We’re incredibly heartened by Komen’s decision to return funding to Planned Parenthood; the fact that a myriad of voices, raised together in opposition, can have such an effect is truly inspiring. We think that Komen’s initial decision to cut off PP was unconscionable; to retract that decision is only common sense. Going forward, however, we are determined to stand with Planned Parenthood by continuing to donate the proceeds from the Team Jenny shirts and buttons to their newly founded Breast Cancer Emergency Fund.
Here’s a note from Jenny Conlee:
Hi everyone. I would like to add my own thoughts about the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle. I deeply respect both of these organizations for the work they do in women’s health. I am disappointed in Susan G. Komen for politicizing a very non-political issue, but I also am thankful that they listened to their donors and affiliates and decided to revise their decision and focus on what really matters, which is funding early detection. While I support that we will donate ongoing proceeds from our Team Jenny goods to Planned Parenthood’s Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, I want to clarify that I personally will also be supporting the Oregon and SW Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Komen Oregon spoke out early against banning grants to Planned Parenthood, and put pressure on the national affiliate to reverse their decision. They also have a very effective program for providing mammograms to low income and uninsured women, and have a commitment to supplying grants for important research. Two studies funded by Komen created treatments that are part of my current cancer care and will increase my odds of never experiencing a recurrence of breast cancer. This issue is complicated, and I encourage you to show your support to whichever organization feels best to you. We need to focus on the one enemy we have in common and that is breast cancer. Thanks for supporting Team Jenny!
- Jenny
The Decemberists are deeply troubled by Komen for the Cure’s recent decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a vital resource in the battle against breast cancer. Providing cancer screenings to low income women is integral to the prevention and defeat of breast cancer and it is unconscionable that Komen should politicize this very important issue by bowing to the fear campaign being waged against PP by the right. We’ve decided to redirect the proceeds of the Team Jenny t-shirts and buttons away from Komen for the Cure. 100% of the net profits of these items will be instead donated to Planned Parenthood’s Breast Health Emergency Fund
Please help to support this essential institution. And, if you’ve supported the Team Jenny effort in the past, please write to Komen for the Cure via their site (here) or via twitter (@komenforthecure) and let them know that undermining women’s health for political reasons is unacceptable.
Coming March 13, We All Raise Our Voices To The Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11), a twenty song live double-album and triple-vinyl set! Performances are pulled from twelve shows on the 2011 Popes of Pendarvia World Tour including the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Marymoor Amphitheatre in Seattle, and our final two shows at McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheatre in Portland. Pre-order coming soon.
Disc 1
1. The Infanta
2. Calamity Song
3. Rise To Me
4. The Soldiering Life
5. We Both Go Down Together
6. The Bagman’s Gambit
7. Down By The Water
8. Leslie Ann Levine
9. The Rake’s Song
10. The Crane Wife 1, 2, and 3
Disc 2
1. Oceanside
2. Billy Liar
3. Grace Cathedral Hill
4. All Arise!
5. Rox In The Box
6. June Hymn
7. Dracula’s Daughter > O Valencia!
8. This Is Why We Fight
9. The Mariner’s Revenge Song
10. I Was Meant For The Stage
Our friends at the Yellow Bird Project are offering a heather grey version of the Team Jenny tee, with all proceeds still benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, get one today here.
– - 
—— Order CD (with instant download) — —— Order Vinyl (with instant download)
Long Live The King
1. E. Watson
2. Foregone
3. Burying Davy
4. I 4 U & U 4 Me (Home Demo)
5. Row Jimmy
6. Sonnet
Points of Order:
• A b-sides EP, Long Live The King, set for 11/1 release
• Austin City Limits performance to air 10/22
• Calamity Song on Last Call with Carson Daly’s Greek Week
• Colin to perform at Rainn Wilson and Friends benefit show
• Posters! Posters! Posters!
• A Black Prairie Hometown Residency
• Some Decemberists to Tour with John Wesley Harding
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
There’s so much activity of late, we felt the need to reinstitute the sometimes overlooked Points of Order. Use them as your guide through this lengthy, but riveting, e-missive. On November 1, we will release a b-sides EP, Long Live The King. Starting today, you can pre-order the EP at thedecemberists.com. Long Live The King features six outtakes from The King Is Dead recording sessions at Pendarvis Farm, including “E. Watson” (with backing vocals from Laura Veirs and Annalisa Tornfelt), “Sonnet,” a cover of Grateful Dead’s “Row Jimmy” (release previously on 7″ vinyl), and the home demo “I 4 U & U 4 Me.” The EP is available as CD or 10″ vinyl. We’re also selling an exclusive Long Live The King tee:
Anyone who pre-orders the album will be entered to win one of ten Deluxe Box Editions of The King Is Dead autographed by the band. In case you’ve forgotten, each Box includes an original Type 100 vintage peel-apart Polaroid photo taken by Autumn de Wilde from The Impossible Project/Decemberists series, as well as the CD, LP on white vinyl, a DVD of Pendarvia, a limited edition signed Giclée print by Carson Ellis, and a 72-page clothbound book featuring over 250 photographs by Autumn and illustrations by Carson. We’ll pick the winners randomly the week of November 1st.
Long Live The King
1. E. Watson
2. Foregone
3. Burying Davy
4. I4U & U4ME (Home Demo)
5. Row Jimmy
6. Sonnet
Our performance on the PBS show Austin City Limits, which was taped during the recent summer tour at the show’s new venue ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin, will air on October 22. Also featured on the show are Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who sit in with the band in addition to playing their own set. For air times, visit austincitylimits.org. Also, our performance of “Calamity Song” from the August show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles aired on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly and is now streaming on their website.
