On Labor Day, the “Moral Monday” protesters that spent the summer raising their voices against the state’s Republican-dominated legislature reaffirmed their stance, decrying lawmakers who will vote Tuesday tooverturn a pair of vetoes by Gov. Pat McCrory—one on a bill requiring drug testing for welfare recipients, the other on a measure that expands the definition of “seasonal labor.” They haven’t forgotten their cause, and neither have the NC Music Love Army, the loose but impassioned contingent of area musicians who spent their summer soundtracking the “Moral Monday” movement. When they started up in July, they promised an LP of protest songs and a large-scale concert. They’ll keep to both promises on Nov. 30 when the Army takes to the Cat’s Cradle stage in Carrboro to celebrate the album’s release.
Having performed at Moral Mondays and at a couple of club shows across the Triangle, the Love Army’s LP will include a few songs that truly captured the spirit of this summer’s protests. “We Are Not For Sale”—composed by The Old Ceremony‘s Django Haskins—decries the role of money and greed in N.C. politics, while “Is This Here What Jesus Would Do?”—written by Charlotte’s Jon Lindsay—skewers the separation between lawmakers’ church-going beliefs and their uncaring attitude toward the state’s poor and marginalized peoples. Songs like these get after essential issues that could keep them relevant long after these protests have faded into history. In any case, they certainly ring true in the here and now.
All proceeds from NCMLA activity still go to the NAACP, Progress NC, and Planned Parenthood. For more info, including details on time and tickets, stay tuned to the Cat’s Cradle’s website as well as ncmusiclovearmy.tumblr.com.
