In April 1993 a techno music dj named Ron Rivera was shot dead at a stoplight in LA. There were no witnesses.
In January 1995, bassist and songwriter Brendan Hedges was shot dead on the Chicago El, riding home that Sunday night after finishing recording a demo with his band. The guy who shot him was trying to take Brendan's bass guitar from him.
In December 2005, Lee Richardson, a hip hop producer and Steinberg Cubase software rep for Chicago was shot dead after being robbed outside his home.
All three of these musicians were killed for no good reason. They were my friends, and all had a strong knowledge of music.
All three of them knew that music is the best way to express yourself, and are first-hand examples of why guns are the worst way to vent one's frustration.
During 2008, 24 children were shot dead outside their Chicago schools. This horrifying statistic demonstrates that now is the time for us to put an end to the wanton violence which is taking the lives of the innocent far too early.
What We Can Do:
Music may not stop a bullet in midair, but music inspires people and gives them hope. It will take a lot of effort to teach the next generation of children to avoid guns and gangs, but if we work together we can save the lives of our children by teaching them to express themselves creatively, not through violent outbursts.
www.MusicNotGuns.info is the home for our organization which is dedicated to showing kids how to have fun with music technology by giving them new skills for expression.
Our seminars to schools give at-risk kids hands-on experience with the kinds of professional music technology that are used to make the songs they hear on the radio -- keyboard synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, and performance and recording software.
Previous Events:
05/12/07 - Aspira Charter High School, Chicago
4/17/08 - Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Chicago
In 2008 I moved from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana.
Email us if you'd like us to visit your school.
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Links to websites promoting MusicNotGuns.info:
Donations humbly accepted to support our cause.
We are currently in need of several sets of headphones and headphone mixers, as well as 3 soft-shell cases for 61-key synthesizers. Your donations are tax-deductable,
and we do not charge money for giving presentations.