Musical Philanthropy

Amongst a rather ruthless and unforgiving business, you sometimes see great examples of a sort of 'Artistic' or 'Musical Philanthropy'. A good example of this came in the form of a road trip Eothen Alapatt and Chris Manak took back in 2000. Heading up the then fledgling label Stones Throw, the mission was to drive cross country and collect as many rare 45's for an upcoming, now classic, anthology, the Funky 16 Corners.

While they were scouring musty record bins in places like Houston and Tennessee, the shop owners would inform them that some of the original musicians still lived in the neighborhood. This would prompt a get together involving Eothen and Chris with the shop owner, the musicians, and a 6 pack of beer. Then the idea came to them that, why not partner on the anthology, and have the original musicians actually own part of the record, as well as participate in some live promotional performances. It seemed to be a win win for all involved.



I can't help but take away the idea that, as artists, we're here to not only help each other, but to possibly allow each other to thrive and to offer up opportunities what might not have been otherwise. Inspiring stuff!