Big news! Rise Against is releasing a limited edition 7″ for Record Store Day, with a spoken word track by me, and a song that they say was inspired by Green Is the New Red. I’ll try to play it cool and not be a total fanboy dweeb, but… holy crap. Unreal. Seeing folks I respect and admire go out of their way to do something like this is just incredible.
Here’s more from the press release:
“Our Record Store release for 2015 is a music and spoken word split-seven inch collaboration with Will Potter, author of ‘Green Is the New Red,’†says Rise Against lead singer Tim McIlrath. “In addition to “The Eco-Terrorist In Me†from our new record The Black Market, this release will include previously unreleased “About Damn Time†from the same sessions. Inspired by author/musician split collaborations like the Bad Religion/Noam Chomsky or Kurt Cobain/William S. Burroughs releases, we teamed up with Will Potter, author of “Green Is the New Red.†Potter’s book inspired and informed the song “The Eco-Terrorist In Me†and his spoken word contribution “We Will Never Forget,†dives deeper into the fight for animal welfare and increased transparency in the shadowy world of factory farms.â€
“If factory farms get their way, you’ll never be able to see photographs like the cover of this Rise Against record,†says author Will Potter. “Seven states have already passed new ‘ag-gag’ laws that make it illegal to photograph animal cruelty without the farm’s approval, and more states are considering these bills right now. But this is just one part of a much broader campaign by these corporations and the FBI to label non-violent protesters as ‘eco-terrorists.’ Rise Against has always used their platform to shine a light on injustice, and I was thrilled to work with them on this project; treating whistleblowers and activists as “terrorists†puts all of our freedoms at risk.â€
The cover photo is from an undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals.
Record Store Day is April 18th. Leading up to it, stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Rise Against!