calling all crows

Just a day before their summer tour with the John Butler Trio begins, State Radio reveals their brand new video for stand-out track “Calling All Crows” from their latest album Let It Go. The track is a one-drop groove that calls the band’s legion of fans to attention as frontman Chad Stokes beckons, “It’s gonna be a showdown, said the rebel to the revolutionary, come with me!” The track serves as the anthem for the band’s humanitarian organization by the same name—founded by Stokes and State Radio tour manager Sybil Gallagher in 2008—that promotes human rights and specifically aims to end violence against women. The video, which just premiered on the Huffington Post, portrays strong women from all over the world uniting to take a stand. 

In 2009, Calling All Crows raised $100,000 to provide 5,000 fuel-efficient stoves to Darfuri women, decreasing the number of necessary trips away from IDP camps and, in turn, decreasing the risk of being victimized by violence. In 2010, Calling All Crows has renewed its dedication to fighting violence against women in Sudan through its Darfur Camps Project, which offers small grants and skills trainings to women so they can advance their rights, start businesses, and develop their communities.

As in the past, Calling All Crows will also have a presence on State Radio’s summer tour with their Green Summer of Service--community projects where volunteers can join band members as they clean beaches, collect petition signatures for the "Ban The Bag” campaign, retrofit homes and businesses with energy-efficient light bulbs, and much more. For more information on all Calling All Crows activities, visit www.callingallcrows.org.

State Radio and their humanitarian organization Calling All Crows is currently featured on the PBS Newshour Art Beat Blog. The Art Beat profiled the band as part of their Earth Day coverage, recognizing their devotion to both environmentalism and music. The coverage include a great video interview with State Radio front man and Calling All Crows co-founder Chad Stokes; check it out HERE. 

State Radio will be joining the John Butler Trio on tour dates later this month, and Calling All Crows will be focused on environmental service projects with their Green Summer Of Service. Click HERE to find out if State Radio and Calling All Crows will be coming through your city and how you can participate (full list of tour dates below).

Alternative Break Tour - Service at the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas March 3

At State Radio's two night sellout this weekend at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., Calling All Crows, the band's service organization, announced their 2010 fundraising campaign to support Sudanese women. In partnership with Oxfam America, State Radio and Calling All Crows have set a goal to raise $100,000 through their Trees, Training, and Donkey Carts initiative. Calling All Crows is asking at least 100 fans to raise $1,000 to provide tree seedlings, vocational skills training and donkey carts to women. More info HERE.

This week, Calling All Crows and State Radio are hosting the first ever Alternative Break Tour: Destination New Orleans! Over March 1-7, 2010, nine service-minded State Radio fans are devoting their spring break traveling by tour bus down South, volunteering with members of the band at local non-profits by day and experiencing State Radio LIVE each night! Follow their adventures through photos, video, and blog posts HERE. Check out full list of events below. 

Boston trio State Radio has unveiled an epic music video for their punk-fueled song “Knights Of Bostonia,” featuring a battle at a historic fort that dates back to the Revolutionary War, an army of State Radio fans, and a retired Boston Police horse. The track is from the band’s latest release, Let It Go (Ruff Shod Records).

Directed by Andrew Mudge, the video was shot over 3 days in Boston at 11 locations (including the battle scene at the historic Fort Revere) with over 100 extras. Mudge’s work has screened on HBO, Sundance and Discovery. Says the director, “I imagined the band as these sort of rag tag knights, skating through an urban landscape, and then breaking kids free from a school. Chad [Stokes, frontman] and I spent several days together hashing out the story elements, bringing in stuff from our childhood - bows and arrows, running from cops, and horses!"

As State Radio gear up for their 24-city headline tour, which kicks off in their hometown of Boston to celebrate the release of their third studio album Let It Go (Ruff Shod) on September 29, the band have just announced that they will join 311 on tour for 11 dates starting November 22 in Uncasville, CT.

The band, who in addition to their high-octane live shows have also become known for their dedication to social activism, also announced that they will join Anti-Flag to team up with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as the G20 descends on Pittsburgh later this month. “War. Crime. 2009: A G20 Welcoming Party” will take place at 7:00pm at Club Zoo in the strip district of Pittsburgh on September 24. The concert will celebrate the resistance of communities in Pittsburgh and around the world to the failed economic policies of the G20, with all proceeds benefiting SDS’s legal defense and organizing efforts. Tickets to this all ages show go on sale through Ticketmaster this Saturday, September 6, at Noon ET.

The past 16 months have been nothing short of an intense journey for State Radio.  The Boston-based trio toured relentlessly, bringing their blend of rock infused with reggae/ska influences to sold-out crowds of thousands from New York to Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles. They were hand-picked by Tom Morello to open for Rage Against The Machine at the August 2008 Democratic National Convention. They launched their “Take Back The Country Tour” in support of the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, and along the way played Bonnaroo, Rothbury and the Mile High Festivals.  They did service projects in every city they played, from planting trees to protesting in the streets. They penned a song, “State Of Georgia,” for Amnesty International’s viral campaign to free Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis.

In the midst of all this, State Radio—Chad Stokes (singer/guitarist), Chuck Fay (bass) and Mike “Mad Dog” Najarian (drums)--spent time in their home state of Massachusetts with producer Dom Monks to record their third studio album, Let It Go, which is set for release on September 29 (Ruff Shod). Let It Go was recorded live to tape, with the intention of combining the trio’s penchant for storytelling with their raw and hard-hitting live shows.

With their fans always at the top of their priorities, State Radio will offer two deluxe packages of Let It Go.