Here's a news release I'm circulating to help out the awesome volunteers spearheading the local effort to collect donations for impoverished and hungry families just across the border. Officials have said half the populaton of Palomas (yes-half!) is on the brink of starvation. And Lomas del Poleo is a veritable concentration camp only a stone's throw from El Paso, as hired thugs keep residents who settled the area under siege, behind barbed wire, and without electricity or water. Come by and hear a song I wrote about Lomas del Poleo as well as other tunes, and bring a nonperishable food item or two. Read on to see how you can help…

Local organizers of a donation drive to help needy families in Palomas and Lomas del Poleo, Mexico have announced a benefit event to be held at The Bean in Mesilla, Saturday, Dec. 6 from 7-9 p.m. Admission will be a canned food item, or a bag of beans or rice, or $3 at the door. There will be a presentation about these communities, including a question and answer session, beginning about 7:45 p.m. Entertainment will include live music by Steve Klinger, and warm drinks will be served.

Volunteers April Willeford and Rebecca Wiggins report their donation drive, started two weeks ago, has brought "a tremendous response," including many articles of clothing. Among items still needed: flashlights, batteries, gallon jugs of water, kerosene lamps, coats, gloves, hats, rice, beans, coffee, sugar, cooking oil, canned foods and toys (new or used).

Palomas, across the border from Columbus, N.M., has few jobs to support its 7,000 residents, and tourism has declined sharply due to the economic downturn and many incidents of street violence earlier in the year, mostly involving drug traffickers.

Lomas del Poleo, a colonia on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, has been under siege for several years as a result of a land dispute between the wealthy Zaragoza family and settlers who built houses on the land starting in the 1970s. A portion of the community is surrounded by barbed wire, with armed guards controlling access to the homes, and numerous accusations that they have demolished homes and beaten residents, who are forced to live without electricity or water.

"Though we still need warm clothing, such as jackets, gloves and hats, what we haven't received much of are non-perishable food items and toys," the two reported in an e-mail update. "We are hosting an event this Saturday in hopes to collect more of these items, and to inform people in our community about how they too can become involved and help out."

Willeford and Wiggins said all proceeds from this event will go directly into the donation drive, including money raised with the cover charge for those who do not bring a food item.

Steve Klinger is editor and publisher of Grassroots Press as well as a singer-songwriter with two CDs, Songs of Freedom and Land of Make-Believe. He will perform a song he wrote about one of the communities, Lomas del Poleo.

For more information, contact Rebecca Wiggins or April Willeford: wiggins@nmsu.edu, or awillefo@nmsu.edu.

There's a new union hall in Las Cruces, and I've been invited to help celebrate. On Saturday, Oct. 18, AFSCME New Mexico Council 18, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, will hold an open house from 2-6 pm, with music, food and tours of the new facility at 138 S. Downtown Mall. The building is just across from White's Music Box, and will be home to four AFSCME locals:

Local 1529, Dona Ana County Detention Center/Blue Collar

Local 2393 NMSU

Local 3320 State of New Mexico

Local 3422 NM State Corrections

I've dug up a few union songs and will give them a go-round on guitar, along with some of my originals on guitar as well as keyboard. I'm scheduled to play from 2:00 - 2:45. Come on down and party with us!

Kathy will be with me but may not be able to sing; she's had a bad cold all week. But it shouldn't stop her from rappin' out a rhyhm on her tambourine or maybe a wild kazoo solo.

Everyone is welcome, and the music should be fun. the Deming Fusiliers play from 2:45-3:45, then Everett Howl from 3:45-5:15, followed by Benjy Rivas and BBR Band from 5:15-6 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=addVp1M9k6s

We're getting lots of positive feedback on this humor/music anthem to Sarah Palin's home town. Check it out and leave a comment!
Performed this at a benefit concert for our dear friend Laurie in Las Cruces on Sept. 12.

Go Laurie! We're pullin' for you to have a full and rapid recovery after your procedure in Tampa!

Love,

Steve and Kathy

Check out six songs from my new album, Land of Make-Believe, just uploaded this morning. The album itself is now mixed and mastered, awaiting only cover art and duplication/replication. I hope to have it done in a couple of weeks... and also to make the songs available for download in MP3 on this site, and the CD on CD Baby, plus a new music web site of my own.

