Announcing the Palestine Will Live Forever festival (Seattle, WA)
Last summer as I was leaving my old job at KEXP, I decided to put more energy into this Substack, and not knowing how it would evolve, I ended up launching a podcast here called Worldwide Underground which has been a labor of love that is now 15 episodes deep! You can check any episodes you may have missed here.
I wasn’t planning for the podcast to go on hiatus for as long as it has, (the last episode was 2 months ago), but after a series of canceled/rescheduled interviews, followed by my 4th round with COVID, and now international travel for the month of August, I think it’s safe to say that season one is a wrap. I’m gonna be pausing paid subscriptions on this platform before I pick up season two, maybe in a few months.
But in the meantime, I have some exciting news!
The main project I’ve been working on this past month or so is a music festival called Palestine Will Live Forever, happening on September 21, 2024 at the Seward Park Amphitheater. All proceeds benefit Pious Projects, HEAL Palestine, Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and UNRWA. Maher Joudi, K-Salaam and myself have been hard at work booking this thing and putting together all the pieces, pretty much every single day. We’re gonna be rolling out the details soon, but let me tell you now the entire lineup is incredible, featuring musicians from throughout the Palestinian diaspora alongside others who have used their voices in solidarity this past year.
You can get early tickets for the festival now, and follow along with us at palestineforeverfest on Instagram as we roll out the lineup.
Also for my Seattle folks, a few more special events coming up soon:
I’ll be doing a free show at Occidental Square at 4:30pm on Thursday, September 5th alongside the world famous Massive Monkees and my brother Prometheus Brown of Beatrock Music & Blue Scholars.
And just announced, I will be performing at the Earshot Jazz Festival this year on October 22nd! In honor of, I’ve put together a four-piece band featuring Camilo Estrada on bass, Chris Patin on drums, Darrius Willrich on keys, and Ahamefule J. Oluo on trumpet. Joining us on the bill at Langston that evening will be the Seattle-based sonic-chameleons Afrocop who just dropped a new album you can listen to here. Tickets for Earshot are now available here.
October also happens to mark 10 years since the release of one of my most celebrated albums, Evidence Of Things Not Seen with Aotearoa-based producer SoulChef. As a way to celebrate, say thank you, and to just do something we’ve always wanted to do, this fall we will be releasing that album on vinyl for very first time! The record will be available exclusively at shows for the first month or so, before we make it more widely available sometime after the Jazz Fest.
Will be back here with more updates and show information soon… appreciate y’all!