Home on the Range : Forthcoming CD to Benefit Farm Animal Sanctuaries Featuring Moby, Howard Jones, Princess Superstar, Nellie McKay, Matisyahu
Currently in the works and due for a September release, Home on the Range (http://planetcdnyc.com/homeontherange.html) is a CD compilation presented by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Compassionate Farming Education Initiative (CFEI) (http://compassionatefarming.org) to benefit farm animal sanctuaries, which rescue and advocate for animals that have suffered abuse and neglect. With a still growing list of artists, the CD currently includes tracks by Moby, Howard Jones, Matisyahu, The Dead Stars on Hollywood, Nellie McKay, Princess Superstar, The Giving Tree Band, Kim Drake, Dropa, Joy Askew and Early Melodic Animals, with exclusive songs by members of Buzzcocks, Crass and U.K. Subs.
Kneel Cohn of The Dead Stars on Hollywood conceived Home on the Range as a way for artists who believe in the cause to support the sanctuaries through their music. In a statement Kneel explained, “As a musician, an animal rights advocate and vegan, I was driven to incorporate these passions and conceptualize an ambitious multi-faceted benefit project, rallying like-minded musicians who wanted to help create a substantial contribution to the movement.” What makes the benefit unique is the fact that all the artists involved are either vegan or vegetarian and accompanying the CD is
Compassion 101, CFEI’s resource and lifestyle guide. “The dedicated booklet is designed to promote awareness and education while encouraging people to make more compassionate choices from a place of empowerment, rather than out of habit or routine.” Cohn added. In the US alone, billions of animals suffer every year within our food system–not only on factory farms where they live packed together without access to grass, sun, earth, or fresh air–but also on small farms where they may be egregiously neglected and abused.
Farm animal sanctuaries throughout the United States rescue and protect animals who have made it out of the food system, sometimes by their own fight for survival and sometimes by virtue of a sympathetic human (or organization) who rescues them. At these sanctuaries the animals are treated with kindness and respect, given clean and spacious housing, tended to with proper medical attention, and fed a healthy diet so that they may live out the rest of their lives in peace. Sanctuaries that the CD will benefit include: Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary, Kindred Spirits Sanctuary, and Animal Acres.
Compassionate living has gone mainstream in recent months. Both The Oprah Show and The Martha Stewart Show have recently devoted episodes to veganism. Books educating American readers about veganism and factory farming such as Veganist, Skinny Bitch and Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food have been making frequent appearances on bestseller lists.
Home on the Range is bringing artists together to support the work of several non-profit sanctuaries directly responsible for saving the lives of farm animals. More artists to be announced soon followed by a series of concerts.
