2021 Magnificent May Virtual Concert Digital Program

Magnificent May Virtual Concert Saturday, May 22, 2O21

Program Welcome

DIANNA COHEN

Co-Founder + CEO, Plastic Pollution Coalition

Opening ‘Sankofa’ PANDORA THOMAS

Founder of Earth Seed Farm

The Challenge

DR. SYLVIA EARLE Founder, Mission Blue

Our Work

JULIA COHEN

Co-Founder + Managing Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition

“Breathe This Air” by

PEAK PLASTIC FOUNDATION

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act ROSARIO DAWSON Activist and Actor

Plastic Pollution Coalition Youth Ambassadors

Musical Performances “Don’t Throw It Away” by KEB’ MO’

Plastic Pollution Coalition Youth Ambassadors’ Tik Tok

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Musical Performances Magnificent May Concert

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Andrea Arria-Devoe + Mike Maguire Amanda Begley Rachelle Carson + Ed Begley Jr. Laurie + Bill Benenson Susan + Jeff Bridges Bonnie Calvin + Erik Gray Shawn Colvin Jacquelyn Davis + Jordan Dey Dr. Michael Dorsey Michelle Esrick Annie + Rick Farman Jeff Franklin Pete Gilmer Nola Kambanda Bruce Kieloch Agatha + Steve Luczo Ann Luskey + Charlotte Weir Camelia + Jeff Lynne Judy + Jim O'Brien Jill Mazurksy Fernando Pullum Tim Robbins Pandora Thomas Patti + Scott Thurston David Townsend + Sharon Usher Jamaica Walden + Barry Mottier Alice Waters Heather White Alfre Woodard + Roderick Spencer Alexandra Woodward

Executive Advisory Board Andrea Arria-Devoe Jackson Browne Dr. Michael Dorsey Elyssa Elbaz Michelle Esrick Annie Farman

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Kirk Ferguson Peter Gilmer John Gorman Ann Luskey Heather White Alexa Woodward

Our Work

Host Committee

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ounded in 2009, Plastic Pollution Coalition is a global alliance of individuals, organizations, businesses, and policymakers working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals, waterways, oceans, and the environment.

In the past twelve years the Coalition has grown to include more than 1,200 business and organization members, and over 13,000 individual members, working across the globe in 75 countries on 6 continents.

Plastic Pollution Coalition educates and connects people and groups to advocate for a more just, equitable world free of plastic pollution. We create change around three pillars of action:

Educate

Connect

Advocate

We raise consciousness and change behavior through education

We drive collective action through our Coalition building + coordination

We advance regulations, legislation, and change corporate practices through advocacy

Defining the Narrative Across Platforms

Mobilizing + Convening

Advocacy Portal

We expose facts, catalyze action, and inspire change through thought leaders and sector experts, press outreach, speaking engagements, a comprehensive website, vast social media reach, and storytelling through original video, art, and music content.

Research Through surveys, studies, and reports, we work to reveal the costs and damage caused by plastic pollution.

We organize our global membership and key thought leaders through in-person and broadcasted convenings such as TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch in 2010 and TEDxPlasticPollutionCoalition in 2020, along with Issue Focused Working Groups, and our Global Monthly Webinar Series.

Accelerating Sponsor, fund, host, and promote solutions.

We provide members with free resources, tools, and guides to activate and increase the impact of their advocacy.

Campaigns

Through co-sponsorship and communications, we advocate for new legislation and policy and challenge corporate practices to promote real solutions for a circular economy.

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Event Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors for making possible our Magnificent May Virtual Concert to benefit Plastic Pollution Coalition!

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Butterfly Sponsor

Discovery is proud to distribute The Story of Plastic film.

The Story of Plastic is a sweeping look at the man-made crisis of plastic pollution and the worldwide effect it has on the health of our planet and the people who inhabit it.

