Green Bay philanthropist Michelle Juza is merging music and fashion to fight international poverty with the launch of the Okobos Music Festival, a charity event featuring major performers including Indie music pioneers Death Cab for Cutie, singer–songwriter Ben Folds and platinum-selling artist singer Jewel.
The Festival, which takes place at the Resch Center in Green Bay Saturday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m., kicks off the launch of a new socially-responsible global brand, Okobos Footwear, headquartered in Green Bay.
Creative, original artists Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Folds and Jewel will come together with other major artists to be announced — all in the name of helping children in poverty. All of the proceeds from this event and donations pledged during the Festival will go to the Okobos Foundation to benefit two of its primary charitable organizations — Friends of Nutre Hogar, a Panama service project educating our youth about impoverished nations, and the Musical Arts Academy of Nairobi, Kenya, The Maank Project.
What started out as a solo project from an engineering student has become Death Cab For Cutie, an indie rock quartet from Seattle. The band’s name comes from a song performed by British combo the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film. The band’s new studio album, Narrow Stairs, is the most ambitious and varied album of their career — a climactic culmination of Death Cab’s first ten years.
Ben Folds is an exciting singer–songwriter and former frontman of the musical group Ben Folds Five. In 2006, Folds became the first person to broadcast a live concert over MySpace. In addition, he is a classically trained percussionist and has had residencies with all five major Australian symphonies. His fall tour coincides with the release of his latest album Sept. 30, “Way To Normal,” his third as a solo artist.
When Jewel started writing and singing her own unique brand of music, she never guessed she’d sell 30 million albums and become one of the world's best-known songwriters. In addition, Jewel’s work has been recognized with an American Music Award, MTV Video Music Award, and three Grammy nominations. Jewel’s latest album, “Perfectly Clear,” her first country music album, hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Charts for top Country Albums.
Okobos Music Festival Tickets will range from $48 to $67. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show begins at 6 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. and are available at http://www.ticketstaronline.com, Resch Center Box Office, Ticket Star Outlets and Ticket Star by phone, (920) 494-3401 or 1-800-895-0071.
“Because music is the common bond that all cultures share, we felt that a charity music festival would be the perfect way to launch our global brand,” said Michelle Juza, founder of the Okobos Music Festival and Okobos Footwear.
Okobos Footwear is a unique line of footwear for men, women and children that enable people to express individual style and personal conviction while providing a way to give back easily.
Juza has created a unique business model where every decision, from product development to retail partnerships, is rooted in social responsibility. Okobos will donate a portion of proceeds from each footwear sale to the Okobos Foundation, which supports international charities that serve children in impoverished communities around the world. The Foundation itself will donate additional proceeds to charity and the company will also develop charity-specific shoe styles, the first which will be The Kenya Boys Choir shoe, with proceeds going directly to The Maank Project.
1 comment:
I can't wait for this "Way To Normal"- it's been way too long since "Songs for Silverman". I love pretty much every Ben Folds songs. I loved him with Ben Folds Five, but his solo work is just so different. I'm glad, though, that the classic Ben Folds sound has come back with the work he did on his last album.
I hope the album does well and that Ben will come out with an album more than once every three years!
~Jim
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