This morning Louisville's favorite band, My Morning Jacket, has proven once again that they’re not just kick-ass rock stars but kick-ass human beings as well.
The band announced just under a week in advance of their upcoming album “The Waterfall," that they are launching a long term philanthropy effort called The Waterfall Project.
According to the band’s management: The inspiration and drive behind The Waterfall Project is to support great nonprofit organizations and to promote the seemingly small acts people take towards making a difference, that when combined with others, can lead to big change. Over the course of this album cycle, The Waterfall Project will focus on supporting and amplifying environment and climate issues. The effort will include raising funds through ticket proceeds, exclusive merchandise items, direct donation and fan engagement with nonprofit organizations. Beneficiaries of The Waterfall Project are: Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, The Gulf Restoration Network and Climate Justice Alliance.
The Waterfall Project is powered by Revolutions Per Minute (RPM), a nonprofit agency that provides artists with strategy and support for their activism and philanthropy.
Make no mistake, while this is certainly the band’s largest and most expansive charitable activation, it is by no means the band’s first foray into philanthropy. Over the course of their career the band and it’s individual members have had their fingers in local, regional and international causes, including mountaintop removal, just and humane immigration reform, voter registration, and many others. They have also given tracks to several benefit compilations including “Red + Hot Fela,” “Dear New Orleans” and “Dark Was the Night.” Such albums have tackled causes as broad as international AIDS/HIV awareness, Katrina relief, and various environmental issues.
Along with the announcement of The Waterfall Project, the band released a video to the web. In the clip the band is documented as they recorded their seventh studio album “The Waterfall” in Stinson Beach, California.
