I have been out of touch, but you have not been out of my mind.

So…where to begin.

Years ago, I made my first trip out to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. On a whim, during a town-wide dinner, I took out my guitar and sang a few songs.

If I had only known.

Many of you have heard this story, and many of you haven’t.

After I finished my songs and went to put my guitar in its case, dozens of pairs of curious hands reached out to strum the strings, feel the frets and hold my pick. I fielded questions about how to write songs, about how I learned to sing, and if I knew Taylor Swift. (I do not.)

I asked and you responded.

In 2011, I recorded a Christmas CD, asked you to buy it, and used the proceeds to buy guitars for folks in town so that they could learn music. I bought 50 guitars and throughout that first summer, had 56 participants of all ages, and at the end of the season when we performed our final concert, I got to give away guitars to everyone who stuck with the program. It was one of the highlights of my musical career.

Through your generous donations, people giving me guitars, or handing me a generous twenty dollar bill, I’ve been able to sustain music camp, and last night we had our fourth annual, LaPlant Music Camp Concert. 

Thanks to people like you, and thanks to Fender, I was able to give out another round of guitars to our next generation of music makers.

As it’s been every year, it was amazing.

The kids were proud. So proud so show off what they’d learned. So proud to have their friends and town cheering for them. So proud to know that I, and all of our Simply Smiles family are proud of them.

And then - in the final moments of the concert, after the encore finale (which included a group performance of “Smoke on the Water”) I got to make an amazing announcement.

I announced that the brand new, shiny guitars were theirs to keep. And with tears in my eyes, I looked back at their innocent and joyful faces, which held expressions that I only wish I could truly describe.

This may seem like melodrama, but I know that nights like last night can save lives.

These kids live in an environment where suicide is considered an option, and is mentioned often and casually.

All of the kids that participated in last night’s concert have lost a relative, a friend or a classmate…in a completely preventable form of death.

About a month ago, many of these kids lost one of their friends to suicide. Her name was Jessica.

According to all, she was funny, pretty, smart, good at sports, and kind-hearted.

Her death set off a chain reaction in this town. Suicide threats. Attempts. Self-harming behavior.

It has been a rough summer. 

I’ve learned more than I had ever hoped I’d need to know about suicide prevention, about the mental health system, and about how to navigate protecting minors that you care for, but have no legal authority to protect.

It’s enough to break your heart.

So nights where kids sing, ‘This Little Light of Mine’, and ‘Keep Hope Alive’, shouting their own truth with all of the power in their lungs and hearts…these nights save lives.

And these kids are worth saving.

And that’s what I’m doing. And that’s what I will do.

And so this brings me to some news.

I have an opportunity for them.

My friend, Peter Yarrow, the legend of a folk singer, has asked me and my music camp kids to come and sing with him for the grand finale at the Unity Concert in the Black Hills.

Singing on stage with Peter has been one of the highlights of my career, and I’ve had the good fortune of doing it many times.

I want these kids to share that same swell of pride. I want to see their chests puff up, and smiles spread across their cheeks as an audience of thousands cheers for them.

I announced this to the kids yesterday. We started learning ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ today. These kids are so ready to show the world what they’ve got.

They’re ready to show the world that they will not fall victim to hopelessness.

We will keep hope alive

Thank you for always supporting me.

Thank you for always supporting these kids.

A true folk song

In the wake of the Charleston murders, a friend of mine wrote a song. It’s a beautiful song, and it pleads with the state house of South Carolina to take down the Confederate flag.

The story caught on - people started asking him to write more verses, and instead, he turned this into a true folk song and asked all of us in the community to contribute verses.

There are now over 100 verses to this song, and I wanted to share mine.

You can view it here:

I’ve included the lyrics and chords below (he wrote the song in D, but my chords are in parenthesis - just a half step below), because I’d love for you to add your own verse. If you do - please upload it to youtube and post your link in my video's comments, or send it to me via email. I’d love to hear it.

