david rovics

sings for gaza

with

omar offendum

friday, aug. 21 7:00 pm

cordell hall, 2210 lincoln blvd venice (corner of lincoln and victoria)

maria armoudian

saturday, aug. 22 7:00 pm

sidebar cafe, 1114 n. pacific ave glendale (n. of glenoaks, off ventura fwy)

a benefit for free gaza movement whose ship `the spirit of humanity` seeking human rights was recently commandeered, the captain and crew jailed

for peace, justice and freedom for gaza's 1.5 million imprisoned and besieged residents

and for the right to read for its students

Singer-songwriter and peace activist David Rovics offers a view from inside of the struggle for a better, more egalitarian world. His songs of protest, in the folk/acoustic tradition, have been featured on national radio programs in the US, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark. He has shared the stage with intellectual luminaries of the left as well as musicians Billy Bragg and the Indigo Girls. He is recommended by (among others) Pete Seeger and Amy Goodman.

Omar Offendum has been described as dynamic, engaging and articulate, using rapid rhyme-dropping rhythm to continue the tradition of musical protest in hip-hop. He started his musical career off as 1/2 of The N.O.M.A.D.S., co-produced the critically-acclaimed "FREE-THE-P" Mixtape. Offendum is currently hard at work on his upcoming solo release - affectionately dubbed "Syriana-americanA" (Fall 2009)

Part radio host, part scholar-in-training and full-blooded singer/songwriter Maria Armoudian expresses her idealism in experimental/new wave/gothic. The antithesis to pop acts, Maria's music is sophisticated, artful, intense, with rich melodies and harmonies and stories that will move you. She explains why she wrote her CD Life in the New World: "Sometimes we need music to say those things that words alone cant say. Sometimes the conditions of life just make your soul ache. And you turn to your art."

recommended donation $20

(no one turned away for lack of funds)