Hurray for the Riff Raff Releases Free EP with Song for Trayvon
Download the new, free EP from Hurray for the Riff Raff on the eve of their upcoming tour.
In my story on Hurray for the Riff Raff for American Songwriter after the release of their Small Town Heroes, I wrote:
One song conspicuously absent from Small Town Heroes is “Everybody Knows (for Trayvon Martin),” a song [Alynda Lee] Segarra performed for a YouTube video with her friend Kate Cavazos. It was the song people talked about after Hurray For The Riff Raff’s sets at SXSW 2013, but she didn’t want to record it without Cavazos, and they couldn’t get their schedules in sync to cut it. Martin was shot on Segarra’s birthday, which made his murder personal. A year later, she found a way to sing about it and make her thoughts musical.
“I’d been thinking about Bob Dylan and Joan Baez – ‘Where are you now? I wish you were my age and you had the power that you had,’” Segarra says. “I felt like it was time for me to try to carry on this tradition and make them proud.” For the song, she stepped into another proud folk tradition – the topical song – and came to grips with the immediacy that is part of its appeal, along with its ability to keep outrage alive. “People can still listen to it now and think, ‘That man was allowed to go free.’ It can restart this anger and response all over again.”
Today, Hurray for the Riff Raff released a four-song, downloadable EP to coincide with the band’s upcoming tour, and “Everybody Knows” is on it. The EP also includes two songs from the album—“The Body Electric,” “I Know It’s Wrong (but That’s Alright)”—and a cover of Billie Holiday’s “Fine and Mellow” from the band’s My Dearest Darkest Neighbor.
Tour Dates
3/5 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's>
3/6 - New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall>
3/7 - Austin, TX - Paramount Theater (with Mavis Staples)>
3/10 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room>
3/11 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up>
3/12 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour>
3/13 - Big Sur, CA - Loma Vista Gardens>
3/15 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's>
3/20 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile>
3/21 - Vancouver, Canada - Electric Owl>
3/22 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater>
3/25 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival
3/26 - Salt Lake City, UT - The State Room
3/27 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater>
3/28 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theater>
3/30 - Sante Fe, NM - Sky Light>
4/1 - Dallas, TX - Dada>
4/18 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern
4/21 - Washington DC - 9:30 Club>
4/22 - Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live>
4/23 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club>
4/24 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom>
4/25 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg>
4/28 - Detroit, MI - The Shelter>
4/29 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall>
4/30 - Madison, WI - High Noon>
5/1 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center>
5/3 - St. Louis, MO - The Sheldon Concert Hall>
5/5 - Little Rock, AR - South on Main - Oxford American Series>
5/30-31 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music>
6/7 - Hunter, NY - Mountain Jam Festival>
6/14 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo>
6/27 - Dover, DE - Big Barrel Country Music Festival
