BLOG DE SOLEIL

Sept 9 2010 | Sumei Center, NJ

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 11:21:00 -0400

We worked with our buddy Hemant Wadhwani to make sure the entertainment was solar-powered at the recent Pakistan Flood Aid event at the Sumei Center in Hoboken, New Jersey.

The event was well-attended and Hemant even tried his best to apply some eco-thought to the food service and other amenities. i was able to make a brief presentation of the video documentary we’re working on about the Sindhi people and the story of Sindh.
General Chibber, Former officer in the Indian Army, made remarks and comments about why it’s so important to help the people of Pakistan cope with and help survive this catastrophe.
Solar Punch performed a set and also played with Sachal Vadiswani and Nita Chawla, each giving solo sets of their music.

Hemant gave a plea to potential funders about his water purification project. He is working with the makers of water purification tablet - to get needed water health and help in Pakistan. Those hit hardest by the flood are now exposed constantly to contaminated, diseased water and have little to no access to clean water, safe drinking.

We impressed a few people, a largely South-Asian, Indian crowd, with our Hindi / Bollywood covers but i think more importantly Hemant found a lot of connection with the attendees and was able to raise a few dollars towards the effort.
peace / jdc

Sept 25 2010 | Tarrytown Eco-Fest

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 10:58:46 -0400

This was our 2nd time performing at Tarrytown / Warner Library’s EcoFest in the park next to the library in beautiful Tarrytown, New York.

Lots of sunshine, nice crowd of greenies.

We spoke briefly with organizer Bob Mannion - he’s very active in organizing green events through Warner LIbrary so we’re excited to find future opportunities to work with this local group of conservation activists.

Oct 2 2010 | Neuberger Museum

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 10:43:09 -0400

I got an invitation from former Neuberger Museum staff member Lauren Piccolo early this past Spring. She’d hoped to bring us in on one of the museum’s event weekends but we had not been able to make the schedule work until just recently.

Solar Punch was invited to perform during the presentation of works by environmental artist Natalie Jeremijenko until the title ‘Connected Environments’.

We set up in the reception courtyard, next to the gallery space, and event organizer Olivia helped bring chairs and a small crowd to hear us perform.

It was nice to see old and young listening and commenting about the subjects and ideas in the songs. We hope to be back at the Neuberger soon. Great space and quality people!
jdc

Sept 13 2009 | Take Me to the River III

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:24:58 -0400

The third annual Take Me to the River Art & Music Festival was a great to do in Draper Park in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

Event organizers Liz Liebskind, Niki Armacost and Barbara Prisment brought together local talent, engaged activists and good doses of environmental awareness...

The show was actually rescheduled from an earlier rained out date.

As a result, Solar Punch wasn’t able to commit with a full band so we decided to just make sure the stage was set up for the small slate of musicians to come that day...

cheers til next year! jdc

Oct 18 2009 | Bronx River Clean up, Tuckahoe, NY

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:32:43 -0400

Solar Punch plays all sorts of shows, celebrating environmental activism, waste and resource management, climate solutions and conservation efforts.

We were asked by Peter McCartt, chair of the Eastchester Environmental Committee, to help celebrate the efforts of the volunteer clean-up crew on hand for the Bronx River Parkway Clean-Up event.

We knew going in that it would be a soggy, cold day so we were prepared for the wet.

We weren’t prepared for the effort, passion and results that this dedicated crew showed in their clean up efforts.
Peter McCartt pitched in and dug up some trash.

there were only a few passers-by so we played for the radio station DJ’s that were parked in the tent across the parking lot from us. The Peak, 107.1 FM!
Hopefully they liked what they heard enough to give our disc a spin on their local music program!
The garbage pickers seemed to enjoy the music and appreciated the effort. We appreciated the small mountain of garbage they pulled from the river. The trash will make its way to the local waste facility to be burned for energy.

we were cold and wet by the time we finished playing. i was anxious to get home and put warm, dry socks on.
hopefully we connected with a few of the people there - we know its important to follow through no matter what the weather, or how comfortable or not we may be - we used solar power to perform on this cold, wet day and celebrate these unsung local heroes of the environment. that’s something. eh?
jdc