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"Musicians for Haiti"

On Tuesday 12th of January, 2010, an earthquake struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti. It was the worst in two centuries, and thousands have died so far.

We are a group of friends and colleagues who are sharing with you our music and lyrics in response to this disaster. Haiti.bandcamp.com is a container for our efforts, and, following the steps of the rebuilding of the nation itself, will be a work in progress, a place to return to as new pieces get composed and uploaded.

And so Musicians for Haiti (M4H) was born.

In the weeks after the earthquake, a frenzied level of activity was clearly visible on the audio production website where people wrote and recorded music; provided feedback to these tracks; or simply offered words of encouragement. And now, on the two month anniversary of the earthquake, M4H is pleased to announce the availability of several, original tracks that were written by us specifically for the rebuilding effort in Haiti.

"We are quite happy with what we've been able to put together in such a short period of time," says Glyn Powell who initiated the project from his home in London following the quake and contributed to a number of the songs. "To have several quality tracks available in various genres is not something any of us imagined when this started. Better still, we already have commitments for at least four additional tracks to be released next month so people have every reason to circle back every few weeks to see what has been newly produced by the group."

There are several tracks currently available for download including the following:

Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child - this hymn, from one of the darker times in U.S. history, is an expression of pain and suffering that felt especially fitting given the situation in Port Au Prince.

Haitian Overture - an instrumental arranged for a full orchestra, this song changes in mood from melancholia to hope and finally ends on an uplifting note (pun intended).

Hunger - upbeat and uplifting, this song declares with horns a blarin' our thanks for all of the things people have done already and admonishes us to continue focusing on helping others in need.

This truly has been an international effort: the songs above represent the U.S., U.K., Amsterdam, and New Zealand. More songs - and more represented countries - are in the offing (and are in various stages of completion) so we implore you to not stop by once only. Instead, we hope that you'll drop by every few weeks to see what other music has made its way there.

All money collected will be donated to Partners In Health, a relief agency with over 20 years of experience operating in Haiti and who has made that country the primary focus of their efforts during recent years. Furthermore, they have a very low overhead percentage, which was important to us since we wanted as much money to go to help the people rather than pay for administrative support.

M4H can be reached via the website, email (haiti.musicians@yahoo.com), our Facebook fan page, and soon to be launched YouTube channel.

Thank you in advance for your support!

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