Country legend Steve Earle will headline an upcoming series of Irish charity gigs with a difference they will be billed under the title Surviving The Death Penalty A Celebration Concert.
The concerts have been organised by Peter Pringle who was sentenced to death in Ireland in 1980, and spent almost 15 years in Portlaoise Prison before proving his innocence and regaining his liberty. Pringle has recently been instrumental in setting up the Lazarus Trust, which will be the beneficiary of money raised from the gigs. The Trust works towards finding alternatives to the death penalty and hopes to build up a fighting fund to assist those who believe they have been victims of a miscarriage of justice.
If you look at my case, then if the death penalty had existed that would have been that. But as well, if I hadn t been able to learn how to handle my own case while in jail, I would still be in my cell. So what we will be hoping to do is raise money that could be used for legal assistance to people at the stage before they become eligible for Legal Aid.
Pringle will introduce the various artists at each gig. In addition to Earle, each show will feature a local artist (Galway John Hoban, a singer-songwriter from Castlebar; Belfast Co Down s Tony McLoughlin; Dublin Wally Page and Johnny Mulhearn). A woman with a remarkable story to tell, Sonia Sunny Jacobs, will be a guest speaker at all the concerts.
Jacobs spent five years in solitary confinement on death row in Florida, and a total of seventeen years in prison before her innocence was established and her conviction overturned. While in Death Row, however, she also immersed herself in yoga and meditation, which she currently teaches in Los Angeles. She will speak on her experiences and what she refers to as, the inner journey [she] took to find true freedom and connectedness to the whole universe.
The chief musical attraction is, of course, Steve Earle. Earle has become a seminal figure in modern American roots music since he exploded onto the scene in the early 80s. While he has always fulfilled the role of the outsider, he is also specifically involved in the struggle to have the death penalty abolished in the USA. Earle s beliefs often come through clearly in his music, so some particularly apposite tunes might well make their way into his set.
It would be hard to think of a more powerful package to aid the campaign to stop legal executions. As Peter Pringle says, To me the death penalty is just barbaric and if a change is going to come, then it will come through raising awareness. n
Surviving The Death Penalty A Celebration Concert Town Hall, Galway (26th October); Transport House, Belfast (27th Oct); Liberty Hall, Dublin (28th Oct) [Galway and Belfast tickets #10 available from respective venues; Dublin, tickets #12 from venue or HMV/Ticketmaster outlets].