| Say It Loud I ROCK THE CAUSE! |
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Rock the Cause will turn 3 years old this summer! While many organizations are cutting programs and staff, we are continually expanding.
From day one, Rock the Cause has had a team that is cost conscious. We have learned to be high impact and high performance with little
to no resources.
Because of this, we have had to learn to be innovative and define what it means to be social entrepreneurs.
We know that the economy will one
day be strong again.
When fundraising becomes a challenge, we raise friends. We have worked hard to build an organization that we hope everyone can be proud to be a part of. The friendships we have been blessed with, we do not take for granted. Thank you to everyone who is helping us take our 3rd year to even greater heights!
Please visit our website to send Birthday wishes, cupcakes, gifts of cash, time and services to Rock the Cause!
The Rock the Cause Team!
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Rock the Cause at Grand Old Day, June 6!
Each year, nearly 200,000 Minnesotans flock to St. Paul's historic Grand Avenue Neighborhood to kick off the summer with live music and a street party that would make New Orleans blush!
Rock the Cause will show its Rock and Roll heart with a spectacular mainstage lineup, featuring Ari Herstand and full band, Catchpenny, and Roster McCabe.
Rock the Cause has chosen Free Arts Minnesota and Minnesota AIDS Project as our causes to rock! Art supplies will be collected for charitable programs for children, for a chance to win a collection of Neil Diamond classic vinyl records, courtesy of Warner Music Group. Philanthropists who attend the Rock the Cause Stage could win one of two Epiphone Guitars donated by Gibson Guitar Company!
For the first time ever, attendees can buy advance festival garden wristbands through the Rock the Cause website (starting April 15), with $4 of every wrist band going to support Free Arts Minnesota, Minnesota AIDS Project and Rock the Cause! Advance wristband purchasers can also download for free Grand Old Day Music Sampler Volume 1, featuring music by the Twin Cities finest musical talent!
Grand Old Day 2010
Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN
Sunday June 6
Live music 12 PM to 5 PM | Rock the Cause Survey Results: How are we doing?
Over the past decade, nonprofits have begun to experience higher than average donor attrition rates. Can we blame the economy? Is it due to ineffective marketing and fundraising? Or could the real answer lie in how charities ask for membership and support? A recent national survey conducted by Parade magazine showed that we are actually experiencing a "compassion boom" when it comes to social activism and philanthropy. Despite the fact that most of the people surveyed said they've made cutbacks due to the economic crisis, 87% supported a cause financially in the last year. Also impressive was the report that 90% said that they are working hard to teach their children the importance of activism. Respondents were almost unanimous in the belief that it is "important to be personally involved in supporting a cause we believe in" in our communities. According to Parade, 27% of Americans have taken to social media and online communities like Facebook to spread the word about causes they believe in. This is referred to as "using what is predominant in the culture to create change." So what do donors really want? Donors and volunteers want be recognized and know that they belong. They want to know that the money they give is making an immediate impact on the causes they support. For the full results of our Survey, check out the RTC News Page.
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Through the Looking Glass:
A Spring Soiree to celebrate and support Rock the Cause!
Eat Me! Drink Me!
Complimentary Hospitality!
Elixirs and Tastings!
You are cordially invited to attend a costumed affair with Mad Hatters, Cheshire Cats, March Hares, and Caterpillars, all in the amazement
of a 35 room, themed venue!
Saturday, April 24
8:00 PM to 12:00 AM
2601 Sunset Blvd, Minneapolis, MN
We will paint the Roses Red with live music by:
Maudlin
Cadillac Kolstadt and The Flats
(old school boogie woogie)
$25 Friend Level
(includes complimentary hospitality)
$100 Patron Level
(Includes complimentary hospitality with top shelf surprises)
Tickets must be purchased in advance.
Only 175 tickets are available!
21 Plus Only
Costumes or Stylish Spring Attire Encouraged!
100% of all donations are tax deductible and will help Rock the Cause cover operating expenses like insurance and part time staff.
