By Jonathan Aird
Americana UK
December 20, 2022 n
Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore have recorded a limited edition physical release called ‘It Is Right To Rebel‘ which consists of songs of protest covering topics as diverse as Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, political prisoners, war and environmental issues. These are addressed using a variety of folk idioms – blues, spirituals and roots music – as well as outright rock. It’s an album that has an ambitious agenda – namely to act as a battle cry, a wake up call, and an invitation to join the struggles of our time. It is, then, a celebration of rebellion and social movements and a musical thumbs up to all the people that realize that big changes have to be made.
This song takes a swipe at defeatism, with “Some people say that this is it / Can’t get no better only worse” being countered with the chorus’ theme “There are Different worlds we live in / There are Different worlds to come.” Change will come, Mat and Yvonne affirm, because it has to.
Mat Callahan is a musician and author originally from San Francisco. Recent projects include the republication of Songs of Freedom by Irish revolutionary James Connolly, the recording and publication of Working-Class Heroes, and the launch of the multimedia project Songs of Slavery and Emancipation. He is the author of five books including, in 2017, The Explosion of Deferred Dreams (PM Press) and A Critical Guide to Intellectual Property (Zed Books).
Yvonne Moore is a singer and bandleader originally from Schaffhausen. In addition to recording numerous albums of her own music, Moore is cofounder and treasurer of the Art in History and Politics Association, whose purpose is to discover, publish, and popularize music, graphic art, and texts created by participants in conflicts such as the struggle to abolish slavery. Her exploration of the songs of Sarah Ogan Gunning led to the making of Working-Class Heroes.
https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1625204951/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1038061362/transparent=true/
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