(02-03-2006) He Just Can't Keep Silent Any Longer -- LA Times*

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

dsmith2904

ONE love, blood, life
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
12,290
Location
Just keep me where the light is
[SIMG]http://www.calendarlive.com/media/photo/2006-02/21756508.jpg[/SIMG]
He Just Can't Keep Silent Any Longer

U2 guitarist the Edge strums up support for New Orleans musicians hard-hit by hurricane.

By Geoff Boucher, Times Staff Writer

It's pretty easy to keep your mouth shut when you stand next to Bono for 25 years. By the same token, it's also pretty easy to become a good listener. The first reason is why the Edge, the guitarist for U2, has long projected the same poker-faced presence on stage as Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones. The second reason is why he is now assuming an atypical role as spokesman for a charity benefiting the beleaguered musicians of New Orleans.

"I didn't ask Bono for advice, no, but I have been influenced by watching him and inspired as well," said David Evans, who in his youth picked up his now-famous nickname for the angular cut of his profile. "As a band, U2 has done quite a bit of work for different causes, but when we do it as a whole, it's Bono as the lead singer who naturally steps up to do a lot of the talking. And he is quite good at it."

Yes, to say the least. Bono has become a global political figure (and, sometimes, a mocked celebrity) for using his microphone to champion the cause of African poverty relief. Now the Edge is stepping front and center for Music Rising, a campaign to replace musicians' instruments destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the devastating floods in its wake. Last week, that campaign brought the 17-time Grammy-winning rock star to the cavernous Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

He apparently has picked up some of Bono's sly humor as well: "I can't believe it; I've been here an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and I haven't heard anybody play the opening of 'Stairway to Heaven.' "

The Guitar Center may be infamous for bad amateur noodling, but on this day it was the site of a meeting between the U2 star and some of the New Orleans musicians getting new amps, keyboards, guitars and other gear to resume their music careers. "Sometimes it doesn't take much to get them back and working and making music," the Edge said after quietly huddling with the wide-eyed visitors from Louisiana.

Walter Barrilleaux, wearing a battered old New Orleans Saints cap, talked about eating MREs, the military rations that became lifeblood when the waters overtook his hometown. Keyboardist Barrilleaux began playing R&B in New Orleans clubs 40 years go.

John Henry Kelly explained how his rock band's entire collection of instruments and gear not only suffered water damage but literally fell apart at the seams from the noxious petro-goo carried by the flood.

The Edge listened intently and afterward said the stories can't begin to tell the true tale.

"I spent some time there, just to see what was going on," he said, "and the sheer breadth of it all, the area covered by the tragedy, it's hard to conceive if you didn't actually see it yourself."

The Music Rising campaign sprang from the Edge's conversation with music producer Bob Ezrin about donating some guitars to musicians from the Gulf Coast states. The Edge felt they could do more; that led to a partnership with Gibson Guitar and the Guitar Center Music Education Foundation to create a special instrument. The result, a limited-edition Music Rising Gibson Les Paul guitar that Guitar Center is selling for $3,334, is hand-painted with a design evoking Mardi Gras colors. Parts that typically would be fashioned from plastic (the backplate, pickguard, etc.) are made from wood grown in the Gulf states. Proceeds from the sales go entirely to the Music Rising cause.

21756508.jpg


The Edge and his band mates will appear on the Grammys next week, and the attendant media interest will give him a platform to promote the Music Rising guitar sales and requests for donations. He also is appearing in a series of public service announcements for Music Rising, which may be his most significant face time and the most his voice has been heard by fans since "Numb," the quirky, muttering song off the 1993 U2 album, "Zooropa," that had Bono give over the rare lead-singer job to his old pal.

The Edge was asked if the very targeted cause of Music Rising has been an issue — to put it another way, shouldn't the needs of hospitals, schools and public safety come first?

"People know that music is so central to the spirit of New Orleans and that helping these people regain their livelihood can only help the economy and the spirit of the entire community," he said. "The music of New Orleans — which is a wide, vast array of styles and sounds — is a valuable natural resource for the region."

The guitarist recalled that on one of U2's first visits to the U.S. the band members spent a night prowling the French Quarter and ended up staring, slack-jawed, at an "amazing" local brass-heavy band playing in a dive bar. The visiting Irishmen ended up drinking too much and dancing on tables with the waitresses.

"It was everything I wanted America to be; it was everything I wanted New Orleans to be," the Edge said with a fond smile. "It was a wonderful night. And that band, at that bar, you got the feeling that you could find exceptional music like that on every block."

U2 albums have long conveyed a greater sense of place than most rock — the early work was steeped in the feel of Ireland, "Joshua Tree" musically mapped the American West and "Achtung Baby" was a buzzing odyssey through Berlin backstreets. With all that the Edge has seen and heard about New Orleans, will the Crescent City be in the mix of the next U2 project?

"It's very possible. We know Daniel Lanois [producer of "Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby"], who is from that area, and working with him on that would seem fitting," he said. "The place has meant a lot to me and to musicians everywhere, and I hope dearly that it can recover. And for New Orleans to recover, it will need music."

To hear an audio interview with The Edge, click here.
 
If you have time, everyone please check out the audio interview. It's about five minutes long but is totally excellent with Edge talking about everything from New Orleans to the Grammys and the next U2 album.
 
reply

This is a great idea! Number 138 is mine.....I'll be picking it up in the next day or so.
I've been needing to re-do my guitar collection......this is a good choice for a good cause.

Thanks Edge! :cool:
 
babyman said:
It's good to read about Edge, most of all because he always speaks of music...........................on the contrary of someone else in the band
;)

mmm hmmmm....

it is a great pic of Edge.
Great cause, he's the man
 
reply

Got it.........my own Gibson Music Rising guitar.......
138 of 300........beautiful..........
a great cause................
can't say enough about it.........
Edge :edge: is a classy/thoughtful person for making this happen and I am glad to have helped out......even in my small way. :|

Now, as a Wizard, I must find Edge's secret formula to create his "music magic" on this guitar..............:evil:

Nonetheless, thanks, Edge
;)
 
I LOVE this new guitar! I read that they were ade from wood found from damage in NO from Katrina. That's AMAZING.....rebirth, renewal, circle of life, recycling at it's best!
 
reply

What amazes me is that the media plays all the bad things about Katrina....when someone is trying to change things around for the good....you never here it at Fox or CNN, etc.

The Edge is right...New Orleans is about the music...I've been there at Mardi Gras..though I don't table dance {LOL}...it's a start toward the positive and good...the man deserves more credit than what he is getting here.....
"Music Rising" is great idea.......

I'm been thinking about something with the Music Rising logo which could be slipped around a guitar strap.....I'm sure many guitar players would get one in support of the project and music. Sorta like the "One" bracelet except it would pin onto or go around a guitar strap..the proceeds could go to the cause... even though it may not be very costly I'm sure many would buy them...or a logo pin anyone could wear........[but then it's probably just ME dreaming aloud again].


:|


Now I must return to my project of the day.......trying to get Edge's formula for his "guitar magic playing secrets"........:evil:
 
Re: reply

wizard2c said:
Got it.........my own Gibson Music Rising guitar.......
138 of 300........beautiful..........
a great cause................
can't say enough about it.........
Edge :edge: is a classy/thoughtful person for making this happen and I am glad to have helped out......even in my small way. ;)

Awesome!! Edge is a class act.. I've seen this on CNN and other news shows, and I agree it's not advertised (tv) as much as it should be.
I think it may just be in target markets, such as magazines like Rolling Stone, Blender & Spin are running ads for Music Rising. I even saw it in Vanity Fair :up:
 
Back
Top Bottom