MUSIC

BY MARY STEWART, www.samaritanmag.com

Hanson, the band of brothers best known for their 1997 smash hit, "MMMbop," have had a dedicated fan-base since those teen idol days and as they continue to sell out shows around the world are inspiring thousands to join their charitable efforts — walking, barefoot. Not everyone doffs their shoes, but that's the idea.

Isaac, now 31; Taylor, 28; and Zac, 26, spearhead Take The Walk, for which they walk barefoot for one mile before their various live shows, raising money to help alleviate poverty and AIDS in Africa. The money is then distributed to partners Free The Children, HIVSA, TOMS Shoes, Docvia and Blood Water Mission.  

"We are like a fundraiser that doesn't reinvent the wheel," Taylor tells www.samaritanmag.com during a day-time interview at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre where they sold out the evening performance in support of their 2011 album, Shout It Out. "We didn't create an overhead so we could be a new organization to build schools; we give directly to [other charities]."

Since starting Take The Walk in 2007, Hanson has walked close to 100,000 miles with their fans in the hot sun and chilly snow on the sidewalks and streets of North America and Europe — Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, New Orleans, Paris, and London included — braving gum, cigarette butts and more than a few unknowns. 

"I've had burned feet, literally — blistered feet,” Isaac says.

“We stepped on glass a few times, and hot hot hot hot cement,” adds Taylor.

Of course, this little discomfort is nothing compared to what many adults and children in African endure on a daily basis, so you won’t hear any complaining from the Hanson boys...

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

Poised to set the world on fire, the members of New York City pop band Fun., whose sophomore album, Some Nights, drops Feb. 21, have already decided what they stand for: equality  — and will take that message to their fans and the media as they continue to rise in popularity.

 “We’re pretty serious on gay rights,” guitarist Jack Antonoff told samaritanmag.com recently, while in Toronto with his bandmates, Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost, to promote their new album.

“That’s our thing because we’re all straight and we get asked all the time if we’re gay, which is really offensive in itself, the assumption that you have to be gay to care.

“That also shows you where we’re at — that people assume that it isn’t a straight problem, but it’s no different than any other human rights issue and until we all care, then we’re letting [discrimination] happen.”

For their part, the three members of Fun. have aligned themselves with Montreal-based Revel & Riot, whose objective is to promote lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-gendered, and queer and/or questioning (LGBTQ) rights, awareness and equality through new media, graphics, writing, and products on the internet.

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

There’s Ollie, Tilly, Rebecca and Gina, all huge fans of One Direction, the newest UK boy band to enjoy adoration from millions of young people.

These kids are a little different though in that their serious illnesses often prevent them from attending concerts and doing what “normal” kids do because they are hospitalized or dealing with their medical conditions, which are sometimes terminal.

Ellie Thompson, 9, has leukemia; Rebecca Commander, 15, has cystic fibrosis; Tilly, 11, has spinal muscular atrophy; and Gina,16, has Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

One Direction — comprised of Niall Horan,18; Zayn Malik, 19; Liam Payne, 18; Harry Styles, 17; and Louis Tomlinson, 20; — became Ambassadors for Rays of Sunshine this past December, and quickly realized the impact they can have on these kids, even in a short visit.

The children’s charity grants wishes for seriously ill children in the UK aged 3 through 18.

“We go out and meet kids in different neighbourhoods...

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

The metal music community is continuing to come up with ways to raise money to help with medical expenses and eventual post-care for a 25-year-old guitarist who was paralyzed in a robbery last October in Buffalo, New York.

Members of death metal legends Cannibal Corpse, whose original line-up is from Buffalo, have all signed a brand new custom Dean Cadillac Kill guitar presently being raffled off via the Facebook group Metal For Tony, and other bands, such as Quebec’s Voivod, Texas-based King Diamond, Maryland’s Dying Fetus and Czech Republic-based Master, have all donated metal memorabilia for bid (see "doc" tab on Facebook page for the list).

The PayPal account, which is handled by his family, is helpingtony@gmail.com.

“Tony remains in the hospital,” his mother, Caroline Bronckers, told Samaritanmag.com. “He is working daily with physical rehab, and his outlook is positive. Right now, he is paralyzed from the chest down and it takes months, if not years, to fully know the result of a spinal cord injury due to surrounding tissue damage, and swelling, and the slow rate that nerves heal. He may or may not walk again...

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

Cristina Scabbia, co-vocalist for Italian metal band Lacuna Coil, has a water well in her name in Kajiado area of Kenya from her contribution to Rezophonic, an ambitious collaborative album, whose proceeds go to the world renown African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF).

“Rezophonic is a musical project that involves more than a hundred artists from the underground, mainly the rock scene. Now it involves more people even from different scenes, even the very big Italian artists,” Scabbia tells Samaritanmag.com.

“I got a call from them the other day — because somebody else did a donation — and so far 122 wells have been built, which is amazing. Every well gives clear water to drink to 50 families so they don’t...

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

Charity was far from the minds of the ecstatic girls that comprised the majority of the 2750-capacity audience at Toronto’s Massey Hall last night (Dec. 21) for Justin Bieber’s rare theatre concert. They were just focused on the 17-year-old pop heartthrob, as he performed with his guitarist, Dan Kanter, for close to two hours.

All ticket proceeds from the special Christmas show, Justin Bieber: Home For The Holidays, which airs tonight on Canada's MuchMusic/CTV, went to his Believe Charity Drive — but even before those figures were calculated, the generous teen decided to round it up to an even half-a-mil.

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

Sarah McLachlan and students from Vancouver’s Sarah McLachlan School of Music (SoM) are offering a free original Christmas song the kids wrote and recorded with the hopes that people, in turn, will give money, however small, to the school the Grammy-winning singer started for disadvantaged youth. McLachlan sings on the track.

“Space On The Couch For Two” was written spontaneously in between set-up time and a photo shoot the students were doing with McLachlan on November 22.

The multi-platinum singer-songwriter and Lilith Fair founder heard a bar of music that caught her attention and encouraged the students to turn it into a song. According to the press release, 17-year-old Freya Cirulis, who is studying songwriting, voice and guitar at the school, wrote the first verse on her arm with a black Sharpie marker and finished the verses later at home. The students from SoM wrote the music for it.

“Space on the Couch for Two” features McLachlan on lead vocals, with background vocals and instruments performed by students.

BY KAREN BLISS, www.samaritanmag.com

Two British Columbia rock bands — one unknown and unsigned; the other, one of the biggest in the world — have joined forces to bring attention to the story of a one-year-old girl battling cancer.

Chilliwack’s Pardon My Striptease put its song “Pray (For L.J)” for sale on iTunes to raise money on behalf of its singer’s daughter, Lilee-Jean Putt. The song rose up the iTunes rock chart, at one point reaching No. 1. Today, it sits at No. 2 behind Nickelback’s “When We Stand Together.”

Through the local media, Pardon My Striptease issued a challenge to Nickelback to match funds raised from the single. Nickelback accepted and surpassed expectations by donating $50,000 to the BC Children’s Hospital, according to the Universal Music Canada press release.

“We’re moved by the efforts of Pardon My Striptease to raise money for B.C. Children’s Hospital and are happy and excited to take part,” said Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger on behalf of the band.  “As such, Nickelback will be donating $50,000 to the BC Children’s Hospital and we invite both the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Sun to each join with us and match our pledge.