Another World is Possible: BSF Benefit/Party at the Middle East Restaurant/Club and T.T. the Bear's Place, Saturday, July 24th (8pm-2am), 18+. Performances by Billy Bragg, The Foundation, The Reagan Babies & many more...

The night will include Hip-hop, Jazz, Reggae, Punk, Folk, Latin, African, Middle Eastern, Rock and much much more.

Tickets are $30 and are available at the Middle East Box Office or through Ticketmaster.

Please Note: Your ticket purchase does NOT guarantee the opportunity to see any particular performer. Entrance into each "musical room" will be on a 1st come, 1st serve basis. A wristband will be given to each buyer at the door allowing access.

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Performer bios:

Billy Bragg www.billybragg.co.uk

Finding inspiration in the righteous anger of punk rock and the socially conscious folk tradition of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg was the leading figure of the anti-folk movement of the '80s. For most of the decade, Bragg bashed out songs alone on his electric guitar, singing about politics and love. While his lyrics were bitingly intelligent and clever, they were also warm and humane, filled with detail and wit. Even though his lyrics were carefully considered, Bragg never neglected to write melodies for songs that were strong and memorable. Throughout the '80s, he managed to chart consistently in Britain, yet he only gathered a cult following in America, which could be due to the fact that he sang about distinctly British subject matter, both politically and socially.


Acid Reggae Xperience www.acidreggae.com

Matt Jenson's Acid Reggae Xperience ignites the ROOTS REGGAE style of the 60's and 70's and launches it into the modern universe of trippy electronic textures and blues and rock improvisation.

Jenson and the ARX Band present a tasty array of vocal and instrumental originals, with a few creatively rearranged covers, that are heavily inspired by Bob Marley, Agustus Pablo, Jimi Hendrix and (old) Santana, yet emerge from these influences with a sound that is completely original, soulful and...necessary.

The group presents killing re-arrangements of Stevie Wonder's "Have A Talk With God", Sade's "Cherish the Day" and renditions of Marley's "Trench Town Rock" and "Rat Race." Many ask "What the hell is Acid Reggae?!" Well, yes, it's a bit confusing when one can barely tell what this term "Acid Jazz" really means as well. Simply put: if Acid Jazz is more or less music that incorporates jazz, blues and rock influenced soloing over funky hip-hop grooves, Acid Reggae is the same only over roots reggae grooves.


The Foundation

The Foundation is a four member hip-hop group from Boston that the Allston-Brighton Tab has described as "A socially-aware group of rappers with tight rhymes and solid hip-hop beats." They combine danceable beats with poetic, unabashedly political lyrics in English and Spanish.


The Reagan Babies

The Reagan Babies are a quasi-mythical, ever shifting band that guitarist, nurse, and maladjusted Campbell's Soup Boy clone Eddy Dyer dreamed up while serving time in jail for blocking the driveway of a Raytheon plant in 1999. They blend a wide range of influences including Ani Difranco, Gigi Allen, the Grateful Dead, Vanilla Ice, Abbie Hoffman, Woody Guthrie, the Three Stooges, Kermit the Frog, and John Coltrane.

Michelle Shocked has described the Reagan Babies as "a seminal influence on my music." The Centers for Disease Control have described the Reagan Babies as "a serious public health threat." Their first album, "Growing Up the American Way" topped radio station charts in Cambridge, MA and San Cristobal de las Cassas, Chiapas, and is included in the syllabus of a sociology course at Loyola University in New Orleans.

The current line up of the Reagan Babies includes Eddy Dyer, Jonathan Leavitt, Randy Viscio, and Warren Haynes on guitar and vocals, Van Lawton on bass, Brad Clark on drums, Jimmy Otis on keyboards, Sean Donahue on mumbed poetic and prophetic ramblings, and Blind Missisippi Leroy "Harmonica" Washington on harmonica.


Iron Sheik www.ironsheik.biz

Using hip-hop as his medium, the Iron Sheik relays informed views on the Palestinian movement for independence, the war on terrorism, US foreign policy in general, the Arab world, and growing up Arab-American. Since releasing his first album, 'Camel Clutch 2003,' he has toured nationally, and performed internationally.

Musically, the Sheik often draws on Arabic music, such as the legendary Um Kulthoum, Fairuz, Marcel Khalife, Abdel-Halim, and more. Intellectually, he draws inspiration from thinkers such as Edward Said, Ilan Pappe, Walid Khalidi, Hannah Arendt, and many others.

He was a featured performer at the national American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Convention in 2003, the Palestinian-American Women's Association banquet in March, 2004, and at Awal Rabie (first Spring) put on by Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy in Cairo, Egypt. The Sheik performed at Native American reservations, inner city schools, and community centers, among other places.


David Rovics www.davidrovics.com

The Hartford Advocate describes David Rovics as "The Pete Seeger of his time." In recent years, he has shared the stage with Amy Goodman, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Dennis Kucinich, Barbara Lee, Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Desmond Tutu, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Ward Churchill, Jello Biafra, Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Bruce Cockburn, and the Indigo Girls, and has brought his music to the frontlines of demonstrations from Seattle to Fort Benning to Prague. Describing his own music, Rovics writes "I'm a songwriter. Most descriptions would hasten to add, a political one, since anyone who writes about something other than their navel these days is generally considered political (due to the entirely deleterious effect of a propagandistic, evil corporate phenomenon known as the 'music industry'). I believe music can be more than an escape. It can be that, yes, fine, but it can also be a hammer, to paraphrase Bertoldt Brecht. It can be a tool for selling products on the one hand, or part of the stockpile of ammunition necessary to build and maintain a social movement."


