Cat Power and Sky Ferreira Will Play Benefit Concerts for Ferguson Protestors
Cat Power and Sky Ferreira are joining the ranks of artists standing up for the protestors in Ferguson, Missouri following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in the St. Louis suburb.
Cat Power (a.k.a. Chan Marshall) spread the news with a post on Instagram, announcing that she’ll be playing a show at the Firebird in St. Louis on Sunday, with all proceeds going “to help protestors get out of jail & any needed supplies and food for protestors & flowers for rifles.” She later posted a photo of a t-shirt declaring “Support #Ferguson Support Peace,” which she said would be a free reward for the first five people to contribute a suggested donation amount.
As Consequence of Sound reports, Marshall also invited Sky Ferreira to join her at the concert. Ferreira posted the photo of Marshall’s “Support #Ferguson” shirt on Instagram, noting that she probably couldn’t join in the event, but promising support in another form. “I’m trying to find a way to come but I’m contractually obligated to another show,” she wrote in the caption. “The $$$ for my performance will go towards this & I will be there in spirit.”
Michael Brown’s death and the brutal police response to protests have struck a nerve with a number of other musicians. Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike responded by posting a powerful essay about the shooting to Instagram. “Stop talking and LOOK at these PEOPLE,” he wrote. “LOOK at these HUMANS and stand with them against a system allows a Human PIG to slaughter their child.”
J. Cole and Lauryn Hill both released songs dedicated to Ferguson (Cole’s was a new one, written in response to the shooting; Hill’s was an “old sketch” of her song “Black Rage”), while T.I. and Devonté Hynes reflected on the incident in interviews and Instagram posts. Billy Bragg and his touring partner Joe Purdy played an impromptu benefit concert in South St. Louis.
“It’s Woody’s work,” Bragg told Rolling Stone. “And if we’re going to be true to the little guy — more than just singing ‘This Land Is Your Land’ — then doing something that brings a bunch of people together and raises some money for a struggle is much more like the work that he and Lead Belly did. It’s a no-brainer.”