January 18, 2005

Independent Artist Aid-
HOPE NEVER DIES

For the past couple of weeks Woodstock and a group of friends have been busy putting together a new fundraising CD, which is due to be released soon.

In the wake of a disaster, it's a natural human urge to want to help. A bunch of disparate musical individuals from seven countries - the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong/China, Austria, England and Scotland, has banded together to form Independent Artist Aid, producing a 17 song compilation CD: "Hope Never Dies", to raise money for the victims of the Asian Tsunami.

With a shared love of good quality tunes, regardless of style or genre, all the artists met and forged friendships through Garageband.com, the Internet's leading arena for independent musicians. Thanks to the site's vibrant interactive scene, both on the peer reviewing front and via their busy bulletin boards, many have become involved in outside collaborative projects as a result. This is one of them. Selected by two of GarageBand's highest rated reviewers, we believe we are not exaggerating when we say we're offering a taste of some of the finest and classiest unsigned musical talent available worldwide. You may not have heard of many - if any - of the musicians, but we think you're going to enjoy the show just the same!

A team effort, this project was set up as a knee-jerk response to learning of the plight of the Tsunami victims. Sometimes you've just got to listen to your knees. Every one of the participants: artists, engineer, designer and all the organisers behind the scenes, has donated their recorded material and services free of charge, and all profits from sales will be sent to the Mercy Corps (http://www.mercycorps.org).

We chose the Mercy Corps because of its reputation for integrity, ethical dealings and high-strength delivery of the goods where they are needed most. The fact that it is an internationally-based organisation, with headquarters in the USA and Scotland, was also attractive. Coincidentally the prime movers in creating this fundraising CD are also based in the USA and Scotland! Most of all we were impressed by how high a percentage of the charity's income goes directly to aid, rather than on running costs.

The CD will be available to purchase online soon from IndieNetunes.com (http://iaa.does.it).

For more information -

contact Woodstock

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