Lester Chambers has been leading the artists and digital rights movement for 10 years. He is now touring with Steve Earl, Billy Bragg, and Tom Morello. Enjoy this 2001 performance video "People Get Ready"

http://dmusic.com/lef/peoplegetready.mpeg


(should work in quicktime and windows media. Real player, however, you are on your own.)

Billy Bragg, Steve Earle Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello )aka "the nightwatchman") and Lester Chambers of the Chambers Brothers are among the acts who will be a part of the 13-city Tell Us the Truth Tour, an outing that aims to raise awareness on media reform and trade issues.

The scheduled lineup for each show is listed in the itinerary below.

According to a press release, each artist on the tour will perform a solo-acoustic set, then all will collaborate on some "special pieces."

Actress Janeane Garofalo will emcee the tour from Nov. 21-24, and other special guests may be announced.

The tour has the backing of the AFL-CIO, Citizens Trade Campaign, Common Cause, Free Press and the Future of Music Coalition, and is being billed as "the loudest, angriest, funniest and most effective challenge to corporate domination of the public discourse in recent history."

Organizers say they hope to show the relationship between "bad policies and bad journalism" by showing the connection between fair trade and media consolidation.

"When presidents and politicians lie, it is the job of the press to expose and challenge those lies," Morello said in a statement. "When the press fails, the lies become laws. The point of the Tell Us the Truth Tour is to help others make these connections, and to show them that activism can change the policies of this country."

The tour opens with Nov. 7 and 8 showcases at The National Conference on Media Reform in Madison, WI. At the event, the artists will perform and speak on panels in support of strategies that will "structurally improve" American media, organizers said.

On Nov. 19, the tour stops at the People's Gala for Global Justice in Miami, where it will join with union members, environmental activists and human-rights campaigners to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a proposed expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The tour concludes in Washington, DC, where artists plan to join activists, academics and legislators to support efforts to overturn a June Federal Communications Commission vote that allowed for further consolidation of media ownership.

The tour is partnering with Rock the Vote to register voters at each show, and will raise funds to support "future artist/activist partnerships and organize future Tell Us the Truth Tours," according to a statement.

Updates and further information will be posted at the event's soon-to-be-launched website.



Tour Itinerary

[Note: The following tour itinerary has been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of October 13, 2003 03:25 PM. Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist web sites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

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November 2003

7-8 - Madison, WI - National Conference on Media Reform (w/ Billy Bragg, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

10 - Chicago, IL - Park West (w/ Billy Bragg, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

11 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theater (w/ Billy Bragg, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

12 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

14 - Nashville, TN - The Trap (w/ Billy Bragg, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

15 - Asheville, NC - To be announced (w/ Billy Bragg, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

16 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

18 - Tampa, FL - To be annonunced (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

19 - Miami, FL - People's Gala for Global Justice (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

21 - Philadelphia, PA - To be announced (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

22 - New York, NY - Webster Hall (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

23 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)

24 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club (w/ Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, Lester Chambers)


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Why does everybody hate the West Coast? They're not doing this in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, or Las Vegas. What's up with that?

How about Phoenix as well! I would absolutely love to see Billy Bragg perform.

way off base but very funny If ya have comedy central you should watch south park it is such a rip on the riaa. Sorry again for being way off topic

Yes,I was wondering when they would take a poke at music downloading on South Park,,, was very funny indeed..

COME TO THE WEST COAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME ON MARCH RIGHT INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST. HOLLYWOOD?

Awesome, I'm about to watch tonights episode(South Park)(I assume thats the one you are talking about). I love that show so much.

South Park
So far its pretty cool, I think there should be a news item on friday/saturday about the rerun. I would post but I will be away from my computer...

Thanks for making available the video from the Knitting Factory. I have always thought it was well done. On the other hand, it is not surprising: Lester never gives a bad show. I have also enjoyed the videos from the Woodshed as well as Kennedy Center. Hopefully people will"buy videos direct" from the artist, who has lent his name to landmark decisions in legal history.

Interesting that Rock the Vote has come on board the Peace Train. This tour speaks truth to the people, and anyone who has been in the streets with 10,000 others knows that the media giants have committed a freeze-out of populist sentiment. Once you've felt the power and heard the people singing "People Get Ready" and "Imagine," you can never trust television networks again. Once ya Seen it, ya can't UnLearn it.

FCC Commissioners Micheal Copps and John Adelstein know it too.They are like the rest of us who are forced take it to the town halls across America. A blackout is in effect. This tour should call itself "the Blackout Tour."

Tell a friend. This is democracy in action. I am less than sanguine that an honest election will happen in 2004. Seemingly the results of the stolen UnElection in 2000 would have been the impetus for reform. No dice. I suggest, rather than wait for the Democrats to shoot themselves in the foot again, that we "Come Together" peacefully in numbers, repeatedly, as long as it takes. Do you have any doubts as to the will of the GOP to retain its garps of power through any means possible?

Boycott national media. Turn off the television.Support live music.

Congratulations to Future of Music Coaliton and RocktheVote. I have seen scant coverage of this event,and sadly conclude we are unlikely to see any. We're gonna have to propel this engine with peeps power. And we have plenty of precedent to consider in the behaviour of the heroes of the Civil Rights Era.

I suggest that the EFF come on board the Peace Train tour.

I love that video. Thank you thank you thank you for hosting. What a great voice Lester has. And that cat on the mandolin ROCKS (big smile)...

Very very good.
This one gets two thumbs and five stars from the CodeWarrior !

I will post some more video shortly! DTV!