Here we GO! With a new drum kit player backing us up~ with an incredible start already, Medicine for the People is beginning a Summer tour that is jam packed with amazing festivals and gigs all across the United States and into Canada. check our tour schedule at nahko.com On the sacred land of Benteley, outside Byron, Australia, there was a proposed fracking project for call seam gas mining. The locals were outraged, as it would infect their clean waters and damage their healthy land with chemicals and destruction, and so they stood their ground. There was a three month protest and camp out on the land, including a gathering at which Nahko and I participated, playing music for the protectors, and raising money and awareness~ and within a couple weeks~ the Mining was STOPPED!! This is the first powerful success of it's kind! An amazing journey into the mountains and valleys of New Zealand brought me to the door step of percussionist Doug Brush (drummer for Dave Stringer) and we played drums amidst the sheep, at the local music college, and along the sea! This beautiful time of rejuvenation was an incredible opportunity to learn new poly pulse patterns and continue to grow as a percussionist & musician! This Medicine show was an incredible affirmation for Hope as a drummer, and as a female drummer! Medicine for the People was one of the only bands invited to this prestigious event who is not technically a reggae band; so the outcome was in question... But the experience was incredible!! The crowd loved Medicine so much, they would not leave without an encore~ (the only band other than Damien Marley to be given an encore the entire weekend!!) Hope, as the only white female drummer, was delighted at this powerfully affirming response and acceptance into this roots community! Gratitude and respect~ all around! |