Monday, April 7, 2014

JURT 2014 is a GO!

Hey rockers!

  I hope you're ready to hit the rails again, because the 2014 Josh Urban Rail Tour is gearing up, and man oh man, it's going to be epic!  Here's the official press release that just came out about an hour ago:

For Release 6/25/14 or later
Musician Josh Urban set to ignite Planetary Jam Session, take World on Tour.

Washington, DC: Us people will talk. Now, for the first time, we can – to anyone, anywhere. We are the pioneers in an era of ultra-connectedness. Friendships are formed halfway around the planet, and translation software breaks down language barriers. Yet much division and strife remains. Enter musician Josh Urban with an idea: Instead of arguing – let's jam! “When you look at it one way, we're really all in the same 'band'” states Urban, making the point that most people are after similar goals of happiness and a fulfilling life. Kicking off an international project on the 4th of July, Urban aims to highlight the unity of humanity instead of the division so commonly seen. His goal: a worldwide “jam session” and tour for everyone, musician and non. His strategy: a collaborative music video.

The Rail Tour
Building the video in several phases, Urban will be touring east coast cities by train, much like a blues musician of olden days, playing street corners and subways, filming the journey, hosting impromptu jam sessions on the street, and taking the world on tour with him through collaborative social media. He'll be playing his new song We're in the band , available for download from iTunes and JoshUrban.com. People in each city are invited and encouraged to come to the jams and appear in the video. He'll be using a home-built guitar converted from a broom – tying into a special theme of the music video.

It's sweeping the world!
People the world over, musician and non, are invited to video themselves playing “broom guitar” (air guitar with a broom) to Urban's new song We're in the band. They would then post it to social media using the hashtag #JURT (Josh Urban Rail Tour) to jump on the global stage, tagging it back to the tour and including it in the official video. Don't want to shoot a video? No problem! Post a photo of yourself or a friend playing broom guitar back to the tour to show that you're in the band. No matter where you are, you're on tour – invite your friends! The worldwide jam is sweeping the planet!

Diversity
As a counterpart to the unifying theme of brooms, Josh suggests that participants include something in the video to illustrate who they are, such as auto enthusiasts appearing in front of their car, animal people with their pets, etc Additionally, musicians are invited to send in music parts for the We're in the Band, adding to the existing song. Urban will be collecting sound samples of his rail journey, and mixing that with guest artists' contributions for the soundtrack to the final video. “Music has shown me such respect for people I formerly considered enemies. I'd like to scale that up to the international. If we start seeing each other as “band-mates”, maybe we can realize that like good musicians, we can listen and learn from each other. Instead of arguing – let's jam!”

Schedule
Kicking off on the 4th of July, a symbolic day of unity and freedom, and running through the 14th, the tour will make stops in Washington, DC, Alexandria, VA, Waldorf, MD, Charlottesville, VA, Charlotte, NC, Richmond, VA, Philadelphia, PA, and New York, NY, as well as online concerts and venues TBA.

Everyone is invited to participate, either at the in-person jam sessions, or by posting a video or photo of themselves dancing to the new song, playing that broom guitar, of course! Use the hashtag #JURT (for Josh Urban Rail Tour) to show the world that you're in the band!

Contact: 240-682-2801, www.JoshUrban.com management@joshurban.com @DontJoshMe Facebook.com/officialJosh