News

If you live in Washington State or Arizona, you can now register to vote on Facebook through the Your Revolution application. Your Revolution, who have partnered up with Rock the Vote, are encouraging young people to register to vote, get their friends to register and ultimately, to pressure states other than Washington and Arizona to adopt online voter registration. To add the application to your Facebook profile and to register to vote, you can click here. For more information about Your Revolution, a voter registration organization started by students, you can visit their website here.

Meet Mazi Mutafa, Executive Director of Words, Beats, and Life (WBL), a hip hop nonprofit dedicated to transforming individual lives and whole communities through hip hop in Washington DC. You can read an interview with him on the Perspectives From the Pipeline blog here.

As of yesterday, anyone 17 or younger will need a notarized permission slip from their parents to attend concerts and two Omaha venues, the Waiting Room and Slowdown. The permission slips are the most significant element of a new city ordinance intended to allow the younger set to enjoy live music while limiting their access to alcohol. The Omaha City Council adopted the ordinance April 17 after questions were raised about whether minors can legally attend shows at Slowdown and the Waiting Room because those venues operate as stand-alone bars when no concerts are booked. The permission slip rules do not apply to social halls such as Sokol Auditorium, or to the Qwest Center Omaha and Orpheum Theater, even though those venues allow all ages and serve alcohol. To read more on this issue, visit the Omaha World Herald's website here.

Gossip guitarist Brace Paine interviews Jim Smith about the Smell for MTV's artist of the week feature.

Last Friday, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) voted unanimously amend 845-006-0340 Minor Postings. This means that Oregon venues that choose to abide by specific restrictions and submit a proper control plan to admit those under 21 into certain performances. Great news for Oregon's underage music fans who have been shut out of countless events and have witnessed some of their favorite all-ages venue struggle to survive, especially in Portland. You can read more about the OLCC's ruling in this week's issue of the Portland Mercury and on their blog.

Cave 9 was recently featured on Birmingham's NPR station, WBHM. There's a great 5 minute piece by Tanya Ott giving a background of Cave 9, the Birmingham music scene overall and also discusses Cave 9's non-profit status. You can listen to the piece or read the transcription here.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the All-ages Movement Panel at the EMP Pop Conference last Friday in Seattle. The panel got a few shout outs in some post-conference press - you can check it out at the Seattle Metblog, the Stranger, and in Mother Jones. Here is the presentation that was shown at the panel:

Exit Only curator Zach Barnes intended Exit Only to be a haven for all sorts of “underground arts,” a place where you’d just as likely catch a puppet show or indie film screening as a rock concert. But, thanks to Portland’s startling lack of all-ages venues (thanks, OLCC!), Barnes found himself bombarded by requests from bands wanting to fill the cavernous, plywood-lined space with music. You can read more about Exit Only on the Willamette Week website.

AMP made a zine! It's full of silly pictures and (hopefully) witty comments. You can check it out online here. There's also a print version. If you'd like one (or twenty), let us know.

Click the link below to register to vote. It’ll only take a few minutes---all you have to do is print it, sign it, lick it and mail it. The deadline to mail in your form is usually 15-30 days before the day of the election. If you think you are already registered at an old address, go ahead and re-register at your new address. For more information on registering, visit the Rock the Vote website.