I came across a fascinating article yesterday in Rolling Stone’s ”Best of Rock 2008″ May issue. It desribed two of my favorite passions: live music and getting people to make a difference.
The article highlighted HeadCount, a grassroots non-profit organization founded in 2004 by Andy Bernstein, author of the Phish fan guide, The Pharmer’s Almanac, and Marc Brownstein, bassist for the electronic-infused improvisational jam band, Disco Biscuits. (And one of my favorite bands!)
The Web site states HeadCount is devoted to voter registration and participation in 
democracy.
HeadCount is lead by several heavy-hitters in the music community. The Board of Director’s includes Bob Weir (The Dead/Ratdog), Al Schnier (moe.), Andy Gadiel (Jambase) and Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), among others.
“It’s about making a difference.” – Bob Weir
HeadCount volunteers set up shop at all of the major music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Wakarusa Festival, Summer Camp and All Good Festival (to name a few). These festivals bring in tens (and sometimes hundreds) of thousands of people, so many that in HeadCount’s “Call to Action” PSA video, jam legend Trey Anastasio said “all the people at one festival can turn an election.”
So why mix music and politics? This is a question I’m sure many people are thinking and ‘low and behold, the answer is available on HeadCount’s site:
We believe that music, expression and freedom are all intrinsically intertwined…Many artists and fans have strong convictions and a deep personal belief in democracy. We created an organizational structure to channel those beliefs into action.
HeadCount makes sure to stress its bipartisan status. It does not prefer to register more Democrats than Republicans or vice versa, rather it is solely focused on getting people to register so that they can make a difference.
“The group voice is more important than the individual.” – Trey Anastasio
In the “Call to Action” video, Bela Fleck of Bela Fleck & The Flecktones explains why live music festival goers are targeted: that demographic can’t be reached easily and music festivals are a way to reach thousands of them.
I’ve blogged before on the importance of youths in the upcoming presidential election. These young people have such a power hold over the election that Obama, Clinton and McCain can’t help but strategize and implement campaign tactics that target the younger and savvier voter.
According to the Rolling Stone article, HeadCount reaches its target market “by creating television ads and e-mail campaigns, and by setting up registration booths at concerts by everyone from Wilco to John Mayer and at festivals like Bonnaroo and Farm Aid.”
Last year HeadCount signed up 48,500 voters and only hope to double that number this year. The musicians aren’t endorsing specific candidates, rather are just showing how they care.
HeadCount is possibly dealing with hundreds of thousands of proactive and empathetic people who wish to get off the couch, stop twiddling their thumbs and make a difference.
To which I say, ROCK ON!
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Joanna Jones said,
April 23, 2008 @ 6:47 pm
I love reading anything and everything pertaining to voting and young people. I am a strong believer that we are the future, and anything that allows young people to get interested in voting and politics is absolutely awesome! I have never heard of HeadCount,
but what an ironic name for a music festival. I think that this festival is another great way
to encourage people to register and vote without feeling pressured or bias towards another candidate. Everyone loves music, no matter what genre, it is a huge part of our culture, and HeadCount is a creative way to allow young people to get involved. This is a fantastic blog that is informative and well written. It has informed me on yet another voting campaign that I may enjoy even more. I think it is just as important that Rolling Stone is endorsing such a good cause because they are a great advocate for something like this. What a wonderful blog this is, and I had a pleasure reading it! I look forward to reading more blogs in the future!
Kristyn Lebovitz said,
April 23, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
I have never heard of HeadCount and did not know that they promoted voting. I think that having a chance to register to vote at a music festival is a great way to get people more involved in what is going on around them. Music can be so influential and it is vital that everyone who can vote does vote. Anyone can make a difference and our future is in the hands of the next president. In order to turn our economy around and have control over what happens in the future, we need to be educated on the issues of the presidential elections and make sure that everybody votes.
John Hansley said,
April 24, 2008 @ 4:08 pm
HeadCount is not the first of its kind to try and reach the youth demographic for voting, but I am certainly glad to see another organization out there trying to spread the message. It is pretty obvious that the effects of the organizations promoting youth voting have had an effect. The amount of people 18-24 that voted went up 11% from 2000 to 2004.
The only concern I have is that most of the organizations do have biases. Remaining impartial would be prefered, in my opinion, and let the musicians make music which speaks their point of view.
Regardless, kudos to HeadCount and any other organization that intends to get voters to go to the polls.