May we all be kind to one another other.

Have a beautiful day.

Take Down Your Flag (By Peter Mulvey and many others)

D  (Db)                                            Bm  (Bbm)

Every flag over Charleston's at half mast today, except one.                                                               

G  (Gb)                                            A  (Ab)            

Every flag over Charleston's at half mast today, except one.

Bm  (Bbm)            G  (Gb)       Bm  (Bbm)                   A  (Ab)                                                                  

Take down your flag to half mast, take down your flag to half staff.                                                

Bm  (Bbm)                  G  (Gb)                A  (Ab)                                                                                            

Take down your flag, take down your flag.

They call her Emanuel, Mother to all, her door is always open.
They call her Emanuel, Mother to all, her heart is wide open.

Take down your flag to half mast, take down your flag to half staff.
Take down your flag, take down your flag.

It will take all of the love in all of our hearts, it will also take something more.
It will take all of the love in all of our hearts, it will also take something more.

Take down your flat to half mast, take down your flag to half staff.
Take down your flag, take down your flag,

And then take it down for good.

Keep Hope Alive

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." 

- Margaret Mead

We have entered into spring- it's been a slow arrival, but here we are.

With spring, come Keep Hope Alive events, which are evenings organized by Simply Smiles that raise funding for the year's programs in Oaxaca, Mexico and LaPlant, South Dakota.

Last weekend, on the first day of spring something remarkable happened.

I'm not referring to the 5 inches of snow that fell (which, by the way, took me down hard - I still have a bruise on my hip!), I am referring to a small group of people that came together to change the world.

Because of the snow and the bad roads, we were all nervous - would anyone even come to the event? If I had a choice between curling up on the couch under a blanket and going out in the cold - I would have probably chosen the blankie...

Attendance was low, about 2/3 of the RSVPs didn't come.

But we did the event anyway, because the other 1/3 did come. And because we were there, and because we thought - these folks came out in the middle of a snowstorm - we decided to make the best event we could despite circumstances we couldn't control.

And it worked!

People were so happy to be there, the energy and positivity in the room were absolutely amazing. I feel like we were generating our own heat.

As the night started, people raised their hands to donate money, as the night continued, people continued to raise their hands, and about halfway through the night...

An anonymous donor gave $40,000.

The audience went wild. People continued to give. We were all tearing up. It was emotional and powerful and inspiring.

At the end of the night, Simply Smiles had raised $114,760 thanks to generous pledges, and we knew in our heart of hearts that a small group of committed people had come together to make the world a better place.

I take back what I said earlier. There's no place I would have rather been than in that room. I wouldn't have missed that night for the world.

Be True

So here's the thing. I've talked about this a lot. In the last years, I have discovered that as I stay truer to my convictions, my beliefs and what I know is right, things go well for me.

I've embraced being a true, sing-along-leading folk singer, I've embraced that I want to help kids on a reservation learn music, I've embraced that I want people to be kind to one another, and look at what's happened:

• I opened for Pete Seeger, I shared the stage with Dar Williams, Peter Yarrow, and many others, just because I committed to my musical calling.
• People from around the country have sent guitars, strings, picks, guitar stands, just because they too want to help kids on the Cheyenne River Reservation learn music.
• The Just Be Nice Party is becoming a real party. Thousands of people have joined the movement, and we are in the planning stages for our first music festival to push the movement forward. Turns out a lot of people want to be kind.

All of these things have happened, are happening and will happen.

That's a pretty great public service announcement for staying true to you!

So, I'll just add to that list a little bit.

We've fought fracking in Connecticut, especially the dumping of toxic fracking waste in our water. People came together, spoke up to our governor, and legislation happened. By taking a stand and getting involved, I'm now included on a list of amazing musicians, songwriters and performers, and together we've put together a compilation album to raise awareness on the dangers of fracking.

I'm on an album with the Indigo Girls for goodness sake.