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Goldie's SXSW Excursion
(Bluesgrass & Soggy Socks)
Rock the Cause Programming Manager Ali Goldberg took a few extra pairs of dry
socks to this years SXSW in Austin, TX. From Ali's report, the wet cold weather
did not deter her from discovering some amazing new music:
Each spring, as the days get warmer, I can't help but think of my favorite season: Music Festival Season! I thought I was being clever when I decided to attend South By South West in Austin, Texas, but my post-academic "spring break" will be remembered by the sunny weather we did not have. Despite rain and wind, Austin was charming with its cowboy bars and numerous pedicabs, and reminded me of a miniature Minneapolis.
The festival clogged the main streets with its curiously diverse Indie crowd. For six straight days I lived among the swarms of bluegrass, screamo, acoustic, new age and Brit rock fans. I had never witnessed so many tattoos, nor had I been in a situation where the average age of an entire city's occupants hovered around 20 years.
But of course, the music was everyone's main focus and it did not fail to deliver. I had decided to use the festival as an opportunity to explore new talent, rather than wait in hours-long lines to see bands I was already familiar with. The groups I enjoyed the most were Steel Train (a Killers-esque sound with a hint of 70s punk), Sleepy Sun (haunting female vocals), The Kissaway Trial (recently opened for The Temper Trap) and Look Mexico (super friendly guys). We stumbled across an incredible bluegrass group from West Virginia, who performed in the street in the middle of a quickly accumulating crowd. From the sidewalk, I listened to blues guitar riffs- my own personal weakness- at a place I ended up visiting twice more during the trip.
Read the rest of the article on the RTC News Page!
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Featured Band
and
Free Music:
The 4onthefloor
When it comes to citing influences, most contemporary artists will name Kurt Cobain, Ben Folds, or Jay Z. The 4onthefloor are quick to cite musical traditions and legends like Son House, Skip James, and Howlin Wolf. The 4onthefloor represent the old blues, with an
independent rock and roll spirit.
The 4onthefloor released their first EP at the Kitty Kat Club in Dinkytown on Easter Sunday, April 4, also the birthday of Chicago Blues Legend, Muddy Waters. Rock the Cause was there to celebrate the re-birth of The Blues with our stompin' shoes and groove thang.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
4/07/10: Grey Matador with 500 Miles to Memphis at Sauce in Uptown 4/17/10: Clare Housing presents Sci Fi Bingo with hostess, Miss Richfield 1981 4/23/10: White Light Riot at The Fine Line Music Cafe4/24/10: Rock the Cause presents " Through the Looking Glass" A Benefit for Rock the Cause.
April 2010 is Child Abuse Awarness Month please visit Free Arts Minnesota to learn more about the Taking Art to the Streets Program. |
| Rock Trivia: 1983 US Festival: The Day Punk Died
Van Halen received an upfront sum of $1 million to headline the 1983 US
Festival. It was then upped to $1.5 million after it was discovered that David
Bowie was to be paid $1 million. Van Halen had a clause in their contract that
they would be paid more than any other act performing at the festival.
In contrast, The Clash refused to play unless some donations were
made to charities or other such noble causes by some of the other major bands.
After The Clash performed, the DJ began speaking right away and Clash guitarist Mick Jones attacked the DJ, believing he was trying to
prevent an encore.
This and The Clash's ironic criticism of the festival in the press
conferences and in interviews prior to the event caused an argument backstage
between Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and
The Clash singer Joe Strummer. This may have also been started by a
comment guitarist Eddie Van Halen made in Rolling Stone magazine one
month prior regarding the punk movement ("...that's like what I played in my
garage when I was a kid, man.").
A clearly intoxicated Roth compounded this rivalry by insulting The Clash
onstage early during Van Halen's headlining set with the comment, "I wanna
take this time to say that this is real whiskey here... the only people
who put iced tea in Jack Daniel's bottles is The Clash, baby!" This was
Roth's only mention of The Clash on stage that night.
"It was the day new wave died and rock n' roll took over," said Motley Crue's Vince
Neil in a famous quote regarding the overwhelming attendance on Sunday, "Heavy
Metal Day," at the '83 US Festival. It set the single day concert attendance
record for the US with an estimated 375,000 people. Showtime recorded the event
and aired a 90 minute special for each day of the festival.
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World!
The Rock the Cause Team
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