Global Music Collective The Scooches Release New Single 'Stop This Climate Change' For Earth Day
Vocalist Betina Hershey wrote the song about interpersonal relationships with each other but also with Mother Earth.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Apr. 21, 2023
Global music sensation The Scooches have released a vital new single entitled "Stop This Climate Change," a poetic and uplifting call to action fraught with cataclysmic imagery, yet infused with the desire for change.
Arriving in time for Earth Day, the lyric "We've got to stop this climate and change" refers to the climate of helplessness and denial that surrounds climate change. Vocalist Betina Hershey wrote the song about interpersonal relationships with each other but also with Mother Earth because, collectively, the human race must stop denying climate change.
Featuring a stately co-lead vocal by the gifted Miles Griffith, and spiritually-elevated musicianship by multi-instrumentalist Nick Russo, the excursion concludes with a passage of thought-provoking spoken word by Brooklyn rapper Ra$h Ca$h as a hypnotic Indian-influenced outro propelled by Aditya Phatak (tabla), Mamadou Ba (bass), and Harvey Wirht (drums) carries strength to the promised land. The uplifting vocals, harmonies, rhythms, instruments, and visceral message combine into a bold, and jubilant, declaration of unity. Climate change is not irreversible. Together, we can, and will, make a difference.
"Our goal for this song is to inspire people to roll up their sleeves and take action. The purple hands on our album cover symbolize the magic that comes with hard work! We recycle, compost, use compostable garbage bags, and bike or walk whenever we can. We can't afford to deny our impact on the Earth. Let's come together and truly believe we can create positive change," says Hershey.
A portion of the proceeds generated from the single, available on all major streaming platforms, including Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and Pandora, will benefit Sierra Club, the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the U.S., one whose purpose is to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
Led by Hershey and Russo, The Scooches, formerly known as Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches, have assembled a world-class lineup of standout musicians from New York, Suriname, Sapelo Island (Georgia), Mexico, and the Caribbean on 'LIFT YOU UP' (due July 14 via On The Bol Records). The new 13-song collection builds upon the exuberance that made 2018's 'Get Us Out Of Fearland' (#2 on the International Folk Alliance Chart) and 'Very Next Thing' (2016), a transcendent breath of fresh air.
Inspired by the current social climate, most of The Scooches' songs on this album including "Stop This Climate Change," "Spread Your Wings And Fly" and "Open A Door" call upon society and the human race to believe that we, collectively, can make a difference, a change for the better.
The Scooches raise their voices, their instruments, their consciousness, with an eclectic melting pot of original music inspired by world folk traditions, global Americana, New Orleans and 1920s. Elmore Magazine championed the group's "remarkable musical dexterity with songs that bask in a genuine roots regimen and a sense of timeless tradition."
Highlights include the reggae-dub groove of the title track, the playful, country break-up song "I Broke The Egg," the 1920s-inspired "What's Meant To Last Will Last," the smoky Motown-inflected duet "Give It To Me Real" (featuring Griffith and Hershey trading lines), the gospel-tinged "Leavin'," the eerily lilting "Run," about trafficking and gun violence, and the rollicking bluegrass-driven "Let's Grow Our Roots Deep And True," about finding home.
The ever-timely traditional protest song "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" (which Joan Baez recently sang with Justin Jones of the Tennessee Three at Newark airport) is presented in two versions and both are stunners; the first a celebration to lift the spirits, the second a Gullah Geechee version featuring stirring contributions from improvisational vocals from Miles Griffith and percussionist/vocalist Dr. David Pleasant.
Over the years, The Scooches have performed at the Kansas City Folk Festival, Club Passim, Blue Plate Special, WFUV, John Platt's "On Your Radar" and syndicated old-time radio show WoodSongs with various members also performing with artists such as Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Jerry Garcia, Julia Roberts, and Wynton Marsalis. Russo and Hershey have made appearances in movies such as Disney's 'Enchanted,' 'Mona Lisa Smile,' 'Away We Go' and PBS Masterpiece's 'The Chaperone.'
A summer/fall tour will be announced soon. In the meantime, the band will celebrate with friends, fans and family on Friday, June 2nd, at a very special hometown show at Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village.
The Scooches 'Lift You Up'
Tracklist
1. Lift You Up
2. Let's Grow Our Roots Deep And True
3. Stop This Climate Change
4. Open A Door
5. I Broke The Egg
6. Leavin'
7. What's Meant to Last Will Last
8. Run
9. Spread Your Wings And Fly
10. Give It To Me Real
11. Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round
12. Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round - Gullah Geechee
"A fearless melting pot of rhythmic banjo, slide guitar fused with Gullah Geechee tambourines, beautiful female country lead singing and harmonized calypso vocalizations." - WoodSongs
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