Sheffield — October 10 would have been journalist Daniel Pearl’s 51st birthday. The Sheffield-based nonprofit Music in Common will present the 10th Annual FODfest (Friends of Danny Festival) in downtown Sheffield, a four-stage celebration of Pearl’s life that also commemorates nine years of Music in Common (MiC) programming.
The first FODfest took place on October 10, 2005 as an informal jam in singer-songwriter Todd Mack’s backyard to honor the life of his friend and bandmate. Pearl was abducted and murdered by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan in 2002 while working on assignment for the Wall Street Journal. Mack met Pearl when they both lived in Atlanta a few years after the reporter had begun his journalism career at the North Adams Transcript and the Berkshire Eagle.
“Music was very important to Danny and we shared a fervent belief in its power to connect people. That first FODfest was magical and something he would have been a part of,” Mack said.
That first FODfest also gave rise to Music in Common, a nonprofit organization entering its tenth year, whose programs, events, and multimedia productions have served thousands of people in more than 200 communities around the world. This past August, amid active conflict between Israel and Gaza, 18 Israeli, Palestinian, and American high school students gathered for a week on the Bard College at Simon’s Rock campus for the MiC International Youth Summit to write and produce a song and music video, titled “The Change We’ll Bring.”
The recent brutal murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning are painful reminders of the hate-fueled violence that took Pearl’s life. “Now more than ever we are compelled and driven to work even harder towards dismantling the hatred and acts of terror that took my friend’s life,” said Mack of the work of Music in Common.
The 10th Annual FODfest, which also includes events in Atlanta and Mill Valley, Calif., where Daniel Pearl also has ties, will kick off with the Sheffield festival on Friday October 10, Pearl’s birthday. The free community event will include four stages of music running simultaneously from 3 p.m. to midnight with stages at The Sheffield Farmer’s Market, The Marketplace Café, and Dewey Hall. Nearly 50 local and regional artists, some of whom knew Danny or have performed at previous FODfest events, will perform.
Artists new to FODfest will also be performing. The lineup includes Chris Merenda and the Wheel, Rob Sanzone & Visceral Impact, The Joint Chiefs, Abby Lappen, David Hodge, Justin Hillman, Jessica Roemischer, JoAnne Spies, Aidan O’Brien, Graham & Barbara Dean, Katherine Winston, Todd Mack and his Band of Dreams, and many others. The festival will conclude with an unplugged FODjam at 10 p.m. at Dewey Hall, a unique format that is part song swap, part jam session, and part concert. The FODjam is open to any musician who would like to participate regardless of proficiency level or whether or not they performed earlier that day.
Admission to FODfest is free but donations are welcome. Food, beer, and beverages will be available for purchase. Raffle drawings for local items, merchandise, and CDs will be held hourly. To volunteer at the event, or for more information on upcoming programs and the work of Music In Common, visit www.musicincommon.org, email info@musicincommon.org, or find Music In Common on Facebook.
