Tucson musicians unite for concert 'Against Hate'

Andrea Connolly grew up in Richmond, Virginia, so when the protests in Charlottesville an hour away from her hometown broke out on Aug. 12, the Tucson musician said she wasn’t entirely surprised.

She was shocked and disturbed by the images she saw on TV, “but then also, kind of just not as surprised as I thought I would be,” said Connolly, one half of the husband-wife rock duo Birds and Arrows. “The level of violence was surprising, but the tension, not surprised.”

Connolly and her husband Pete, who relocated to Tucson from North Carolina nearly two years ago, add an intimate perspective to the lineup of Ben Nisbet’s “Against Hate” fundraising concert on Friday, Sept. 8. Connolly still has family in Virginia and said she remembers growing up in the shadow of Richmond’s Monument Avenue, a road devoted to statues honoring the city’s Confederate figures. The sight of the statues never sat right with her, she said.

It was plans to take down those sorts of symbols recalling the Civil War that led up to the violence of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. Protestors clashed with neo-Nazis and white supremacists in a park anchored by a statue of Robert E. Lee.

Nisbet said he organized Tucson’s “Against Hate” benefit to give people a chance to unite against the racially charged rhetoric and violence that has been dividing the country.

“As things were really seeming to spiral out of control on the national level with what happened in Charlottesville and, quite frankly, what’s happening all over the country, it seemed like a good idea to try and create something that could help to alleviate a sense of helplessness within the community,” he said. “A lot of people were wondering, is there something I can do, is there something I can actively engage in beyond being upset that our society is going in the wrong direction?”

Admission to Friday’s concert at Fourth Avenue’s Che’s Lounge is by donation — no one will be turned away. Nisbet said all the money they raise, including a generous cut of the bar’s take that night, will benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center, a watchdog organization that tracks the activities of hate groups in the United States.

But the event is about more than raising money; it’s about raising awareness of racial tensions in our community that could build and boil over if left unchecked.

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“I’ve seen a lot of people post (on social media) who are very removed, who said screw Charlottesville. Sometimes people get really comfortable in their bubble ... so sometimes it’s nice to remind them that this affects everybody, not just in the South or Virginia,” Connolly said. “There is plenty of work to do in our community to bring that awareness here.”

Birds and Arrows was one of the first acts to jump on board Nisbet’s benefit largely because, Connolly said, the atrocities in Charlottesville felt so personal; Connolly still has family in Virginia. The Connollys are not strangers to activism through their music. They recently released “Stay Down,” their first single since arriving in Tucson. The song examines violence against women.

Nisbet said “Against Hate” was an easy sell for the artists; no one turned him down. The lineup also includes Carlos Arzate, XIXA’s Gabriel Sullivan and Brian Lopez, singer-songwriter Katie Haverly, hip-hop/R&B artist Chezale, Sweet Ghosts duo Ryan Alfred and Katherine Byrnes, indie folkie Casey Golden and Logan Phillips, aka DJ Dirty Verbs.

“The whole thing was organized really quickly, within a couple of days because so many people were positive about being involved,” said Nisbet, a former violinist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra who now works in the orchestra’s administration. “There are things you can do and you can get involved and do it in a positive way.”

Which is why Tucson hip-hop/R&B artist Chezale Rodriguez — she goes by her first name only on stage — signed on.

“I really just want to inspire people, for people who are confused how they can support or get active with people who want to get out into the community, to let them know that there are other people out there who feel the way they feel who want to make a change or make a difference,” said the Pittsburgh native who has lived in Tucson since she was 11 and graduated from Tucson High Magnet School and Pima Community College.

“Against Hate” also will feature poetry readings from Kristen Nelson and Bryan Sanders, and a speech by Democratic Congressional candidate Billy Kovacs.

In addition to his day job with the TSO, Nisbet also is an in-demand multi-instrumental studio musician and director of the popular St. Andrew’s Bach Society summer chamber music series.