Various Artists Freedom Of The Press CD

Kith & Kin, the new transatlantic label based in New Jersey, USA and Huddersfield, UK, is pleased to announce its inaugural release, Freedom of the Press. The project was conceived purely as a fundraiser for the Freedom of the Press Foundation and built with love. The contributing artists showcase the breadth and vibrancy of the modern psychedelic songwriter scene, sharing a tone, point-of-view and collective vibe that permeates the album.

The artists, all of whom donated their tracks for the cause, include Trummors, The Weather Station, Garcia Peoples, One Eleven Heavy, Rosali, Hans Chew, Wooden Wand, Sunwatchers, Nick Mitchell Maiato, John Andrews & The Yawns, Tom Settle and Friends, Bob Hughes, Elkhorn, and 75 Dollar Bill.

The lever of journalism to root out corruption keeps our society in balance. But it comes at a cost to individual journalists; it can be dangerous work speaking out against power.

The daily erosion of our essential freedoms also comes at a cost to the rest of us: a sense of ambient dread and powerlessness. And yet, the research, writing, and publishing of information against the will of the powerful can be a generous offering, a source of light. At its best great journalism is a reminder that we're all connected and moving through the world together. Which brings us to the music on Freedom of the Press. It was our intention to highlight music with a sense of joy and being free.

And when I listen now, I hear a lightness to the songs, a sweetness and ease, the collective sigh of the artistic plight that also combats powerlessness and draws us closer. It's not protest music per se, but the music on Freedom of the Press is imbued with the characteristics and vibes of the protest music and "Cosmic American" cultural shift of the late-'60s and beyond.

I hear bits and pieces of Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons and Fleetwood Mac, John Fahey and Neil Young, the MC5 and John Coltrane, Ravi Shankar and Joni Mitchell. The musicians on Freedom of the Press are urgent and contemporary. They present us with their offerings. Living and working as artists and free-thinkers in unkind times is its own method of protest against abusive power. Ride on.