Even Timothy Leary came to realize that his infamous catch phrase from the sixties might have been sending the wrong message. Leary later explained that "drop out" was not meant for people to "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity." Today, some key love generation veterans are putting Leary's clarification into action.

HeadCount, a volunteer-run voter registration organization, is getting major help from the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and this week had a presence at fellow Dead alum Phil Lesh's shows in NYC. The group registered nearly 50,000 voters in 2004 through alliances with Dave Matthews Band and other artists, and intends to register another 200,000 voters by staging voter registration drives at more than 500 concerts over the next year. Beyond the DMB, Weir and Lesh, the Allman Brothers Band, members of Phish and newer artists like O.A.R. are aligned with the movement.

“If we don’t protect democracy today, there won’t be a democracy to protect in a few years,” said former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, a member of HeadCount’s board of directors. “I think for the younger folks this is particularly important, because the decisions we make will largely affect the rest of their lives.”

Marc Brownstein, bass player for The Disco Biscuits, serves as HeadCount’s co-chair. “This was something we started as a dream, just a crazy idea that we believed we could pull off,” said Brownstein. “Now it’s almost four years later, and we are in it for the long-term. We hope HeadCount leaves a permanent imprint on the live music community, forever getting fans more engaged in the political system and democracy itself.” Timothy would be proud.

Labels: Allman Brothers Band, Bob Weir, Dave Matthews Band, Disco Biscuits, Phil Lesh

The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival continues to take shape. Produced by Relix Magazine and Peter Shapiro, the 2nd annual celebration of Earth Day will take place April 19-22 with concerts in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco.

Anchoring this year's festivities will be free Earth Day concerts featuring Bob Weir and Ratdog in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, a double bill of Umphrey's McGee and the Disco Biscuits at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and children's star Laurie Berkner performing in New York City's Central Park. The Lincoln Park show will also feature Jeff Tweedy and Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd & The Monsters.

Each city will host a series of live shows throughout the long weekend with Chicago's slate of bands proving the most varied: in addition to separate performances by Umphrey's and the Biscuits at the VIC Theater, The Decemberists and Andrew Bird will play sets at the Riviera Theater and J.J. Grey and MOFRO and New Monsoon will perform at the House of Blues. In California, Tea Leaf Green and the Yonder Mountain String Band will respectively play the Fillmore on successive nights. New York City will feature two nights at the Lions' Den by The Radiators, a Zero reunion show with Steve Kimock at the newly opened Gramercy Theate, Particle returning to the Bowery Ballroom and a Beacon Theater concert by . . . Taylor Hicks.

New York's GAMF will open with at the Lower East Side's Tonic with two acoustic performances by the Benevento/Russo Duo and will close with Joe Russo participating in the reunion of Fat Mama.

Labels: Benevento/Russo Duo, Disco Biscuits, Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, Ratdog, Umphrey's McGee