Country folk singers Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle will stage a tour of
California next month to publicize the damage done by abandoned land mines.
Billed as "Emmylou and Friends," the five-date outing also will feature
rotating guest appearances from singer/songwriters Willie Nelson, Kris
Kristofferson, Nanci Griffith, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, John Prine,
Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others. Harris and Earle will
perform at every show.
The shows will benefit the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World. Part of
the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, the group works to defuse the
estimated 100 million deadly land mines worldwide.
Harris, who released Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions with Linda
Ronstadt in August, has performed several benefits for the anti-land mine
cause.
"It's one thing for people to agree that land mines are bad ... it's another
thing to find out exactly where they are and get them out of the ground,"
she said earlier this year.
Earle also is no stranger to activism. The singer of such protest songs
as "Christmas in Washington" (RealAudio
excerpt) has performed numerous benefits, including a series of
anti-death-penalty shows in April.
Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle tour dates:
Dec. 1; Palo Alto, Calif.; Stanford University (with Bruce Cockburn, Nanci Griffith, Patty Griffin and John Prine)
Dec. 2; Santa Rosa, Calif.; Luther Burbank Center (with Bruce Cockburn, Nanci Griffith, Patty Griffin and John Prine)
Dec. 3; Torrance, Calif.; El Camino College (with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Guy Clark and Terry Allen)
Dec. 4; San Diego, Calif.; University of California, San Diego (with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Guy Clark and Terry Allen)
Dec. 5; Santa Barbara, Calif.; University of California, Santa Barbara (with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and Bruce Cockburn)