and getting girls of all ages to get up, clap, and find every way possible to groove. The five-piece band rocked it out with guitars, fiddles, drums, a bass, a keyboard, and most importantly: soul. Willie Mae’s camp is a non-profit program that educates and mentors girls and women about music, volunteerism, and activities that cultivate self-respect, leadership, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. The band makes it a point to visit camps and groups like this one all over the country.
The video features the danceable song “Little Black Star” that shows elements and connections to the city of New Orleans. Segarra states on her website, “It wasn’t until I got to New Orleans that I realized playing music was even possible for me. The travelers really taught me how to play and write songs…” I’m really glad they did, because her powerful and thought-provoking lyrics cause you to really take a look at the world around you, and in this case, to dance. Below, you can see the live performance and start to feel your own connection to the talented 26-year-old singer and activist:
Aside from Hurray for the Riff Raff’s performance at the Willie Mae’s Rock Camp for Girls, you can see the same heart and soul put forth with “The Body Electric Fund” powered by Revolutions Per Minute, the non-profit that helps artists support activism and philanthropy goals. In order to put out a music video for the song “The Body Electric,” there is an IndieGoGo campaign to raise money, and any money from this campaign that exceeds the video budget will go to two Foundations, Third Wave Fund and The Trayvon Martin Foundation. This project is an awesome sandwich in which the bread is also made out of awesome.
At Segarra’s website she is quoted as saying,
“The process of writing ‘The Body Electric’ was very powerful for me, I felt the waves of the 26 year span of desires to see all the women free from violence crash into me. It was anger, a desire for justice and a dream of change…I hope the song not only speaks to women, but to anyone who has the desire to be free…”
The incentives for contributing to the campaign range from a download of the unreleased song “Everybody Knows” for Trayvon Martin, the unreleased “The Body Electric” demo, and a sneak peek of “The Body Electric” video before the worldwide premiere…all the way to a recording (AWESOME!) of a song that Alynda will write about a cause that has meaning to you. You’ll get a CD with the song on it and handwritten lyrics!
Photos c/o IndieGoGo, Josh Shoemaker, and Shore Fire Media.
