Stay Strong Press
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For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Erica Bleznak – Erica@www.staystrongproject.org
(610) 324-3139
Stay Strong Project: An Anthem of Hope
Musicians David Newman and Mira Inspire the Chant and Yoga Community to Unite in a Nonprofit Effort for the Environment and Gulf Coast Rebuilding
New York, NY – October 26, 2010 – The chant and yoga community has united behind a new nonprofit venture in support of environmental solutions and Gulf Coast rebuilding.
The Stay Strong Project was conceived by musicians David Newman and Mira, his wife, as a kind of “We Are the World” for the chant and yoga community in support of Gulf Coast recovery. Fully 100% of profits are to go to Global Green USA. This organization, which Newman officially partnered with for the Stay Strong Project, supports efforts for the ongoing Gulf Coast recovery and other environmental and humanitarian concerns.
Newman’s “Stay Strong,” a new song, was inspired as an offering of moral support to the people affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill catastrophe and as a call to stay strong in challenging times. The larger “project” idea followed.
A participatory video on which luminaries of the chant and yoga world added their voices, Newman realized, would be an ideal vehicle for raising donations for the Stay Strong Project. “We wanted to get the chant and yoga community involved and committed,” Newman says from his home outside Philadelphia.
At Newman's invitation, top chant artists and many yogis signed on to participate on “Stay Strong.” They were filmed and recorded at Bhaktifest, a kind of annual Woodstock of kirtan chant and yoga, in September, 2010, in Joshua Tree, California, and in individual recording sessions. Those joining David and Mira include Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Wah, Snatam Kaur, Sharon Gannon, Sean Johnson, Donna De Lory, Seane Corn, Shantala, Dave Stringer, Girish, Gaura Vani, Shyam Das, C.C. White, Govindas and Radha, Suzanne Sterling, Kirtan Rabbi, Saul David Raye, Radhanath Swami and others.
The “Stay Strong” video and song is to be released in early 2011 as a download, with all proceeds going to Global Green USA. Nutone Records will be distributing the piece digitally.
“I connected to David Newman through Sean Johnson, a kirtan singer and yoga teacher from New Orleans,” says Global Green USA Chief Operating Officer Richard Wegman. “When David shared his vision of the song’s message, ‘to remain positive and inspire people to come together in service, celebration and prayer,’ I told him that is exactly what Global Green USA is doing in the Gulf and beyond. In the Gulf alone, you can see that positivity, service, celebration and prayer in the people who stayed after Katrina five years ago and have ridden out the aftermath of the oil spill that began six months ago. These are the kind of people who make America a great nation! So the connection was obvious, and I am happy to be working with David on this joint project.”
“I feel confident that the chant and yoga community, through the Stay Strong Project, can make an important contribution in its partnership with Global Green USA, to the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast and to wider environmental efforts, including climate solutions, clean water and more,” Newman says.
About David Newman
David Newman is a man of many talents, but of one heart. He is a musician skilled at bending and blending musical genres, but with a solitary goal. “In music, I serve and bring about love for life and earth,” says Newman, the Nutone Records chant musician and singer-songwriter. His life’s work is about uniting the worlds of Western rock and folk music with that of the Eastern, Indian kirtan call-and-response chants. NPR’s All Things Considered called him “a rising star in the international sub genre of chant artist or mantric musician.” He is also a yoga practitioner and teacher of Bhakti yoga, “the yoga of love.” His sixth and latest CD, To Be Home (Nutone Records, a division of Nettwerk, 2010), features Mira’s vocals, cajon and percussion. Newman and Mira spend most of their time on tour, bringing the sounds of East and West to audiences worldwide.
Web sites:
- www.staystrongproject.org
- www.davidnewmanmusic.com
- www.globalgreen.org
- www.facebook.com/pages/Stay-Strong/126153467432877
To schedule an interview with David Newman and for more information,
Contact Erica Bleznak – , (610) 324-3139