On Saturday, October 3rd, 50+ artists and 10+ speakers came together for Democracy Comes Alive, a one-day virtual music festival aimed at channelling the power of music to make a critical impact on civic participation in this November’s elections and beyond. The 10-hour streaming event, powered by Nugs.TV and Plus 1, generated $40,000 and counting in funds for voter registration nonprofit HeadCount, as well as the participating artists, who remain out of work as the pandemic continues. In addition to the funds generated, Democracy Comes Alive led thousands of people to HeadCount’s tools to check your voter registration status and register to vote.
Among the many artists to perform at Democracy Comes Alive was David Shaw, the frontman for The Revivalists who recently kickstarted his solo catalog with the release of his first two singles. In the now-familiar split-screen style, Shaw played all the instruments for his first-ever “live” performance of the stark musical statement on the ever-growing divide between the haves and the have-nots, reflecting the nation’s current reckoning with racial and systemic injustice as the COVID-19 pandemic further exposes the inequities in health outcomes along racial and socioeconomic lines.
“There’s too much riding on this election to let your voice go unheard,” says Shaw of the performance. “Some of our most basic human rights are being stripped and taken from us right in front of our eyes and that’s not going to make for a very pleasant outcome for the future of mankind or Mother Nature. I urge you to get out there and make your voice heard on Election Day. Promised Land is a song that was written to be an amplifier and conduit for that voice. The voice of change, the voice of justice, the voice of the people.”
Watch David Shaw perform new single “Promised Land” at Democracy Comes Alive below. If you enjoyed the performance and have the means, consider making a donation to HeadCount and the Democracy Comes Alive artists via www.DemocracyComesAlive.com.
David Shaw – “Promised Land” – Democracy Comes Alive
Presented by Live For Live Music in partnership with HeadCount, Democracy Comes Alive was conceived as a way to channel the momentum of previous virtual festivals Quarantine Comes Alive and Justice Comes Alive toward encouraging voter participation in the upcoming elections. All funds raised from Democracy Comes Alive will be split evenly between the artists on the bill and HeadCount, the nonprofit, nonpartisan voter registration organization. For more information on Democracy Comes Alive, head here.