Kokua means help in the Hawaii language, and Jack Johnson’s charity organization, The Kokua Hawaii Foundation, aims to live up to its name. Kokua’s focus is on educating people about new ways of protecting the environment.
Make sure to check out Mason performing “Living In The Moment” with Jack Johnson:
Check out the full Sundance Channel Spotlight here!
Toms Shoes Benefit Event - Chrome Boutique
April 4, 2009
2601 19th Street
Lubbock, TX
Show @ 8:00 pm
So my friend Shepard Fairey (who did the Boneclouds artwork and the OBEY posters found on buildings all over the world) has found himself in the middle of a lawsuit with the Associated Press concerning his HOPE poster for the Obama campaign. It involves the picture he used to base his poster on and whether or not he should pay damages to the AP and the original photographer (who interestingly didn’t recognize it as his photo). It is a very interesting case and I find it relevant to all artists in these internet days. What is fair game? I side with Shepard on this one. I believe that the original photo and his poster are completely different pieces of art and should be treated as such. The original photo would never have been so powerful and popular had Shepard not completely altered and transformed it into his own art. They are in no ways the same picture.
Shepard has agreed to pay the original fee which I think is fair. But, both sides of the case are interesting. Here is a link to an NPR Fresh Air piece which gives more insight into Shepard and this case: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101182453
In other news, I have been writing a bunch of new songs this winter and playing a lot of electric guitar and drums. The new songs are definitely on the rock side of things. That may sound like a departure but anyone who has seen me play live knows that it is not. I grew up playing rock and I guess the new stuff is a return to form. Only Transformed. It feels really really really good and that’s what matters. Not thinking too hard about it. Just getting the songs down as demos, following my heart. I will hopefully begin recording the new album soon.
In the meantime I will be playing some solo shows this Spring including Florida, Montana, Idaho, California and Alaska. I am really looking forward to seeing you all out there!
Love,
Mason
Minnesota
3/05/09
Enjoy Mason Jennings Live on Pandora Radio! This show was recorded at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA, and Jason Blalock directed the videos.
Though he now lives in Minneapolis and spent early years in Honolulu and Pittsburgh, Mason Jennings also lived in New Orleans for a spell, and the song “Jackson Square” comes from stories he heard in the Big Easy. Mason is a songwriter’s songwriter, and among his fans are Jack Johnson and Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse.
The universal themes that Mason Jennings touches on in “I Love You And Buddha Too” make this song exist outside of time in its way. He also explains why he chose to set this song in the key of B-flat.
3) Nothing
Yes, even an artist as talented as Mason Jennings was broke when he started out. In the song “Nothing,” he remembers his salad days, when he could scarcely afford salad. Or salad dressing.
4) Soldier Boy
I was surprised to hear that Mason Jennings wrote the satirical “Soldier Boy” at the White House. You can’t predict when inspiration strikes, can you?
Thanks to everyone for making the charity concert for Chad Weis a sold out success. You still have one more opportunity to help out Chad. We have set up an ebay auction with some great items including VIP passes to Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, a signed Jack Johnson surf board and more.
You can start bidding now until Monday, Jan 26th. All proceeds will go to Chad: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/alexf5
To learn more about Chad you can go here www.masonjennings.com/news