Michael Stipe and Big Red Machine, “The Joke” singer Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are among the artists featured on a new album from a left-leaning legal organization that has gone head-to-head with the Trump administration in the courts.
Songs and spoken word pieces from the musicians will be included on “Democracy Forward,” the group of the same name announced on Tuesday.
The double album from Democracy Forward and the literary magazine The Bitter Southerner will begin shipping at the end of the month and is poised to be released on vinyl in early July. Other artists performing as part of the compilation album include Tyler Childers, Brittany Howard, Wilco and John Prine.
“We believe in the importance of our democracy and also our ability to save it,” Stipe said in a spoken word recording featured on the album, according to the group.
“The world is depending on us. This fight is not over. The day is not done,” the REM lead singer said.
Last week, Democracy Forward represented a coalition of democracy groups in a lawsuit against the State Department that challenged an agreement struck by the Trump White House with the government of El Salvador to transport more than 200 migrants to a prison in the Central American country.
“At a time when so many communities across the nation are hurting and being targeted, music, art, and expression helps to bring people together in community, which creates the conditions for courage,” Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward’s president and CEO, said in a statement about the album’s release.
“We are incredibly grateful to the artists who have dedicated their music to support the American people’s rights and our democracy during this consequential time. Each of us has a role to play in strengthening our democracy, and every voice matters,” Perryman said.
All proceeds from the $46 musical project, which is available for pre-sale beginning this week, will benefit Democracy Forward’s work, “including the legal representation it provides free of charge for people and communities to defend their rights under the Constitution,” the organization said.
