BLA 80's Music Party!

The Blind Lemon Aid 80's music party was a huge success! We had over 300 people there listening to the the 80's music of two great bands. Thanks to everyone who came out to support BLA. The much needed proceeds will help us pay for expenses we incure during our April 1st fundraiser for The St. Francis House in Boston! Special thanks to the winner of our 50/50 raffle. The mystery man donated his winnings right back to Blind Lemon Aid! Now that's selfless charity! Thank you mystery man! Pictures include our table at the 80's party with board members and volunteers, and our fearless leader and President Mr. Brian Templeton.

St. Francis House Fundraiser

Hello Good People Of The Planet Earth!

Sorry for the long post, but if possible please read the whole thing. As a two fingered typist, this took about two weeks to write, but shouldn't take more than a few minutes to read. I thank you in advance for doing so.

As some of you may know already, we here at Blind Lemon Aid are gearing up for another big show in which we all join together, to first and foremost help people, but also to have a rocking good time while we do it. Many of you on this list either attended, worked or played music for last year's event at The Regent Theatre and one more time we'd like to thank you for that. Our combined efforts raised over $8000.00 for homeless Men, Women and Children all over the Boston area. A job well done and anyone who saw the show can tell you that musically it was top notch. For more information on last year's event such as who played and photos, click this link and scroll down to bottom of the page.

So now we come to the gist of this email. Our next big event will be held once again at The Regent Theatre on Saturday April 1st. " Music for the Soul" A Concert for Hope, will benefit the St. Francis House in Downtown Boston and will feature two musical acts that will absolutely floor you. Please click on this link to see how we have once again chosen an organization, who puts the emphasis on rehabilitation of the homeless as well as feeding and housing them.

In addition to our main mission, which is of course to help people, Blind Lemon Aid's secondary goals are to make people aware of and treat them to, really good music (music that you may not think to go out and see, when deciding what to do on a Saturday night) and in turn attempt to stimulate fans of music to go out and support it. All of the musicians on this list can tell you that the live music scene is dying a slow death. With the advent of numerous devices to keep people firmly planted in their homes, (when I started playing music back in 1989, nobody I knew owned a computer) the nightclubs and concert halls are becoming more and more desolate. That being said and knowing how I feel about music, I can give you my solid word that if you attend this upcoming show, you will be blown away! To steal a line from the late great John Lennon. "A splendid time is guaranteed for all" You will marvel at the 5 part harmonies and musical expertise of The Family Jewels while they crank out their brand of vintage R&B. And I dare you to stay in your seats while the high powered music of The Soul Band is pumping through your body. Pages will be set up on our site in the next week with MP3s to download and more info on each band. If you were born in the sixties, such as myself. I'm here to tell you that not only you will love the show, but people of our parents generation will absolutely flip over the Family Jewels. By them a ticket and let them take a walk down memory lane. They will thank you for it. And I have to add that as a musician playing live music, I have been asked to play Mustang Sally probably 1000 times in my career. Come and hear how it's supposed to be played, by a real "Soul Band"

Before going on, I'd like to ask you to read this short story

I hate to say this friends , but we can't wait for our politicians and others to help these people. A lot do the best they can, but there are so many other civic and world issues to deal with besides these "forgotten people" that they have been consistently overlooked. It's up to us! We can make a difference and the beauty of this situation is you will have a great time while doing it. Feeding your soul with your heart (and music!) while feeding their minds and bodies.
Folks we need you to come to this show. If you can't attend, we need you buy some tickets anyway and give them to somebody. We need you to help us spread the word about this show. Please re-send this email to anybody and everybody. We still need a few volunteers and are in search of raffle prizes as well. Anyway you can help will be appreciated in ways you'll never know and the goodness just goes on and on.

Tickets can be purchased by clicking this link, by calling the Regent Box Office at 781-646-4TIX, or by going directly to the Box Office at 7 Medford St. Arlington MA. Some members of Blind Lemon Aid will also have tickets to sell. Call us at 603-396-9966 to find one near you.

Thanks again for your time and peace2 us all,
Brian Templeton
President
Blind Lemon Aid
http://www.blindlemonaid.org/

Homeless man set on fire

I sincerely wish I were not writing this story as the first post for the new Blind Lemon Aid blog, but this story is so disturbing it needs to be heard.

According to Boston police, a homeless man sleeping in a North End park was attacked, doused with lighter fluid, and set on fire by two unidentified men early yesterday. Boston's Mayor Menino has called the perpetrators of this crime cowards and promised to find them and bring them to justice.

30 year old Scott Capella is in stable condition at Massachusetts General Hospital. According to Mr. Capella, he awoke with two men kicking him in the stomach and making derogatory comments about the homeless. The men left and Capella fell back to sleep. Moments later the men came back and doused the man with some type of flammable liquid and set him on fire. Fortunately he was able to remove the clothes quickly before the fire spread to the rest of his body.

The Pine Street Inn, a homeless shelter in Boston, is going to send out two vans earlier than usual to pick up homeless people and tell them about the incident.

I can't think of a more dispicable story than this and Blind Lemon Aid is outraged. For more information on this disturbing story go here. The Boston Police department would encourage anyone with information to contact the Boston Police Crime Stoppers at 800-494-TIPS or the District 1 Detective Unit at 617-343-4248