Friday, January 18, 2019 – 7:30 PM | Cultural Arts Center, Silver Spring, Maryland
Thank goodness—we had a Blue Wave in November’s elections, and we’re nearly halfway through this frightening tenure of the Trump Administration. Whenever we’re tempted to think that their policies (and his tweets) just couldn’t get more dangerous… they do. Health care and climate change. Reproductive choice, birth control, and LGBTQ rights. Fear-mongering about refugees and immigrants. Disrespect for our free press and for women. Cozying up to dictators and denial about Russian election-hacking. President Trump and his policies have been a daily challenge.
For the third year, we are hosting an UnNaugural Concert. In both January of 2017 and January of 2018, hundreds of progressive music fans enjoyed 5 performers at a concert that raised money for 5 progressive causes under attack by this Administration. In 2019, we will be supporting another 5 groups working on affordable housing, domestic violence, environmental clean-up, poverty, and suicide prevention.
It’s time to gather again on Friday, January 18th! Whether or not you are planning to attend the January 19th Women’s March on the National Mall, we need to be lifted up by music and a sense of community.
Please plan to join us for another magical evening that will make a difference for your spirit… and for the hard-working advocacy organizations we are supporting!
Best for the holidays and for continued efforts to make a difference on progressive causes!
Cheryl
Cheryl C. Kagan
Founder and Executive Producer
UnNaugural Concert
PS: You can click here to see highlights from the 2017 and 2018 concerts!
PPS: Our beneficiaries from the past two years were ACLU, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, CASA, CCAN, LCV, MD Hunger Solutions, MD Health Care for All, MCASA, NGLTF, and Planned Parenthood.
Featured performers:
John Flynn
Singer-songwriter and activist John Flynn is known for his powerful music and tireless efforts on behalf of the lost and the lonely, the shackled and scarred. His music has carried him from Jersey shore bars to Nashville’s Music Row; from home plate performances at major league ballparks to concerts in maximum-security prisons; from star-studded benefit shows in New Orleans to awareness-building appearances at Walter Reed Military Hospital and Dover Air Force Base.
Catie Curtis
Catie Curtis has become something more than a songwriting star. Her career spans 14 albums; songs featured on TV shows Dawson’s Creek, Chicago Hope, and Felicity; and movies like Finding Graceland and A Slipping Down Life. Since being “discovered” at New York’s The Bottom Line in 1995, she has been a perennially popular headliner, appearing at performing arts centers, concert halls, folk clubs, music festivals, Lilith Fair, Carnegie Hall, and the White House.
Elena & Los Fulanos
Elena & Los Fulanos came together on the streets of DC’s rapidly changing communities of Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant, where working immigrant communities co-exist with young political and nonprofit leaders. This is where Elena was introduced to the District’s mariachi, son, and punk music crowds and met her band members. Together, they are part of the city’s growing indie and international music scene. Their debut album, Miel Venenosa, earned a Wammie-nomination.
Tom Prasada-Rao
Longtime local legend Tom Prasada-Rao is a musician's musician - an unassuming presence on the folk scene since the early nineties. His voice belies his musicianship and his extraordinary songs. From headlining major festivals 15 years ago, to the relative obscurity of a recording studio, Tom continued to mature as an artist. His music is melodic, ambitious, and reverent. Tom was born in Ethiopia of Indian parents and raised in Washington DC.
Cheryl Wheeler
You may not be familiar with Cheryl, but you have probably heard her music - very respected as a songwriter by her peers, this can be seen by how many of them record her songs, including artists as diverse as Dan Seals, Peter Paul and Mary, Kenny Loggins, Garth Brooks, Suzy Boggus, Melanie, Bette Midler, Maura O'Connell, Kathy Mattea, and Holly Near. From her albums you can tell that she is a gifted songwriter with a beautiful voice.
Organizations We’re Supporting:
All profits will be donated to five effective local advocacy groups:
MHP serves more than 1,700 families in Montgomery County. We house people, empower families, and strengthen neighborhoods.
Umttr is a community of young adults leading a movement to change the story from bullying, depression and suicide to a compassionate culture where every person matters.
The Interfaith Works Clothing Center in Rockville provides low-income families with clothing and home goods free of charge, allowing them to use more of their resources on food, rent, utilities, medicine, and other basic needs.
JCADA is committed to providing high-quality services to all residents of the Greater Washington DC community without regard to race, national origin, ability, background, faith, gender or sexual orientation.
Trash Free Maryland is the leading advocate for public policies and initiatives to reduce trash pollution in the state. We work toward a state of Maryland that is free of trash, debris, and litter, where communities, public spaces, and waterways are safe, healthy, and support economic viability.
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.