Hudson Valley Music All-Stars Unite for Concert to End Gun Violence at BSP Kingston

Marshall Crenshaw (photo Richard Blondy)

Marshall Crenshaw (photo Richard Blondy)

(KINGSTON, N.Y) – Marshall Crenshaw, Mike + Ruthy, Connor Kennedy & Minstrel, and special guest Kate Pierson of the B-52s will take part in the Hudson Valley edition of The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence at BSP Kingston on Sunday, September 25, at 7pm. The event is part of a nationwide effort, and similar concerts are being held throughout the U.S. simultaneously on Sunday, to raise awareness of the plague of gun violence affliction our nation.

Spearheaded by Massachusetts-based Stop Handgun Violence (SHV), Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence, and dozens of other organizations, this nationwide effort features a diverse array of artists performing at venues ranging from churches and school gymnasiums to honky-tonks, hotel rooftops, theaters, and clubs like Kingston’s own BSP.

Mike and Ruthy

Mike and Ruthy

Performers will give voice to the more than five million Americans who have been murdered by a firearm since the University of Texas mass shooting on Aug. 1, 1966.SHV Founder John Rosenthal said, “In the midst of America’s epidemic of gun violence that results in 90 deaths, over 200 injuries, and a mass shooting every day, this powerful coast-to-coast concert and organizing effort will raise awareness and – very importantly – get out the vote on gun violence prevention in the November elections and beyond.”

The BSP event began when writer-musician and co-producer of the evening Robert Burke Warren, aka Uncle Rock, received a call from his friend, multi-Grammy Award-winning activist Rosanne Cash, who is helming the NYC version of the concert at the Beacon Theater. “She asked if I would put together a Hudson Valley version,” he says. “So I joined forces with Family of Woodstock and reached out to these amazing musicians. They’re all passionate about the issue. So here we are.”

The BSP concert will feature sets from each individual act, and some cross-pollination. “Connor and Minstrel have played with everyone, including Kate and Marshall,” Robert says. “And Mike + Ruthy opened for and backed up Kate on her 2015 tour. So expect some impromptu supergroups. It’ll be a rockin’ love fest.”

Kate Pierson of the B52s

Kate Pierson of the B52s

Proceeds from the BSP event will go to Family of Woodstock’s 24-hr. Crisis Hotline (firearms are currently the most utilized method of suicide), services for youth and adolescents (1.7 million children and teens live in homes with unlocked, loaded guns), and efforts to prevent domestic violence (in an average month in the US, 51 women are shot to death by their intimate partners).

“Family of Woodstock is proud to be participating in The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence,” says Tamara Cooper, Crisis Hotline Program Director. “The focus of this initiative is to bring awareness to our ability to reduce gun violence in our communities through education and prevention strategies such as gun locks.”

As they do at gun shows throughout the Hudson Valley, Family of Woodstock will distribute information to educate youth and community groups about reducing gun violence, and offer free gun locks at the event. Also sharing information at the event will be the Ulster County chapter of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

 

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