Give To The Gulf

Musical artists from around the world have joined forces to help raise money to rebuild lives and communities in the greater New Orleans area through what they know best: music. A team of Hartford area and Maryland musicians and businessmen have collaborated to raise money for gulf oil spill disaster relief by offering online donors the chance to contribute by purchasing dedicated music from participating artists worldwide.

Farmington musician-inventor Eric Knight and video/web producers Paul Lombardo and Tom Russo, of L&R Productions, announced the launch of their Give To The Gulf campaign in June of 2010, and release two albums of original music. Now, a year after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, they are continuing their hard work with the release of a third album.

While the effects of the oil spill may no longer be visible in the Gulf waters, the long term effects of this man-made disaster are still very tangible in the lives of those most vulnerable. Thousands found their lives and livelihoods impacted by the Gulf Coast oil spill. The economic ripple effect reached far beyond the fishing, hospitality and tourism industries. And hundreds more families are still rebuilding from the 2005 storms.

Through Give To The Gulf, musicians from across the world are composing music for this cause and making those songs downloadable via iTunes. Thanks to a collaborative effort with TuneCore, the money raised through iTunes downloads goes directly to the United Way Gulf Recovery Fund — targeted to the people and communities struggling along the Gulf.

The creators of Give To The Gulf do not make a single penny from this effort.   They are an entirely volunteer group of musicians and technologists who put this program together.  They’ve donated their own time and money to build and host this Web site. Their goal is simply to help in every way we can.

The first compilation, released in June of 2010, was called, appropriately: Give To The Gulf, Volume 1, and included 11 songs from various artists across the country. 

The second compilation, Give To The Gulf, Volume 2, was released in September with 14 songs, including “As the River Cries,” by New Orleans artist Coleman Jernigan.

On April 18, Give To The Gulf, Volume 3 was officially made available for download, featuring 14 songs and artists, including household names such as Nappy Roots and Swedish Grammy nominee Lazee.

When you download the album or individual song, 100% of the sale (less Apple’s standard iTunes distribution fee) will go directly to United Way and their relief efforts in the Gulf region. Specifically, for an album, $7.00 will go directly to the United Way Gulf Recovery Fund.  And for a single, 70 cents will go those same efforts.

You can follow Give To The Gulf on Twitter at @givetothegulf. If you’d like to submit your own custom music to this cause, please click here for details.