ECHOES OF SILENCE US TOUR: MARCH/APRIL 2010
Peace. Justice. Beauty. One People. One Planet. Workers, not 'Stars'.
Songs of Loveliness and Courage
Paul Baker Hernández – Eco-Minstrel
While a silent Trappist monk, Paul secretly concocted a guitar from a toilet seat and other scraps. The resulting lovely instrument inspired him to ‘become another Bob Dylan. Only quieter’. 40 years on, still together, they continue to celebrate beauty, peace and creative recycling(!), offering hope-filled action where planetary and financial meltdown threaten paralysis.
Paul's ‘Ode to Starbucks’ and ‘That S*****g Cellphone!’ inspire laughter and listeners’ own creativity, while the passionate beauty of flamenco guitar, US/Latin American songs of struggle, and even Scottish traditional music moves people to take action for justice. 'I Thought I Heard Sweet Víctor, Singing in the Night', written by Paul in the house of Victor Jara, Chile’s martyred singer-songwriter, is for many their finest song ever.
After living with Salvadoran exiles in Los Angeles to help ward off death squads attacking them even in Hollywood, Paul moved to a shanty town in Managua, Nicaragua, one of the world’s most-impoverished countries. There he works with grassroots projects to roll back global warming, and coordinates Water Not War, a hope-filled response to the global economic/ecological crisis. Signatories to Water Not War require governments to commit 1% of all military budgets - and personnel - to provide every person on earth with fresh water, so beginning to roll back global warming and the build-down of weapons and war, while providing a fitting memorial to all those who suffered and died in the belief that their sacrifice would finally bring peace to the world. (http://waternotwar.pbwiki.com)
The tour will raise awareness, money and other support for these vital programs, plus help maintain the fulltime but unpaid health, education and community work of Fátima, Paul's Nicaraguan wife. Last, but not least, it will also help ‘keep the family in beans’.
Over the years, Paul has sung with Inti Illimani and Joan Jara, Carlos Mejia Godoy, Jackson Browne and Martin Sheen; and for Britain's largest-ever crowd, 300,001 (the one was the Pope!). He's led a posse of bishops on an anti-nuclear invasion of Queen Elizabeth’s private castle at Balmoral, taken part in peace and justice festivals from Chile to Canada, driven in solidarity caravans to Cuba and El Salvador, worked as in-country staff-person for the US Nicaragua Network and the UK Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, published a couple of books, translated and recorded Victor Jara's songs, and generally had a high old time. He shares all this via concerts, lectures, homilies, workshops, conferences, classes, etc. shaping his presentations to the interests of his listeners.
Neither he nor the guitar eats a lot, they ride the (cheapest) dog and much prefer homestays to hotels. So expenses are really low. Fees depend on the capacity of the inviting group. Although fund-raising is important to keep the work going, helping build a truly global community is primary. So just 'the door' and/or 'passing the hat' are fine.
Echoes of Silence and Tour information: http://echoesofsilence-ecosdelsilencio.pbwiki.com
Bookings: paulbaker2004@yahoo.com or echoespaul@tortillaconsal.com – (505) 22 49 0979
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