After working on it for months in my little home studio, I'm feeling a mix of emotions: relief, hope, pride, frustration. It will never be good enough, of course, but I finally got the songs to where I'm comfortable with the recordings. It's all original work: writing, vocals, guitar, harmonica and Yamaha keyboard, recorded in 12-track on a Korg D1200. Backup vocals are by my partner, Kathy Meyer. Thanks, Kathy! The mastering was done by Joel Parker at Image Studios in Las Cruces. Great job, Joel, with difficult material, thanks to my novice sound-engineering skills.

Most of the songs are topical; a few are more personal. Either way, I've put my heart into this project because I believe that music, as much as anything can inspire people to wake up and embrace change. As I write this, a bulletin came into my email: Suicide bomber kills 80 in Afghanistan. We feel so helpless most of the time in a world going over the edge. I think honest music, like independent news media, can help us connect and try to survive the deluge to come. Your comments are welcome.

More details on the upcoming Circle of Peace in El Paso will be forthcoming soon.

Kathy and I were camping and visiting friends and family in Colorado, so we thought we'd check out the Telluride Bluegrass Festival last week. It's only 17 miles from Ouray, where we were camping... but an hour's drive on the paved road that goes around the mountain. We knew it would be a zoo with 10K people there, but the hassle still surprised us. Not to worry: the music was great, and the rest was an adventure (two hours to get the tickets from will-call, drive to the ski area to park, then take a trolley and two gondolas back down to the village). We caught the first day, Thursday, though we missed the opening acts. Jackie Greene was very good, R&B, and a bit of Van Morrison in his style, if not his girth. The Avett Brothers got the crowd more excited with their high-energy "punkgrass," and then the Telluride House Band played some terrific bluegrass, featuring the likes of Bela Fleck on banjo, Edgar Meyer (bass) and festival veterans Sam Bush and (I believe) Jerry Douglas. Really got the blood pumping as the weather meandered from clouds and showers to intense sun and back again.

Emmylou Harris got a queen's welcome, and well-deserved. With John Starling and his band backing her, she sang country and folk favorites, then came back and joined Adam Duritz and Counting Crows on a tune or two. The Crows were all-acoustic and mostly came across great with their rootsy (but definitely not bluegrass) sound, which I much prefer to some of Adam's over-the-top, self-absorbed rants.

Then it was back up on the gondolas and the long drive back to Ouray.. but well worth it, considering the wonderful music. Dylan will be at the same park in July, and also at Red Rocks, and there's a fabulous Folks Festival slated for Aug. 17-19 in Lyons (Colo.) If anyone wants more info on music haps up there this summer, I'll be glad to send some links and pass along what I know. FYI, Santa Fe and Burque also have some exciting music coming up.

June 10

After launching this site in April with four tunes from my first CD and a bare-bones profile/photo album, I finally made it back with four new songs I hope you like. These were recorded in my little home studio, with my Korg 12-track. Yes, that's me playing all the instruments (with a little help from digital technology) and doing the backup vocals, along with Kathy (Meyer).

Pieces of Kitty is lovingly dedicated the the Schaefer family, in memory of Kathleen Phillips Schaefer, a dear friend and a constant inspiration.

The Choice is a futuristic song about global warming--excuse me, global climate change. Yes, we can still do something about it, especially if we "Re-Elect Al Gore!"

The Ballad of Galdino Perez is meant to reveal the human side of our immigration crisis and is based on a true account of a tragic incident I read about in the newspaper.

The Sacrifice of New Orleans speaks for itself--a natural catastrophe of the sort we'll likely be seeing more frequently, compounded by governmental incompetence and hypocrisy, built on the greed and corruption at the core of the system.

Kathy and I have taken a break recently from performing publicly, though we did appear at a party a few weeks ago at Pioneer Women's Park. Look for us soon at the Howling Coyote and other venues.

Meanwhile, I welcome your comments, photos, feedback and especially any encouragement regarding the music. It's from the heart, and my favorite form of outreach, intended to raise consciousness and inspire nonviolent solutions. My deepest hope is that after reading and listening you will introduce others to these songs and invite them to share in the harmonies we can create together.

In solidarity,

Steve