This August, songwriting legends John Fogerty and Jackson Browne will co-headline two east coast concerts. The shows will take place on August 4th at PNC in Holmdel, NJ and Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY on August 5th.

Fogerty and Browne will each perform full sets with their respective bands. The two recently joined up for last year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions where together, along with Tom Petty they helped celebrate the music of Randy Newman.

Tickets go on sale April 5th at 10:00am (local times) through Ticketmaster. Pre-sales available now via the following links:

• Tickets for Auguest 4th, Holmdel, NJ
• Tickets for Auguest 5th, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY

About Jackson Browne:
Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2007. his music, he is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights, and arts education. He’s a co-founder of the groups Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE),Nukefree.org, and the Success Through the Arts Foundation, which provides education opportunities for students in South Los Angeles.

About John Fogerty:
John Fogerty–singer, songwriter and guitarist–has sold over 100 million records, earning 18 Gold Albums and 10 Platinum Albums. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, won the Grammy Award for his album Blue Moon Swamp 1997 was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. He is also a BMI Icon Award Winner. In addition, Fogerty and his #1 phenomenal recording “Centerfield” were honored during the 2010 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies–the first time the National Baseball Hall of Fame has immortalized a musician or song as part of the annual ceremonies. He’s also called the “Father of the Flannel Shirt.”

Inara George will curate 3 nights of music to pay homage to some of her unsung heroes. Each night she will invite special guests to help her pay tribute.

The series will benefit the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals and the environment. http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org

Venue Information:
Largo at the Coronet
366 N La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA, 90048
http://www.largo-la.com

Seat assignments begin at 6:00PM, Doors open for drinks at 7:00PM, Showtime at 8:30PM | When you arrive at Will Call on the night of the show, seats will be assigned first come first served, from the front of the theatre to the back. If you want to sit closer, be sure to come earlier.

NO LATE ENTRY * NO REFUNDS * NO EXCHANGES

King College Prep High School was one of several schools in eight different cities that performed in a virtual concert broadcasted around the world. The goal was to raise awareness about the importance of keeping music in school.

Backed by the jazz band, 18-year-old Khalil “Syncere” Lewis is center stage at the Bridging the Gap virtual concert. The massive screen was a window to eight different cities including Granada Hills, CA; Kent, WA and San Fernando, CA.

Music programs from each of the schools took turns performing.

“Since I’m an artist I write music as well so it helps me form metaphors and similes, everything correlates,” said Lewis, a King College Prep student.

Chicago native and radio personality Shirley Strawberry hosted the virtual concert. She said students around the country are losing out on culture because of budget cuts.

“What I love about it is how happy these students are… I would hate to see the schools around the country lose it just because of funding,” said Strawberry in an interview with FOX 32’s Tisha Lewis.

Song writer and performer Jackson Browne made a surprise appearance at the Wednesday night event.

Principal David Narain said virtual instruction and concerts, like this one, help show the importance of arts education.

“There is lots of research that will show you that having students participate in fine arts and performing arts makes them a better student and well-rounded person but it’s easier to cut than let’s say math classes which is required,” said Narain.

Chicago Public Schools said campuses without music education partner with organizations that provide instruction to students.

This example of virtual instruction is a public and private partnership with Cisco.

“Benjamin Washington has done an unbelievable job with this program, but think about being able to have Benjamin Washington at 100 high schools at Chicago Public Schools, right? And this technology allows you to do that,” said Jerry Rocco with Cisco Chicago’s Public Sector Relations.

This is the fourth year that Cisco’s Bridging the Gap virtual concert has connected students at different schools nationwide.

On February 27th at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts in La Mirada, CA, songwriters and long-time friends Jackson Browne, Steve Noonan and Greg Copeland will return to Orange County for an evening benefitting the Steve Noonan Medical Fund and the Fox Fullerton Restoration Project. The show begins at 8PM

General Tickets ($40/$60/$80) and Golden Circle seats go on sale at 12 Noon PT on Saturday, February 1st and are available at http://www.lamiradatheatre.com/jacksonbrowne/, or by calling the theater box office at 562-944-9801 or 714-994-6310.

For over eighty years, The Fox Theatre has been a dominant feature in the heart of downtown Fullerton. In 2001 the Fullerton Historic Theater Foundation- a 501c3 nonprofit- formed to meet the challenge of saving the Fox Theater, restoring it and helping to create programming that will allow the Theater to be a self-sustaining cultural center. A portion of the evenings proceeds will be put towards helping the Fox Fullerton achieve this goal. The other portion of the evenings proceeds will go to the Steve Noonan Medical Fund. Noonan, like so many musicians, was uninsured when he was faced with the astronomical costs of surgery and treatment for prostate cancer.