Evan Greer www.evangreer.com

Howard Zinn describes Philadelphia-based folk/punk/rock artist, Evan Greer, as "An eloquent and energetic writer [who] reminds me of Phil Ochs." A student at Swarthmore college Greer is steeped in the tradition of the great songwriters of the Wobblies, and his music grows out of his own experiences in the global justice movement. He says "Folk is angry music. Make no mistake about it. But it's playful angry. Creative angry. That's the most dangerous kind of angry."


Frankpipe www.frankpipe.com

Frankpipe is a seven piece jamband that includes guitar, trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, keyboards, bass, and percussion. They describe themselves as "Boston's notorious dealers of aberrant aural whatnots." Their music has a playful, surrealistic feel reminiscent of Frank Zappa.


Night in Wyoming www.nightinwyoming.com

Night In Wyoming is an acoustic trio(guitar, banjo, bass) playing original songs which touch upon country, old-time, bluegrass, and folk. They play regularly at many of the main venues in Boston-(Harper's Ferry, The Burren, The Cantab Lounge, Tir na nog),


Jazz-Hip Hop Orchestra www.jazzhiphop.com

Directed by Berklee College of Music faculty member Angelemia Bachemin, JHO performs original music featuring an ensemble that ranges from 14 to 30 members, including rappers, turntablists, a string section, a horn section, and one student on beat box. A combination of utilizing hip-hop, superimposing jazz motifs, different heads on top of the music, and intersecting and intertwining them with the music.


Omekongo Dibinga www.omekongo.com

As a poet, Omékongo has been inspired by many but cites Dr. Maya Angelou as his primary influence. The shining faces of our future that he has taught over the years formally and informally also inspire him. He writes to encourage dialogue, to bring communities together, to make people think outside the box. This has led him to performances across the nation and around the world in countries such as Congo-Kinshasa, France, Tanzania, Cuba, and Canada. He has also shared his poetry on BET on the nationwide level, and his work has appeared on TV and radio in over 30 countries worldwide. He writes and performs in English, French and Swahili, and has also blended Wolof into some of his poetry. He states that "the stage is my pulpit, the pen is my temple, the paper is sanctuary, these poems are confessionals, and my heart is my faith."


Stephan Smith

An Eagle Scout turned traveling troubadour, Stephan Smith is at once a multi-talented singer and a dedicated political activist. Called "an incredible songwriter and musician" by Dave Matthews, Smith is a renowned musician who performs rock, country, and rap songs seeped in the old time folk tradition. His topical songs and poetry have become local and national anthems to the activist community. Among his recordings are the 1997 single "Ballad of Abner Louima," with background vocals by Patti Smith, and his 1999 debut album, "Now's The Time" (Rounder/Universal). He has performed with Ween, Allen Ginsberg, Rufus Wainwright, Pete Seeger, Victoria Williams, Steve Earle, and John Zorn.


Chris Cooper (actor)

An actor educated at the University of Missouri school of drama, Cooper has appeared on Broadway in "Of the Fields Lately (1980)", off-Broadway in "The Ballad of Soapy Smith (1983)" and "A Different Moon (1983)". He debuted in films in the John Sayles movie Matewan (1987). Although his performance was well received, the picture was not successful. Other films he has appeared in include Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Money Train (1995) and Time to Kill, A (1996). On television, Cooper has been featured in the mini-series "Lonesome Dove" (1989) (mini) and "Return to Lonesome Dove" (1993) (mini), as July Johnson. He has also appeared in a number of Television Movies. In 1996, he appears in his third John Sayles movie Lone Star (1996), where he plays Sam Deeds, the sheriff whose lawman father becomes a posthumous suspect in a murder investigation.


The Butcher

D. A. Boucher, aka "The Butcher," has been a regular at open-mike poetry events throughout New England for years. He founded "The Collective," a troupe of poets, actors, comedians, musicians, and performance artists that shook up Boston with performances that shattered political, cultural and artistic boundaries. He has published a chapbook, Uncle Gay Dave, and is best known and loved for "No Penguins," a poignant and profound commentary on ecological catastrophes in Antarctica, the decline of the New England seafaring tradition, and fluctuations in price structures in the illicit cannibis market.


Kevin O'Brien

Sean Donahue of the Reagan Babies describes Kevin O'Brien as "An obscene Buddhist who road his bike across the country for peace." His unique blend of poetry and storytelling obliterates the lines between the sacred and the profane. Imagine a blend of Spaulding Gray, Allen Ginsberg, and Lenny Bruce. He is not the same Kevin O'Brien who was named employee of the year by the Nashua Police Department "for the actions he took regarding the theft of a city boy's bicycle," but he did ride a bicycle from Boston to Seattle during the lead-up to the war in Iraq, stopping in big cities and small towns and talking with people about war, peace, and humanity.


Barry Crimmins www.barrycrimmins

Barry Crimmins is one of the nation's most brilliant and respected political comedians. A pioneer in Boston's comedy scene, he helped to launch the careers of Steven Wright, Bobcat Goldthwait, Paula Poundstone, and Jimmy Tingle. He writes frequently for the Boston Phoenix and the Cleveland Plain Dealer and has appeared on the NBC Nightly News, the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and the HBO Young Comedians Special. He is a master of both long jazz-like verbal riffs and brilliant one-liners. Billy Bragg says ""Barry Crimmins uses his sharp sense of irony as a political weapon. In his hands, the subversive joke is the first small act of resistance."

State Radio www.stateradio.com

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Tickets are $30 and are available at the Middle East Box Office or through Ticketmaster.

Please Note: Your ticket purchase does NOT guarantee the opportunity to see any particular performer. Entrance into each "musical room" will be on a 1st come, 1st serve basis. A wristband will be given to each buyer at the door allowing access.