Look To The Stars News: Joe Strummer

Billy Bragg Changes Inmates' Lives Through Music

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Rocker Billy Bragg is currently raising awareness of a charity initiative he set up to help change the lives of prison inmates through music.

The singer was at a special screening of a documentary – called Breaking Rocks – about the initiative in Glasgow last week. Bragg established his project – Jail Guitar Doors – in 2007 to mark the fifth anniversary of Clash singer Joe Strummer, who was well known for his charity work.

“In early 2007, I was looking to do something positive to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer when I received a request from a local jail,” writes Bragg on the project’s website. "Malcolm Dudley, a drug and alcohol counsellor at nearby Guys Marsh prison in Dorset, was utilising his skills as a musician to set up a guitar class as a means of engaging prisoners in the process of rehabilitation. Borrowing a guitar from the prison chaplain and repairing an old nylon-strung instrument found in a prison cupboard, Malcolm began to make progress with the inmates. However, he soon became aware that their development was being held back by the lack of available instruments on which to practise between sessions. He wrote to me asking for help.

The Clash Remembered In Charity Christmas Cards

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Joe Strummer is generally regarded as one of punk’s break-through stars, taking his band The Clash from obscurity to the heights of rock in the 1970’s. Now the last ever hand-painted Christmas card by the late rock icon is being used to raise money for the charity set up in his name.

Strummerville was established with the help of Damien Hirst to “reflect Joe’s unique contribution to the music world by offering support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not normally have access to them”. The charity has announced it will sell cards featuring the final drawing to raise money before Christmas, along with a tribute album titled “Winter Sessions Showcase Album 2009.”

Strummer died of heart complications in 2002. He helped set up Future Forests – now known as The Carbon Neutral Company – an organization dedicated to planting trees in various parts of the world in order to combat global warming.

Joe Strummer To Be Remembered In Benefit Gig

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

A benefit concert celebrating the life of Joe Strummer will be held in London later this month.

Strummer – guitarist and singer for punk legends The Clash – died of heart complications in 2002. He helped set up Future Forests – now known as The Carbon Neutral Company – an organization dedicated to planting trees in various parts of the world in order to combat global warming. Following his death, artist Damien Hirst set up Strummerville, a non-profit organization that aims to help young musicians.

The benefit concert will take place on December 21 – the anniversary of Strummer’s death – and will feature up-and-coming punk bands such as The Rotten Hill Gang, The Riff-Raff, Dan Smith and The Savage Nomads.