So there you have it. Be true to you. If you've been waiting for proof, if you've been waiting for confirmation, please let this story and this evidence persuade you to follow your true path and passion. The world really needs you.

Love, Kristen

---------

John Butler Trio, Bonnie Raitt, Pete Seeger, and more stand against fracking on ‘Buy This Fracking Album,’ 6.16

John Butler Trio, Bonnie Raitt, Michael Franti, Indigo Girls, and many more are lending their voices in an effort to shed light on the dangers of hydro-fracking - a method of extracting natural gas from the earth’s shale that also jeopardizes and contaminates the water table - on a 24 track, two disc benefit compilation, 'Buy This Fracking Album' (June 16th). The album proceeds will benefit Marcellus Protest, a non profit organization in Pennsylvania, and other grassroots organizations around the country working to ban fracking. Album beneficiary Food & Water Watch is donating its share of the proceeds into a fund that album producers will distribute to grassroots organizations. Many of the artists who have contributed songs to the album have openly voiced their opposition to fracking, with arguments ranging from the desire to champion community health, combat the corporate hold on American democracy, or - in the words of singer Kristen Graves - “I want future generations to have an example of what it looks like to live humbly, respectfully, and well with the earth.”

Watch the official album trailer here.

‘Buy This Fracking Album’ contains a combination of original recordings, previous releases, and live renditions of older songs.  The compilation includes Pete Seeger's first album appearance since his passing - a never before released live rendition of Woody Guthrie's classic “This Land Is Your Land" - “Hell to Pay” by Bonnie Raitt from her ’94 album ‘Longing in Their Hearts,' a live version of the Indigo Girls' “World Falls,” and original recordings from Meshell Ndegeocello (“Never Still Water”), Marco Benevento and Dave Dreiwtiz (“Freakin Frack”), and more.

While the songs on the album range in genre and subject, they all share the common goal of bringing awareness to one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.  Each of the 24 tracks speak to the fact that - as contributor Anti Flag says - “[corporations] can’t drink money, and we can’t drink natural gas.” Michael Franti says he wrote "Earth From Outer Space," "as a reminder of the importance of all of us being stewards of our planet, keeping it healthy for the next generations” and Bonnie Raitt - a founding member of Musicians United for Safe Energy - added, "banning fracking everywhere is one of the most critical environmental issues of our time because it destroys our water, our communities and our planet.”  As Rusted Root's Michael Glabicki explains, banning fracking is "not a matter of politics or money - it’s just a matter of common sense that you don’t destroy the earth like fracking does.”

‘Buy This Fracking Album’s’ Long Island-based producer Jason Samel is, in his own words, "not one to close [his] mouth much about anything” - a trait that led him to realize early in his career that he did not fit into the corporate world.  When Occupy Wall Street began in September 2011, Samel was thrilled to see “activism in his backyard,” and joined protesters at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.  In the park, Samel was moved by different types of music converging together for a singular cause, and left feeling inspired to create his first benefit album - ‘Occupy This Album.’  Through a series of connections and introductions he made during the movement, as well as support from filmmaker Michael Moore, Samel produced a four-disc album featuring “99 songs for the 99 percent,” with music by Jackson Browne, Warren Haynes, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono, Immortal Technique, and Arlo Guthrie.  It also was during his time at Zuccoti park that Samel took notice of the anti-fracking movement, and began laying the foundation for what would eventually become his second benefit album and the follow-up to ‘Occupy This Album’ - 'Buy This Fracking Album.’

Funding for the album is being raised through a crowd-funding campaign on Pledge Music, which allows fans to show their support by purchasing unique items and experiences, including concert tickets, a signed guitar, VIP tickets with a meet and greet with Bonnie Raitt, a one of a kind hand painted guitar from Michael Franti, DJ lessons with DJ Logic, and Marco Benevento will even play a concert in your home.