Watch now at go.discovery.com/tv-shows/the-story-of-plastic

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Chrysalis Sponsors

Lynne and Marc Benioff Agatha and Steve Luczo Carla and Jack McDonald Jim and Judy O’Brien

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Caterpillar Sponsors

Charlotte’s Web Foundation Alexandra Woodward Zegar Family Fund

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Leaf Sponsors Laurie and Bill Benenson Elyssa and Gil Elbaz Kirk Ferguson Inara George Tracy and Bill McCutchen The Katie McGrath & J.J. Abrams Family Foundation Gretchen and Randy Newman Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks

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Product Sponsors

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Artist Biographies Jackson Browne Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

Jackson is currently working on a new studio album, set for release in July 2021. On May 15, 2020, he released two new singles from the forthcoming record, “Downhill From Everywhere” and “A Little Soon To Say.” Browne is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights, and arts education.

He’s a co-founder of the groups Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) and Nukefree.org and a member of the Ocean advocacy group, Ocean Elders.

jacksonbrowne.com

Inara George “Inara George is the kind of artist who’ll never get called

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experimental, because her music sounds so sweet. Yet she is a risk-taker—just one whose voice is clear and accessible.” (Los Angeles Times) Inara is an L.A. native who has worked her way through many musical incarnations starting from the early 1990s to the present. She has released four solo albums with her long time producer, Michael Andrews.

One of those solo albums was an orchestral collaboration with the inimitable Van Dyke Parks. She is also a member of the band The Bird and The Bee with producer Greg Kurstin.

Their eponymous debut album was released in 2007, to much critical acclaim, and since then the band has released multiple albums. She is also a member of the all-female harmony group, The Living Sisters, with Alex Lilly, Eleni Mandell, and Becky Stark.

And in the past few years she has started her own record label, Release Me Records, with the intention of shining a light on artists who might not be given the attention they deserve by today’s mainstream music industry.

inarageorge.com

Taylor Goldsmith

Taylor Goldsmith is the lead singer/songwriter for the band Dawes. Taylor’s work has been widely recognized for his excellent story-telling and honest lyrics.

Esquire called Goldsmith “The best young songwriter in America” and says “these are songs that don’t just speak for themselves but accomplish something far rarer— they speak for us.”

Goldsmith draws influence from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon, and Jackson Browne, who Dawes have had the pleasure of playing with and who has called Taylor a “brilliant songwriter.” Taylor and co-writer Sidd Khosla recently received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics” for their song “Memorized” from the NBC show “This Is Us.” dawestheband.com

Ben Harper Grammy award-winning guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader Ben Harper enjoyed cult status on the jam band scene in the 1990s largely due to the success of his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World, and its follow-up, Fight for Your Mind, before gaining wider attention near the decade’s end.

During the 21st century, he transcended the genre to become

a wildly diverse performer, collaborator, and sideman who has worked with artists ranging from The Blind Boys of Alabama and Charlie Musselwhite to John Mayer. Harper drew his influences from classic singer/songwriters, blues revivalists, guitar slingers, and jam bands like Blues Traveler and Phish, which meant he was embraced by critics and college kids alike.

Despite finding commercial success with the radio single “Steal My Kisses” in 2000, Harper continued to explore different (and often challenging) musical textures during the early 21st century, enjoying a solid fan base at home and a considerable amount of fame in Europe, where he was named 2003’s Artist of the Year by the French branch of Rolling Stone.

benharper.com

Keb’ Mo’ Keb’ Mo’s self-titled release under his coined Keb’ Mo’ moniker, reached it’s quarter century milestone in 2019, and over the years, Keb’ has proven that he is a musical force that defies typical genre labels. Album after album, 14 in total, he has garnered 5 Grammy awards, including his most recent 2019 release, Oklahoma, which won in the Best Americana Album category.

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Keb’s list of Grammy recognitions continues with 12 Grammy nominations, in total, including his 2014 self-produced release, BLUESAmericana, earning three nominations on its own as well as a producer/ engineer/artist Grammy Certificate for his track on the 2001 Country Album of the Year, Hank Williams tribute—Timeless.

