Press Releases

Berkeley Music to Benefit Afghan Women

March 13, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Voice: 626-676-7884
E-mail: info_at_afghanwomensmission.org

Berkeley rockers Green and Arin Simonian and Buffalo guitar poet Alison Pipitone star at a benefit concert for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan at Hotel Utah on Wednesday, March 13 at 8:30. sliding scale $5-$50 and anywhere in between

Green’s sensitive songwriting and sweet voice can folk rock you one minute and breathe a sweet breeze through your bones the next. Often compared to Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco and Shawn Colvin, Green co-founded FolkDiva Records, a grassroots record label dedicated to female artists. FolkDiva Records has produced several extremely successful benefits for organizations involved in such things as prisoner issues, rebuilding the infrastructure of El Salvador, and forest conservation efforts in Northern California.

Pipitone delivers her poetic tales of minimum-wage America with the pure, white-knuckled intensity of really loud rock ‘n’ roll. Beyond her well-worn vocals and fine… playing, Pipitone’s also a remarkably efficient songwriter, painting evocative word pictures in accessible, blue-collar hues. Meanwhile, the music kicks and claws its way up from garage practices and solo coffeehouse gigs to explode, full-formed…”

Arin Simonian sings beautiful, poetic songs with a jazz complexity and folk accessibility. A “sensitive songwriter” in the best sense of the term, her smooth as cream soprano wraps itself around strong images and addictive melodies against her gorgeous guitar textures. A little bit Joni Mitchell, a little bit early Ani DiFranco, a little bit Astrid Giberto.

Established in 1977, RAWA is the oldest women’s organization in Afghanistan and it has stood for the ideals of democracy, secular government, universal suffrage, human rights and women’s through the Soviet invasion and occupation, the civil war that ensued, and the Taliban rule.

The Afghan Women’s Mission, an organization dedicated to working with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, is a group of people moved to action by the plight of Afghan women. The mission was founded in January 2000 in response to the compelling need for adequate hospital facilities in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.

Hotel Utah is located at 500 4th St.

More information about the plight of Afghan refugees is available on the RAWA website, http://www.rawa.org. More information about the Afghan Women’s mission is available on the website https://www.afghanwomensmission.org. More information about the artists can be found at www.folkdiva.com/green and www.alisonpipitone.com.