Social (Justice) Ears

Music for the social justice soul.

Music was one of the things that introduced me to politics and made me sit up and pay attention to issues of social justice. Bands like Senseless Things, Manic Street Preachers and Rage Against the Machine all inspired me to think differently about the world. This was followed by an active interest and participation in socially conscious punk and hardcore music right through to my more mellow developing tastes of folk, dub and reggae these days. Issues of Social justice have always been a feature of the music I listen to.

At the end of last year I went to a couple of gigs that I wouldn’t normally choose to go to which I thought would be worth sharing some of my thoughts and reflections on.

22/11/24

A mate who has for years tried to convince me that country music isn’t as bad as I insist it is bought me a ticket to see Jason Isbell and the 400 unit at Bristol Beacon (Hi Robin! Subscribe to his and his wife’s Saint Cooks blog for food and culture from a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean). My previous visit to the Beacon was to see death metallers Cannibal Corpse and thrashers Municipal Waste!

S.G. Goodman was up first on the night, a woman from Kentucky USA with an incredible voice who sang and played solo. She gave a comedic nod to politics asking if she could stay in the U.K following Trump’s election victory. The power and emotion in her voice alone was incredible, check out the track Space and Time for a song of beauty.

It’ll be on my funeral playlist so maybe learn the words in advance?!

Before the gig I learned that Jason Isbell is a pretty big deal, I’d done some pre gig listening and wasn’t sure I’d be that into it, it sounded pretty Middle of the Road to me on record. Live though it was different, plenty of energy and the right level of country music not to get my blood boiling alongside an Americana rock sound.

It turns out that he’s most definitely on the side of social justice supporting gun control campaigns, LGBTQ and Trans rights, abortion rights and police reform. Finding out about his activism after the gig I questioned why he hadn’t made more use of his platform during the gig to champion the campaigns? I guess if you’re selling out tours and selling lots of records ‘the man’ doesn’t want you jeopardising it all?!

On reflection I guess I had some pretty big preconceptions about Country music and for sure there are Country artists that are red neck, gun toting, racist arseholes but it was a nice reminder about my own capability to pass judgement without thinking. Sorry Robin!

27/11/24

I was offered the chance to attend Motion in Bristol to see Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason a Cellist and Pianist brother and sister respectively. The last time I was at Motion was to see German techno marching band Meute!

Sheku is big in the classical world which is not a world that I often interact with aside from the odd Spotify playlist when I need to chill out or sleep. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a classical gig and never expected to be watching classical music at Motion.

You know what? I enjoyed it…. a lot! I paid attention to the music, to the interactions between the two musicians and their instruments, to their expressions as they played, Sheku particularly seemed to feel every note, it seemed like the whole range of emotions was expressed on his face and in his movements. I wondered about their experiences of the classical music world as people of colour and then went on to wonder why I thought it might be any different to the rest of British society or any other music ‘scene’?!

They played a version of In the Bleak Midwinter which hit me hard, music can do that sometimes right? But I was taken right back to hearing my grandad sing, I always miss him (he died 35 years ago) but it was like he was there.

He was another influence on my values, a strict methodist and union man who had a beautiful voice. My eyes leaked and to be honest if I could have I would have balled my eyes out but it turns out I’m not as close to ditching macho “must not cry in public, even about something nice” behaviours after all!

These were two gigs that I wouldn’t normally have gone to, I went outside my comfort zone and enjoyed it. There were links to social justice and politics in the music and in my thoughts about my experiences just like there was when I first started getting into music.

By Friday the 6th of December I was back in a small sweaty back room watching an anti fascist punk band.

Music is good for the social justice soul.

I would love to be introduced to more stories that combine music and social justice, give me some recommendations in the comments maybe?