Hurray for the Riff Raff Remember Trayvon Martin

On the one-year anniversary of his murder, the band releases a new song.

Yesterday we posted a video of Hurray for the Riff Raff as part of our announcement of the SouthSounds Music Festival lineup. Today we have another one.

Last year, on February 26th, Trayvon Martin was shot to death in a Florida suburb. A young black man barely 17 years old brought to his end for no reason other than suspicion. It also happened to be my birthday. As I celebrated another year on Earth, I was haunted by the fact that his life ended so soon. After a visit to the Civil Rights museum in Memphis, TN I wrote this song. Today is the one-year anniversary of his death and we must not forget him. We must not forget about the work that lies ahead of us. - Alynda lee Segarra, February 26, 2013

Segarra, lead singer and songwriter for the band, wrote this text to accompany a YouTube video of her performing "Everybody Knows," the song she wrote in memory of Martin. In it, she is accompanied only by Kate Cavazos on harmony vocals.

In other Hurray for the Riff Raff news, the band will have a very busy South By Southwest. I am working with the folks at The Oxford American to organize the magazine's first SXSW day party, and Hurray will play that show on Thursday, March 14 at Yard Dog Gallery (1510 S. Congress Ave.) in Austin, Texas. It will be one of three gigs they'll play that day including one at Willie Nelson's ranch.

The Oxford American day party at Yard Dog is sponsored by the Louisiana Office of Tourism and My Spilt Milk, and it will also feature performances by the Hot 8 Brass Band, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Katey Red and Cheeky Blakk, Luke Winslow-King, and Shreveport's Victor Olston. The show will run from noon to 6 p.m. and be free and open to the public. We're finalizing the schedule now and will post it shortly.