Jackson Free Press

"If every Deadhead in the state of Florida had voted in the last election, it would be a very different world today," reflects Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. Weir, of course, is referring to Bush's slim 537-vote margin of victory in Florida in the 2000 election. And his point is applicable not only to Deadheads but punk rockers, folkies, indie rockers, hip-hop heads and metal heads.

Indeed, the ballot boxes should expect a collective punch this November from young Americans, who are currently being educated and inspired to vote by hundreds of bands across genres—from the Dead to the Dixie Chicks, NOFX to Death Cab For Cutie—with the help of dozens of supporting organizations. If all goes as planned, more 18- to 30-year-olds will turn out to vote in November than ever before.

Recording artist Moby, who has worked with Rock the Vote, MoveOn.org and many other progressive organizations involved in getting out the vote, takes the pragmatic view: "It's important for everyone to vote and be involved in the political process. Democracy only functions when people participate, obviously."

If participation is what's key, then for many organizations, getting the coveted youth demographic involved is job one. "Voting is the new not-voting," says Damian Kulash, singer and guitarist with OK GO, the band that toured with Ira Glass for live performances of the radio show "This American Life." "The disaffected non-involvement that so many of us have been a part of needs to stop. It has stopped."

Rule the Nation

A variety of groups have been created to help musicians and organizers reach out to young music fans and encourage them to participate in social change through voting.

Music For America is a coalition of musicians, tour coordinators and band managers hoping to get one million new youth voters to vote this November. MFA postcards distributed at concerts remind fans that in the 2000 election, of 27 million eligible voters under age 25, only 10 million voted and in six different swing states the election was decided by less than 10,000 votes.

MFA has joined a wide range of artists and youth political organizations to form the Involver Alliance. The Seattle-based band Death Cab For Cutie is part of the alliance, and bassist Nick Harmer says voter registration is available at every concert. But the band won't tell its fans whom to vote for, says Harmer. "Don't listen to us, listen to the BBC!" he says. "We encourage people at our shows to ask questions, go after information and figure out things for themselves."

Jehmu Greene, president of Rock the Vote, cuts to the chase. "This is the most important election my generation has faced. We face the same issues all across the country: health care, insurance, the job situation, and seeing our friends and family on the front lines in Iraq." RTV has been pushing voter registration since 1990, with help from MTV and corporate sponsors like Sunkist, Motorola, and Ben and Jerry's. Rock the Vote has worked with the National Council of La Raza, Americans for Healthcare and Native American tribes, and has launched a 2004 national bus tour that will travel with bands like the Dixie Chicks, Lenny Kravitz and Erykah Badu to register voters. In July and August the RTV bus tagged along with The Dave Matthews Band on its tour and visit college campuses.

"This generation has the opportunity to rule the nation," says Greene.

Punk to Vote

During a break from registering voters at the Warped Tour in San Francisco on July 3, 24-year-old Amy Dials, Washington state coordinator for Music for America, echoed Greene's optimism; "If we did vote, we could sway this election." Dials estimates that 150-300 youth register to vote each day at the booth staffed by MFA and PunkVoter volunteers, while bands like Bad Religion, NOFX and Anti-Flag play to crowds of up to 18,000.

"We want to make it punk to vote," declared Brian Baker, guitarist with Bad Religion, which just released a new album, "The Empire Strikes First."

PunkVoter was created in early 2001 by Fat Mike, (Mike Burkett) bassist and vocalist with NOFX. "I was upset about the 2000 presidential election. I thought that Florida was rigged," Burkett says. "I figured I had to use my connections and celebrity to get other bands and kids involved in the upcoming election." Fat Mike has also created the Bush Administration Retirement Fund Political Action Committee, or BARF PAC. He believes that abortion and the Iraq war are the most important issues facing youth today. "Abortion will probably be made illegal if George Bush wins. And we don't have enough troops in the Middle East, and they are going to have to reinstate the draft," he predicts somberly.

Rock Against Bush, a compilation CD produced by Fat Wreck Chords and PunkVoter, sold 250,000 copies in three months. It included a DVD of "Uncovered," Robert Greenwald's documentary about the US war on Iraq. And Scott Ritter, the former director of the U.N. weapons inspections team in Iraq and a Bush critic, joined the Rock Against Bush Tour. The second Rock Against Bush CD, released in August, featured songs by Blink 182, Foo Fighters, Green Day and No Doubt.

Autographs for Votes

Al Jourgensen of platinum-selling band Ministry uses a special strategy to encourage fans to become politically active; "It is kind of devious, but between sound-check and show I will trade my autograph for their autograph on a voter registration card."

The basic message being sent from musicians to their fans is that the 2004 presidential election is extremely important.

"Bush is the greatest organizer in a way. No one since Reagan has mobilized so many people," explains Jeff Chang, author of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation" and an organizer of the National Hip Hop Political Convention. In June, delegates from 14 states joined a bus tour across the Midwest and Northeast to register voters and convened in Newark, N.J., for an unprecedented effort among artists like Dead Prez, Kurtis Blow and Bustah Rhymes to develop a national strategy for transforming cultural power into political.

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, founded in 2001, is a coalition of musicians, civil rights proponents and youth leaders working with Smackdown Your Vote to get 2 million more 18-to-30-year-olds to register and cast their vote than did in the 2000 election. Events happened throughout this summer in Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City and during the March on New York for Freedom, Justice and Equality on August 30, all aimed at getting more youth registered to vote.

Rap the Vote, a project of Rock the Vote, works with the NAACP and has appealed to hip-hop fans in the past through TV and radio ads featuring artists like Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. New ads are being produced for the upcoming election.

Counting Heads

Fans of jam bands and improvisational music are the focus of Head Count, which has already registered close to 20,000 fans, according to co-chairman Andy Bernstein. The Dead and Dave Matthews will be featured in Head Count ads on TV in October aimed at getting young voters to the polls. Head Count volunteers will also tour between now and November with the Allman Brothers, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Santana, Michael Franti and Spearhead and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Given the large number of bands and organizations involved in getting out the vote, Air Traffic Control was created by Pearl Jam in April to help musicians navigate the options. "We serve the artists to help progressive musicians sort out their options for activism," says Jenny Toomey, an ATC organizer and musician/activist.

The fall will be exploding with events, concerts and festivals where musicians and bands will encourage political education and voter registration.

"Democracy is much like a muscle," reflects The Dead's Bob Weir. "If you use it, it gets stronger. If you don't use it, you lose it."

John Malkin is a journalist and musician who hosts a weekly program on Free Radio Santa Cruz.