Browne, Noonan and Copeland went to high school in Fullerton, CA and began writing songs and working together at that time. Noonan landed a recording contract with Elektra Records, and together he and Copeland wrote the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s first hit, Buy For Me The Rain. His 2008 album, Bringin It Back Home,his first CD after returning to music full timegarnered rave reviews in the foreign press. Noonan is currently finishing work on a solo release.

Copeland and Browne wrote The Fairest Of The Seasons, recorded by Nico on her Chelsea Girl album, which was featured in the Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums. Copeland continued writing songs, some of which were recorded by Joan Baez, Jackson Browne and David Lindley. In 1982 Copeland recorded his first solo album, produced by Browne for Geffen Records. His second solo album, Diana and James, was produced by Greg Leisz, another Sunny Hills High School graduate. It was released in 2008 on Browne’s Inside Recordings.

Greg Leisz, one of the most acclaimed and sought after musicians and producers to emerge from the Los Angeles music scene in the last twenty years, has worked and recorded with Bill Frisell, K.D. Lang, Eric Clapton, Emmy Lou Harris, Dave Alvin, Joe Cocker, Joe Henry, Jackson Browne and many others. He joins Steve Noonan, Greg Copeland and Jackson Browne for this return to Fullerton by four of its native sons.

Dont miss an incredible evening of songs and stories with Jackson Browne, Steve Noonan, Greg Copeland and Greg Leisz at the at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts in La Mirada, CA

Why do we need a constitutional amendment declaring that : 1) money is not speech; and,
2) corporations are not people.

Well, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling under Citizens United has gotten a lot of coverage this election season, and for good reason. Unlimited donations by billionaires and corporations to SuperPacs have drowned out the voice of ordinary Americans.

But overturning Citizens United by itself isnt enough. That case builds on two other cases that can all be addressed in an amendment to prevent big money from corrupting our democracy.

Join the Stampede

How The Supreme Court Got Us Here
The ruling that money is free speech comes from the Supreme Court caseBuckley v. Valeo (1976) which upheld limits on contributions directly to campaigns. The Supreme Court feared that unlimited contributions directly to candidates might corrupt them, or give the appearance of corruption. On the other hand, the Court held that spending money in other ways to influence elections, by donating to SuperPacs, for example, is protected free speech under the first amendment. That is why unlimited sums can be given to SuperPacs but not directly to candidates campaigns.

Of course, this past election has demonstrated that simply laundering campaign contributions through SuperPacs doesnt solve the corruption problem. The real problem is that when you confuse money with free speech you give the wealthy and their corporations enormous megaphones that drown out the rest of us. A constitutional right to free speech for all is worthless if no one can be heard except members of the .01%.

The second line of cases had to do with giving corporations the same constitutional rights as people. These cases built up over time and slowly added more and more rights for corporations. This Wikipedia article traces that history pretty well. Granting rights to corporations hit its high point under Citizens United, but it didnt start there and overturning Citizens United alone wont end it.

What we need is a constitutional amendment that says that money is not free speech and that also says that corporations are not people. Only then can we begin to pass the laws needed to make our elections fair and free of the corrupting influence of huge money donors.

You Buy em, You Own em
Alternatively, a constitutional amendment has been drafted that would require all federal elections to be funded exclusively through public money. When some people first hear of the idea of public funding of elections their immediate reaction is What? No way Im going to give those politicians even more money. But the reality is that the amount of money needed would be less than $2 Billion. Thats about .02% of the federal budget. It could be paid for by closing offshore tax loopholes for corporations.But the big thing is You buy em, you own em. Right now elections are paid for by corporations and the super rich. And politicians do what the people who paid them want. When we the people buy em, we own em and the politicians do what we want.

Democracy Doesnt Work This Way
Its important to note that no other major democracy in the world allows for the unfettered spending on elections by private individuals or corporations. Most countries allow for relatively small contributions from individuals and beyond that public dollars are used to pay for elections. Sure, wealthy individuals and large corporations still wield undue influence in those societies. But the only chance any of us have of government acting as a counterweight against that undue influence is to ensure that politicians need our support more than they need the support of a tiny percentage of wealthy individuals.