Joe Con

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - September 22, 2009 - One of our Hollywood landmarks — the famous and infamous Boardners, a snug little bar that has endured for nearly 70 years — was the venue for the Rockin’ Out for a Cure Concert — a very special event. Held in the charmingly eccentric patio, with huge old trees creating a canopy, and a lovely Moorish tiled fountain from another era, this evening couldn’t have been more of the moment. All kinds of music, all kinds of great treats available at a silent auction, and all kinds of people — everyone there with a common cause: raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, with all proceeds going to support the fight against blood cancers. We may be living in a recession, but most blood cancers still aren’t. Rockin’ Out for a Cure was hosted by renowned stand-up comedian Steve Mazan, who has appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and, most recently, The Late Show with David Letterman.

It included amazing bands and performers from the Los Angeles area that have huge fan followings. All the performers donated their time and talent for the cause, and to add to the casual fun of the evening, the audience had an opportunity to vote for their favorite bands by donating money into special ballot boxes in a friendly competition. The band with the most money in their box at the end of the night was the winner of this battle of the bands. All of the money earned through the voting will be donated in the winning band’s name to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The bands for the evening ranged from alternative to rap and were so diverse, there was music for all tastes.

fiction_nation_20090924Opening the show was Fiction Nation, a Silver Lake band, which set the tone of the evening with its riveting combination of alternative, Industrial, and new wave. Following them was Elemenopy (pronounced LMNOP) — a warm, friendly, lively and energetic rock duo described as “Simon and Garfunkel meets The Smashing Pumpkins.” Their performance was a combination of “vaudeville” and “Everyman,” with musicians Nick and Joel sharing equally all the instruments like two little kids playing a very accomplished game of one-upmanship.

We caught our breath next with Joe Con, who uses the tag “the word made fresh.” He worked alone with his guitar and harmonica, backed only by his buddy on the “cajon” literally – sitting on and playing a small rectangular wooden box that is indigenous to Peru. Joe took us through a series of journeys with his lyrics and then gave us a different taste of his work by intensely rapping an original song. Considering Con is originally from the bluegrass-covered hills of Kentucky, he smoothly combines Hip-hop while staying true to his country roots.

Dizzylilacs was a three-piece power band without the garage-band sound. Each of the members contributes completely different influences, which is the success of their original sound. The influences range from rock to jazz. In turn, the final product is straight ahead, melodic/indie rock, providing an emotional psychosis and creating an energetic performance.
Julie the Band

Julie the Band

The final band was Julie the Band, whose style is fervent indie rock performed with the passion of the band’s namesake spitfire. The story of how they got their name speaks volumes about the kind of music they play. Lifelong friends and Los Angeles residents, vocalist Nathan Blumenfeld-James and guitarist Dustin Bath found themselves walking out of a nightclub where a petite woman was being restrained by her friends from trying to “beat up” the bouncer. “Julie…Julie,” they said, “let’s just go home.” As her friends walked toward the car, Julie ran back toward the bouncer and got a hit in. “That fearless nature – that was what we had in our music,” says Dustin. “To be known for being fearless in the face of such odds was why we named the band Julie.”

Being fearless in the face of such odds was the undercurrent and purpose of this entire event. The evening is just a small sample of the dedication of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) members of the Team in Training Program to raise awareness and funds for their lifesaving mission to cure Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and Myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. So far as an organization, LLS and Team in Training have raised over $850 million. The goal is to reach one billion by the year end. With evenings like this, which combine funding and fun for such noble causes, it seems that the ongoing work, which is so difficult to continue in these difficult times, will continue to gain momentum, with the light glowing more brightly at the end of an ever-shortening tunnel.

For more information and updates, go to Rockin’ Out for a Cure’s website pages on Facebook and MySpace.


- Buzzine.com

This Berkeley rap group calls its music conscientious hip-hop, mixing an anti-war message in songs that strive to enlighten as well as entertain listeners

MC Joe Conifer -- a.k.a. Joe Con -- is the cockeyed dreamer of Berkeley rap group Awake Clique, speaking in beautiful abstractions. "Awake Clique is about self-annihilation to be reborn in a better way," he says, his blue eyes earnest, a straw hat slightly askew on his head, a harmonica in hand.
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Dreadhead producer Dejah Fortune appears to have his feet more solidly on the ground, with a realistic perspective on life in the East Bay.

Young Caveman, a producer who, like Fortune, wears the more standard rap attire -- a black hoodie and beanie -- is quiet and deliberate when he speaks.

This trio makes up the center of Awake Clique, a 10-man music collective. Musically, the group refers to itself as "hard-core conscious hip-hop" because, as Fortune explains it, "Conscious hip-hop has a bad rap as being corny or soft. We want to say we're proud to be knowledgeable and smart without sacrificing our 'masculinity' or whatever you want to call it."

Joe Con, originally from Kentucky, grew up listening to Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan as well as Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and Dr. Dre. He says he's both a born-again Christian and a conscientious objector to the war in Iraq. "We're all about challenging the main perceptions people have about everything," he says. "You have to analyze everything, whether that be the newspaper, what you see on the TV, the words in the holy book."

"Find your own truth," agrees Fortune, who grew up in Oakland listening to Jimi Hendrix and Too Short.

At the Ivy Room, all the members of Awake Clique will perform in various configurations. The collective's first project, Joe Con's "Awake and Dreaming" CD, which recalls the down-tempo grooves of A Tribe Called Quest's "Low End Theory," is due out May 1. Movies, visual arts and perhaps even a clothing line are in the works.

In the Bay Area, the "hyphy" sound is all the rage in hip-hop, which is all about "going dumb" or dancing as though you're out of your mind. "I go smart, that's what I say," explains Fortune, who says he respects where the hyphy movement is coming from.

"We have to expose and enlighten people about bull -- patriotic fervor," pipes up Joe Con. "That's how I get hyphy. They want people to go dumb. But I don't go dumb. I get hyphy and I stay smart. That's why I'm dangerous. That's why Malcolm X was dangerous. That's why Martin L. King was dangerous."

Awake Clique: Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave., Albany. Thu., 10 p.m. Free. 21+. (510) 524-9220. www.ivyroom.com.

Lisa Hix, 96hours@sfchronicle.com - SF Chronicle