In Emily Kaitz will perform her new song “Banjos Not Bombs” at Wednesday’s sit-In concert at the UARK Ballroom. Sponsored by the Omni Center, the 7 p.m. event also includes music by Roy Zimmerman and Still on the Hill and a world record banjo protest song.
FAYETTEVILLE — Some of his songs, says satirist Roy Zimmerman, are “directly antiwar.”
“But all of my songs talk about the social climate that gives rise to war.” It’s ironic, he adds, that “the two things that scare the people in power the most are peace and justice.”
Those are also two of the themes regularly espoused by the Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology in Fayetteville and the two that will be the focus when Zimmerman performs at a sit-in and concert Wednesday evening.
The event was the brainchild of Kelly Mulhollan and Donna Stjerna, the musicians of Still on the Hill and Toucan Jam.
“It was born out of frustration about the lack of dialogue,” says Mulhollan, who serves on the Omni Center Board of Directors. “It seems we’re in a permanent state of war, and it’s not appropriate to let it go on and on without dialogue. I want to stir the pot. And I thought it might help to break the silence with laughter.”
Zimmerman says he’s always composed for comedy, even back in high school when his topics were more personal - “Mrs. Hemphill’s wig blowing off,” he remembers by way of example.
“I’d been interested in politics, but in an almost closeted sort of way,” he recalls. “The more I wrote, the more political” he and his music became.
Zimmerman was born in San Francisco and grew up in a “kind of conservative household” in the Silicon Valley area.
“My lefty politics were, I think, sort of a natural thing for me,” he says. “I can’t reallyexplain where they came from environmentally, so they must have risen from my heart. Yes, my parents have often asked me where they went wrong.”
While Zimmerman’s politics were always his own, he shared a love of music with his parents. His mother taught piano and organ lessons “andthe old 78s of ‘Oklahoma’ were playing all the time,” he says. “That’s where I learned precision in rhyming and how to tell a story through a song.”
Those skills - plus a degree in musical composition - led ReMixed magazine to say, “Roy’s competition isn’t Weird Al, it’s Stephen Sondheim” andTom Lehrer to congratulate Zimmerman “on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the rhymes actually rhyme, they don’t just ‘rhyne.’”
More than two decades into performing, Zimmerman still believes “there is a natural human evolution toward tolerance and justice” and thinks perhaps his songs can help.
“There are people who are moved to political action, and I hope for them the songs give them cheer - and a good kick out the door to do the thing they wanted to do anyway, but maybe with a song in their heart,” he says.
“For people who haven’t considered political action, at least it might give them talking points.”
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FAQ
SIT-IN CONCERT WITH ROY ZIMMERMAN
WHEN - 7 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE - UARK Ballroom on Dickson Street in Fayetteville
COST - $5-$10 INFO - 582-2291
BONUS - Performances by Still on the Hill, Robin Rues from Wildwood, Guy Ames from Strange Heroes, Doug Shields, Ezra Idlet from Trout Fishing in America & Emily Kaitz
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FYI
BANJO WORLD RECORD
Banjo players of all skill levels are invited to help set the world record for the most banjos on stage at once playing a protest song. Organizer Kelly Mulhollan says even a cardboard cutout of a banjo will do. And anyone with a banjo of any kind will be admitted for $5.
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WEB WATCH
Hear Emily Kaitz’s “Banjos Not Bombs” with this story at nwaonline.com/banjos.
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“THERE’S THAT GREAT QUOTE about war, and I’m trying to remember who said it. That the people can always be brought to do the bidding of the leaders. You just tell them they’re under attack, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, now who said that? Oh yeah, it was Hermann Goering...” - FROM ROY ZIMMERMAN’S SONG “THAT IS THE WAR ON TERROR”
Whats Up, Pages 12 on 02/25/2011