Articles
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2008, page 51
Music & Arts
David Rovics Rocks Des Moines’ Ritual Café
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IN HIS FIRST Iowa performance in years, David Rovics thrilled Des Moines anti-war activists with songs of protest at the Ritual Café on Saturday, Aug. 30.
One of the more accomplished singer-songwriters of his generation and one whose activism informs his art, Rovics is perhaps best known to readers of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs for his 2003 CD “Return,” which is titled in Arabic and in English. It is dedicated “in loving memory of Jihad, Muna, and Kifah El-Ali. They were killed by mercenaries under orders from [former Israeli Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon in 1982 along with 2,000 others, mostly women and children.”
“I was just in Denver and now I am on my way to the Twin Cities,” explained Rovics, who often schedules performances to coincide with high-profile anti-war protests that draw large numbers of activists.
Asked why there isn’t more anti-war protest music in the air, as there was during the Vietnam War, Rovics replied, “The Sixties were a real cultural renaissance, but there are a lot of songwriters and bands doing political music today. The big difference between now and then is that the airways are completely controlled by Clear Channel and a few other corporations and they don’t let anybody, not only political people, they just don’t let anybody who’s not on a major label on their stations, but certainly they have a bias against anything political as well.
“Independent labels are getting smaller and smaller,” Rovics lamented. “It’s become a situation where you’re either on a corporate label or you’re Do-It-Yourself. You can do it DIY and make a living, but you’re not gonna get on commercial radio.”
That situation “certainly could change,” he pointed out. “The only reason it’s been allowed to happen is because of [President George W.] Bush and [former Federal Communications Commission chairman] Michael Powell and people like that being in power. [The FCC] would need to change the rules, but I don’t see that happening without a mass movement.
“The Internet is a force that is countering to some extent the impact of the mass media, and it’s a significant extent,” Rovics observed, “but it can only go so far without a mass movement to push the word-of-mouth aspect or to change the rules that allow one corporation to own almost everything.”
His show at the Ritual Café included two of his new songs for children, and Rovics said he is looking for a singer/musician who is interested in performing shows for children with him in the Portland, Oregon area where he lives.
Rovics’ music and tour schedule are available online at <http://www.davidrovics.com>.
—Michael Gillespie
