**Covid-19 Emergency Artist Relief Fund**
We are switching course, and redirecting any funds we raise over $30K to go directly back to working musicians and artists in the Resistance Revival Chorus who are most impacted by this crisis. Please help us support these artists during such trying times.
You can still pre-order our album here and get lots of great rewards! But from here on out our net proceeds will go back to chorus members in need.
Join us every Saturday at 9pm on Facebook Live for our virtual showcase, and hear directly from chorus members themselves!
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Thank you for visiting our campaign, and thanks for your support! We are raising funds for the completion of our full-length album THIS JOY, to be released in the spring of 2020. Read on to find out more!
* Video footage from the RESIST documentary coming summer 2020, directed by Susie O'Brien.
In the studio, making the magic happen!
(photos by Ginny Suss)
The Album
The time for THIS JOY is NOW! Our album’s name comes from a gospel song, sung commonly during the days of the Civil Rights Movement. It says, “This joy that I have...the world didn’t give it to me...and the world can’t take it away.” We deeply believe that it is this wellspring of joy and defiance that we must tap into to keep the resistance alive.
THIS JOY is all about bringing awareness to issues of social injustice, and giving life, energy, and encouragement to those who are always resisting and always fighting the good fight. We believe deeply that “Joy is an act of resistance” (Toi Derricotte, 2008). Maintaining this joy fuels the fire needed to continue to resist! Our music provides this fuel, particularly for those that may be weary in heart and spirit.
We recorded our album in two sessions, in August and November of 2019, in Brooklyn, NY. This groundbreaking collection of songs was built ENTIRELY, 100%, by women and non-binary folk, from our producers, engineers, and studio techs to all our vocalists, instrumentalists and songwriters. The collective power of womxn coming together to create, celebrate, and sing is also a direct response to how under-represented womxn are in the music industry (see this year’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California for the depressing stats). Our album is an attempt to re-write this narrative; to push for more platforms for womxn in music and to shine a light on the gross disparity that still exists. Our message is one of hope, and of the transformative power womxn have when they work together.
This collection of songs will uplift and nourish, and serve as a soundtrack to this particular moment in American history and beyond, with a truly intersectional feminist perspective and approach.
RRC Musical Director Abena Koomson-Davis in the vocal booth.
About the Chorus
The Resistance Revival Chorus was launched in the summer of 2017, in response to the need to bring joy to the resistance. The chorus' founders are organizers and activists, who were deeply connected by the power of music in resistance and moved by that political moment in history to make real change, to make an impact, and to lift others up through song.
A group of professional singers, lifelong activists and community-focused individuals, who identify as women and non-binary, were brought together to form the core group. The early members of the RRC made a decision: either be defeated and bogged down by the forces at work - or show up, sing out and push back! And that’s exactly what we did. We understood the joy and sense of purpose that is created through musical expression and community. The decision to be a part of the soundtrack for justice, found us standing on the shoulders of giants from the Civil Rights Movement, the Labor Movement, Queer Liberation and the movement for Women’s Rights in this country.
“When the Music is Strong, The Movement is Strong” — Harry Belafonte
The RRC has blossomed from that small circle to a chorus of over 60 women and non-binary artists who sing protest music, regularly breathing joy into the resistance through song, while uplifting and centering womxn's and femmes' voices.
As the RRC has grown, we have also made it a part of our mandate to address the fact that women have historically been marginalized and underrepresented within the music industry. We work together to build and grow platforms for women in music, and attempt to use the chorus itself as a catalyst for individual singer/songwriter’s member’s careers. We also value womxn artists by implementing fair pay practices, transparency, and loads of collaboration.
Producer Tiffany Gouché
Who We Are
We are musicians finding our activism, and activists exploring music:
Abby Dobson · Abena Koomson Davis · Abena Malika Jutt · Alba Ponce de Leon · Ali Fenwick · Alysia Reiner · Alyssa Klein · Andie Neff · Ann Marie Black · Anna Brown · Anna Rose Menken · Arin Maya Lawrence · Ashni Dave · Brandee Brown · Brooke Williams · Camille Trust · Carolina Iwanow · Charlotte Holston Douglas · Dara Lazar · Denitia Odigie · Dina Rudeen · Ebonie Simpson · Elana Bell · Elle Winston · Erin Boyd · Gaby Moss · Gabby de la Cruz · Geminelle Rollins · Ginny Suss · Hannah Rosenzweig · Ioana Vintu · Jessi Olsen · Jill Auckenthaler · Julie Brown · Kate Quarfordt · Kisha Bari · Lauren Benson · Lee Taylor · Meah Pace · Megha Desai · Melissa McMillan · Meredith Shepherd · Monique Jebessa · Munira Ahmed · Nara Garber · Natalie Guerrero · Nelini Stamp · Niama Sandy · Nilusha Dassenaike · Nitika Chopra · Paola Mendoza · Paula Henderson · Rebecca Lichtenfeld · Rebecca Rodriguez · Roxiny Rivas · Sabrina Hayeem-ladani · Sally Rumble · Samantha Waite · Sarah Goldstone · Sarah Sophie Flicker · Shaina Taub · Shantell Richardson · Shruti Ganguly · Solonje Burnett · Tabitha St. Bernard · Tinia Merriweather · Treya Lam · Zakiyah Ansari
Engineer and producer Jackie Sanchez behind the boards.
You, Our Supporters
This is where YOU come in. We have felt the depth of your love and support. You’ve shown up to our performances, you’ve sung alongside us, you’ve protested alongside us. You have believed in us. We are beyond grateful for your support.
You don’t have to be in the chorus, to be in the chorus!
We do this for you, and because of you. As we take the reach of our message to a new level, we know that it is ONLY possible with you.
We are looking to raise $45K to complete this album. The funds will be used for mixing, mastering, and marketing it once complete.
This album, these songs, and this entire movement are an idea whose time has come. So join us today. Remember, no amount is too big or small. Let’s get the country singing, together! THE TIME IS NOW.
***If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us anytime at [email protected]
