New York City: Reclaim the Coast - Gulf Oil Spill Benefit

RECLAIM THE COAST – GULF COAST OIL SPILL BENEFIT CONCERTS – THREE NIGHTS Friday July 23^rd, Sunday July 25^th, and Friday July 30^th at 8:00pm.    

UPDATE  : JUST ANNOUNCED  - PETE SEEGER TO PERFORM HIS LATEST SONG " DRILL BABY DRILL.....SPILL BABY SPILL" PENNED AS A PROTEST OF THE ONGOING DEEPWATER HORIZON ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER.

RICHARD BARONE, JAY NASH, JULIE GOLD, ELYSIAN FIELDS, MIKE DOUGHTY, IAN AXEL, ED ROMANOFF, MARTIN RIVAS AND MORE TO PLAY “RECLAIM THE COAST” BENEFIT CONCERT AT CITY WINERY.

The acclaimed folk singer, activist and environmentalist Pete Seeger will open a series of three concerts to be held at City Winery on July 23^rd, 25^th and 30^th. Seeger, 91, will perform the debut of his newly penned song, "Drill Baby Drill...Spill Baby Spill”, written in response to the ongoing environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A longtime social, political and environmental activist and driving force behind the Hudson Watershed Restoration, Seeger has said that the Deepwater Spill will prove to be the most costly and long lasting environmental disaster to strike the USA.

The  series of benefit concerts is being produced by City Winery to help raise funds for the reclaiming and cleaning efforts of the Gulf Coast. Since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank on April 20th, 2010, causing the worst oil spill in US history, thousands of birds, sea turtles and marine mammals have died. In addition to the environmental disaster writ large, thousands of people along the Gulf Coast who rely on fishing and tourism have lost their livelihoods. The cleanup and restoration efforts will require decades of work, and the 24 hr new cycle has already moved on.

This new series of concerts Reclaim the Coast follows on the heels of the very successful series of concerts, held in January at City Winery that raised over $100,000 for relief efforts in Haiti. Now, as then, all of the artists are donating their time and talent for this awareness and fund raising effort. All proceeds of the concert series will be donated to The Gulf Restoration Project, which provides assistance to the people, wildlife and wetlands affected by the spill as well as advocacy work throughout the Gulf Coast. The Gulf Restoration Network aims to protect and restore the natural resources in the Gulf by uniting and empowering people in their mission.

100% of tickets sales will be donated and attendance to the concert is only $22.00 per ticket for the first night on the July 23rd, and $15.00 per ticket for the 25^th or 30^th . All ticket purchases are deductible as allowed by law and attendance to any concert will result in much needed aid ending up in the hands of people in dire need of help. As the hurricane season fast approaches, now is the time to further boost the clean up efforts and ensure that life in the Gulf can return to normal as quickly as possible.

Artists confirmed for the Reclaim the Gulf benefit concert include the acclaimed recording artist, performer, producer, and composer, Richard Barone, indie darlings Elysian Fields, Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow, singer-songwriter-poet-photographer Mike Doughty, pop-driven piano-playing singer-songwriter Ian Axel, New Orleans-style R&B Funk artist Ed Romanoff, and the soulful, raw and honest singing from Martin Rivas. More artists are to be confirmed in the following days, so please visit www.citywinery.com for more details.

In addition to the donation of the ticket proceeds, City Winery will be bottling a special blend  and donating $10 from the sale of each bottle sold on the night. The Reclaim the Coast Benefit Cabernet will only be available from the winery's cellar door each night. The target is $50,000 to be raised over the three nights to help Reclaim the Coast.