‘Buy This Fracking Album’ - Tracklist:

Disc 1: 1. “Smallest Trees” - Rootz Underground 2. “Freakin Frack” - Marco Benevento and Dave Dreiwitz 3. “Smarty Pants” - Rusted Root 4. “Earth From Outer Space (Acoustic)” - Michael Franti 5. “Activist” - Jay Samel w/ DJ Logic and Friends 6. “Revolution” - John Butler Trio 7. “Russel Crowe” - Moon Hooch 8. “Never Still Water” - Meshell Ndegeocello 9. “Gasland Terror” - Anti Flag 10. “Seasons” - Rebel Diaz 11. “Hydro Fracking Clowns” - Chris Merenda 12. “Fools Gold” - Pony Boy

Disc 2: 1. “This Land is Your Land (Live At Farmaid 2013)” - Pete Seeger 2. "Before the Drilling Rigs Got Here” - Thom Chacon 3. “Lack of Cash Flow Blues” - David Amram 4. “Drill on the Horizon” - Mike and Ruthy 5. “Motherland (Live)” – Natalie Merchant and The Felice Brothers 6. “The Mountain” - Steve Earle 7. “Down There” - Tom Chapin and John Forster 8. "The River Song” - Kristen Graves 9. “Hell to Pay” - Bonnie Raitt 10. “World Falls (Live)” - Indigo Girls 11. "What About Climate Change” - Eve Silber 12. “Star Spangled Banjo” - Josh Fox

11024661_445113348991347_9134722933538922809_n

http://www.MovementMusicRecords.comhttp://www.pledgemusic.com/buythisfrackingalbumhttp://www.facebook.com/movementmusicrecordshttp://www.twitter.com/movemusicrecordhttps://www.facebook.com/BuyThisFrackingAlbum/http://www.twitter.com/frackingalbumhttp://www.jasonsamel.com/www.youtube.com/MusicForOccupy

For more information on 'Buy This Fracking Album,' please contact Rebecca Shapiro (rshapiro@shorefire.com), Jon Bleicher (jbleicher@shorefire.com), or Greta Hayes (ghayes@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media: (718) 522-7171

Empowerment. #FORWARD

Empowerment is such a great word - just saying it, I feel, well…empowered! I met an amazingly energetic and kind woman named Jo-Ná Williams a few months ago. She’s a lawyer and an entrepreneurial coach. Quite a combo.

This year, she thought it would be cool to start off 2015 by offering folks an Artist Empowerment Challenge. I signed up, and I’ve been loving it.

This Challenge started with and has expanded upon the idea of choosing a word or theme for your year.

I love this!

I have a few friends who do this, my friend Cynthia even wrote a blog about it, and they all swear it’s better than having a new year’s resolution.

I had been thinking about this idea, so when choosing a word came up on the first day of the Challenge, I was prepared.

I went with FORWARD.

I know 2015 is going to be a great year for me. 2014 was great, and 2013 I opened for Pete Seeger, so yeah - that was awesome too.

I've started off 2015 with some great momentum, and I have a really good feeling about it. Even though I’ll have setbacks, and even though moving forward demands hard work, I will.

I will move forward,

I will think forward,

and I will keep my gaze forward.

This is not the year for me to be looking back, and it’s not the year for me to be dreaming about my future. I will be present and I will march on.

With this- I’ve decided on something else: I am no longer allowing mistakes to kill the flow of my momentum. (You shouldn't either!)

I’ve been guilty of this in the past. No more!

I’ll have a set back.

I’ll write a dumb song.

I’ll miss a workout.

And in the past, I'd have felt that all was lost.

That’s ridiculous!

This is the year that I will learn from my mistakes and I will move…FORWARD.

If you’re interested in this challenge, you can join anytime! The exercises only take a few minutes, and I’ve gotten a lot out of them already. You can get more information here if it sounds like your style.

As always - thanks for reading my blog, thanks for listening to my music, and thanks for your support!

See you as we move onward and forward, Kristen

#forward

forward