Guest Blog: T Bone’s Peaceable Musical Kingdom

John Schreiber (PARTICIPANT MEDIA  EVP, Social Action and Advocacy) wrote an article about the massive event that Grammy and Oscar winning composer T Bone Burnett held after being so moved by the documentary, "Waiting for 'Superman'"  Check out what John had to say below.
 

T Bone’s Peaceable Musical Kingdom

When the Grammy and Oscar winning composer and producer T Bone Burnett saw Davis Guggenheim’s documentary film "Waiting for 'Superman'" at television legend Norman Lear’s home in Beverly Hills a few months ago, his reaction was immediate: he understood that the crisis affecting America’s public education system was overwhelming, and he wanted to do something to help.

Jim Berk, the CEO of Participant Media, the film production company behind 'Superman', immediately started a dialogue with Mr. Burnett that resulted in this season’s most critically acclaimed all star concert events: T Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Revue: "Waiting for 'Superman'" Edition. Net proceeds from the concerts, which took place in Boston and New York over the past ten days, as well as a live concert recording to be released in early 2011, will benefit music education programs via grants made by the Participant Foundation.

At 6’5” tall, with horn rimmed glasses, a quiet demeanor, an encyclopedic knowledge of American music and a passion for collaboration and learning, Mr. Burnett is the soft spoken inspiration behind behind some of the finest American music of the past forty years: four Grammy’s for his work on the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou?, an Oscar for Best Song for “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart, and Grammy’s for albums with Tony Bennett, k.d. Lang, B.B. King, Robert Plant and Alison Kraus, among others. Mr. Burnett is the one who helped Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon transform into Johnny and June Carter Cash in the film Walk The Line.

When Mr. Burnett decided to make a statement about the importance of arts education, his chose the concert revue format as his canvas, and brought together an extraordinary collection of musical friends and colleagues for unique collaborations that felt totally spontaneous, but were as finely tuned as a great Stradivarius. The Speaking Clock Revue concerts boasted this line-up: Elton John, Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Gregg Allman, Ralph Stanley, Jim James, Jeff Bridges, the Punch Brothers, Karen Elson, The Secret Sisters and an all star band led by avant garde guitarist Marc Ribot. With Mr. Burnett as behind the scenes producer and on stage ringmaster, the artists sailed through two sixty-eight song, three and a half hour concerts in Boston (October 16) and New York (October 20) that exuded the joy of spontaneous collaboration with the mutual admiration and energy that is palpable when great artists join forces.

The artists all performed for free, donating their fees to increase the take for music education funding. When one considers that Elton John and John Mellencamp can command concert fees of anywhere from $500,000 to a million dollars a night, the magnitude of their generosity comes clear.

Many of the performers also spent time at the show’s sound checks in Boston and New York with arts education high school students from the public Boston Arts Academy and the Bronx High School for Visual Arts. Mr. Burnett, Elvis Costello, Jeff Bridges, Gregg Allman, The Secret Sisters and Karen Elson spoke to the kids about careers in the music business, discussing their early careers and urging the teenagers to trust their instincts and stick with their dreams.

For more information about T Bone Burnett, the Speaking Clock Revue, and the "Waiting for 'Superman'" social action campaign, go to waitingforsuperman.com/action.
 

Photos courtesy of Daniella Hovsepian

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