Colin will perform at the Rainn Wilson and Friends Benefit show at The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA on Saturday, November 19. Tickets are available now here. All proceeds from the show benefit the Mona Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting grassroots educational initiatives and raising the status of women and girls worldwide.
Many of the limited edition silkscreen posters you saw at the merch stand each night of the Popes of Pendarvia World Tour are available for sale in the Decemberists Shop, now including the poster we printed for the Indianapolis show we unfortunately had to cancel. They are, as noted, limited, so get them while they last!
Just a heads up, if you live in Portland and are 21+, Chris, Jenny, and Nate’s band, Black Prairie, will be performing every Wednesday in October at the Laurelthirst Public House from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. They are using this time to hammer out new songs for the eventual sophomore record as well as some material for a play they were commissioned to score, “The Storm In The Barn” which will debut in April. Some friends will also be joining them, as well as comedians on the set breaks, schedule of guests below. Oh, and it’s FREE.
October 5th – w/ Ritchie Young from Loc Lomond and comedy by Aaron Ross
October 12th – w/ Garth from Old Light and comedy by Pete Schriner
October 19th – w/ Sallie Ford
October 26th w/ Eric Johnson from The Fruit Bats
Also, if you live in the Seattle area, Black Prairie will be playing the Wintergrass Festival in Feburary.
And, in other non-Decemberists news, John, Chris, Jenny, and Nate will be joining forces with Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey to form the King Charles Trio, the backing band for John Wesley Harding‘s upcoming November tour. The group also worked together on Harding’s upcoming record, The Sound of His Own Voice, out October 11. Check below for the tour dates:
November 5, Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco, CA
November 6, McCabes, Santa Monica, CA
November 11, Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR
November 12, The Sunset Tavern, Seattle, WA
November 15, World Café Live, Philadelphia, PA
November 16, Jammin’ Java, Vienna, VA
November 18, Cabinet of Wonders, City Winery, New York, NY (with Ted Leo, Howe Gelb, Eugune Mirman, and many more)
November 19, The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY
November 20, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ
Yours,
The Decemberists
decemberists.com
twitter.com/thedecemberists
Earlier today we premiered the new “Calamity Song” video, directed by the seriously talented Michael Schur. The video, which was shot over a rainy weekend in our hometown of Portland, portrays a game of Eschaton (basically, a global thermonuclear crisis recreated on a tennis court, invented by David Foster Wallace in his book Infinite Jest). It’s available to watch on both NPR.org and NYTimes.com. In addition to posting the video, The New York Times also published a feature about the video, including interviews with Colin and Michael here.
You can purchase the video through iTunes here.
As you know, the Popes of Pendarvia World Tour comes to a close this week, with four final stops in the Pacific Northwest. Just a reminder that the first of the two Portland shows at Edgefield (August 25) is now SOLD OUT. Tickets are still available for all other shows, including tonight’s show at Marymoor Amphitheatre near Seattle. These will be the last U.S. dates for quite some time. Visit our tour page for details.
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
The Popes of Pendarvia World Tour is winding to a close. A few items of note for those of you on the West Coast. The first of the two Portland shows at Edgefield (August 25) is now SOLD OUT. Tickets are still available for all other shows, including tomorrow night’s show at Los Angeles’ historic Greek Theatre. These and the other remaining West Coast dates will be the last U.S. dates for quite some time.
Also, a quick reminder that The Decemberists’ brand-new iTunes Session is available NOW. The 8-song set features tracks spanning across much of the band’s career, plus two previously unrecorded covers: Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” and Fruit Bats’ “When U Love Somebody.” You can buy the full EP here.
Yours,
The Decemberists
decemberists.com
twitter.com/thedecemberists
Hey Indianapolis: we’re so, so sorry. We don’t like to cancel shows, but my voice is trashed. We’ll make it up to you, promise. – Colin
Refunds are available at point of purchase. Visit here for more details.
Adored Mailing List Recipient,
Colin here. As we Decemberists launch into the final leg of the Popes of Pendarvia World Tour and patiently mark time before the demise of Summer, I wanted to take a moment and personally alert you, Mailing List Recipient, to the thing that will be consuming my days and evenings in the forthcoming months: namely, a book that Carson Ellis, Illustratrix and Decemberists Art-Slave, and I have been cooking up for nigh on 12 years.
That book is called WILDWOOD. It hits fine bookstores, e- and otherwise, on August 30th. You can pre-order it here. Or here, if you prefer to keep things indie. We’re also giving away a download of the first four chapters (see below for details).
I may have mentioned it to you before. If I’m repeating myself, I apologize. Go on with your day. However, if this is news to you, and you are desperate to find out more, let me invite you to join the exclusive cabal that is the WILDWOOD MAILING LIST so that you might be have your inbox graffiti’d with more Meloy/Ellis-related nonsense. You can sign-up over at the official Wildwood Chronicles site. By joining the list, you will receive a free download of the first four chapters.
And what a bunch of awesome nonsense there is — via this virtual grapevine, we’ll be announcing Author/Illustrator Events, Available Merchandise, Behind-the-Scenes Exclusives and other interesting tid-bits that will likely give this simple mailing list the feel of one of those cool secret societies like Skull and Bones or the Mouseketeers. If that is the kind of man or woman you are, please visit our website to sign up: www.wildwoodchronicles.com.
If you’d like the double-whammy, you can also “like” WILDWOOD on our Facebook page to receive the download of the first four chapters. Lots of other nifty things to be discovered there as well.
Carson and I will be galavanting around the country this fall to do talks and readings, so we expect to see all your brilliant, shining faces basked in that autumnal light (as refracted through the UV-coated glass of one of your fine, local bookstores).
Yours,
Colin Meloy
twitter.com/colinmeloy
www.wildwoodchronicles.com
