Even when times are tough, you’ve got to remember that some folks have it a hell of a lot tougher. That’s the perspective of promoter (and former Press staffer) Jonny Leather whose second charity concert (featuring performances by local songsters The Silent League, Christy & Emily and Essie Jain) takes place Dec. 8 at Brooklyn’s Union Hall, with all the proceeds going to an orphanage in Nairobi.
“It’s bad how nasty Nairobi is and how poor,” Leather explains. “It puts you in your place; we’re in a recession right now but we’re nowhere near what these people go through.”
Leather also points out the recession will make it a lot harder for charities and causes in Africa who ultimately need help much more than we do. “They’re not going to be able to get that as much from America because everyone’s tightening up their budgets,” he says. And let’s face it: for the price of a few lagers, people can see a great show as well as help put a Nairobi teenager through high school.
The evening will also feature clips from an upcoming documentary about the orphanage, the Good Samaritan Children’s Home by filmmaker Randy Bell. After Leather had contacted Justin Russo of The Silent League about a benefit concert, Russo suggested Bell and his work with the home and was also able to get the other bands involved.
Russo says that his work as a musician has always been bigger than the music itself and is committed to any aid an event like this can foster. “Music has never been something just for the sake of making it,” he says. “I always figured that I would do music because it’s the one thing I knew [that could] have the greatest chance of having a positive impact on the world.”
The Silent League frontman says he has his doubts about whether the band’s tunes have been heard in Nairobi but mentions it might just be a possibility through the collective effort of the benefit concert. “We would love that,” he says. “Randy Bell is our inside man. Maybe when we’re done we can all throw a few cds into the pot and get him to send it over.”
For information, visit http://jonnyleather.com/charityseries/index.htm.