Keb’ has also been awarded 14 Blues Foundation Awards and 6 BMI Awards for his work in TV & Film. Over the past two decades, Keb’ has cultivated a reputation as a modern master of American roots music through the understated excellence of his live and studio performances.

appeared in a dozen films and released a series of celebrated albums: 2003’s Coverage, 2007’s Wild Hope, and 2009’s Amanda Leigh. In March 2020, Moore released her first album in over a decade. Silver Landings is emblematic of the journey Moore has been through in the past decade, what it took to get to the point of re-embracing this part of her life, and the expectations therein. Since 2016, she’s starred on the critically acclaimed NBC series This Is Us, earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her role as matriarch Rebecca Pearson.

kebmo.com

Watkins Family Hour

Mandy Moore An Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated actress, singer, and songwriter, Mandy Moore first came to national attention with her platinum-selling 1999 debut album So Real. With her sophomore effort I Wanna Be with You arriving in 2000 and her self-titled third album released in 2001, she starred in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s A Walk to Remember in 2002, winning an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance.

Over the next decade, Moore

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mandymoore.com

Watkins Family Hour—the acclaimed musical collective featuring Grammy Award-winning siblings Sara and Sean Watkins— released their highly anticipated new album, brother sister in April 2020 via Family Hour Records/ Thirty Tigers.

Their first release in five years, the album focuses on the musical and lyrical chemistry between Sara and Sean—the creative core at the center of the project. By carving out time to write together with the Family Hour in mind for the first time, they created a record that demonstrates their

unique familial creative partnership while still harnessing the energy and honesty of their legendary live performances at Los Angeles’ Largo—the collective’s residency now in its 18th year.

The new album follows 2015’s self-titled debut, which mirrored the experience of their residency and featured special guests Fiona Apple, Don Heffington, Greg Leisz, Sebastian Steinberg and Benmont Tench. Consisting of only covers, Watkins Family Hour was released to widespread critical acclaim.

In addition to Watkins Family Hour, Sara and Sean’s acclaimed projects include I’m With Her (Sara), Fiction Family (Sean), Nickel Creek with their friend and longtime collaborator, Chris Thile, as well as their successful individual careers.

Viola has used his own superpowers to help bring the music of others to life. Over the years, the Grammy-nominated producer, musician, songwriter, and singer has worked with the likes of Jenny Lewis, Andrew McMahon, New Politics, and Fall Out Boy. More recently, he produced Mandy Moore’s album, Silver Landings, earlier this year.

From his days in the mid90s with the New York-based Candy Butchers, to his work on soundtracks like Get Him to the Greek and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, as well as the Oscarnominated title track from That Thing You Do!, which saw him team up with his friend, the late Adam Schlesinger, for the Tom Hanksdirected hit film.

mikeviola.com

watkinsfamilyhour.com

Mike Viola Mike Viola has spent a large part of his career making music with others and for others. His newest single, “Ordinary Girl,” off his new album, Godmuffin, is one of a handful of new tracks the poprock musician wrote by himself and for himself. Well, actually, he wrote it for his daughters, who both sing background vocals on the track.

It’s one of two songs on his new album that’s dedicated to them.

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Ways To Stop Plastic Pollution!

Tell your U.S. Members of Congress to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021.

Send a letter here!

Reopen with Reuse

Join us in calling on restaurants, festivals, and national parks to reopen with nontoxic reuse!

Foodservice businesses can already sanitize reusables for safety, so let’s make our voices heard.

Add your name!

Refuse Single-Use Plastic Take the pledge to go beyond “Recycle” and “Reuse, Refill, and Refuse Single-Use Plastic!”

Pledge here!

Take Action

Support the U.S. Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act

Join Our Global Coalition We need your voice in the movement.

Join here!

Donate to Stop Plastic Pollution

Donate to support our vital work to educate and connect people and groups to advocate for a world free of plastic pollution.

Text "Donate" to (202) 980-3544 or Donate here!

Plastic Pollution Coalition is a project of Earth Island Institute, a 501(c)3, non-profit organization, organized and existing under the laws of California (Federal Tax ID #94-2889684)