Source: Man Vyi

Honestly. It sounds like an empty feel-good mantra, but even in those times that you may get to feeling misanthropic and like nobody cares about anything or any one but themselves, something seems to reveal itself. Just the idea of how we care and help each other can be cause for division and anger. But it’s so profound when you see real help through the lens of a child taking on a herculean affliction. It’s comforting to know there are those times, those challenges and those people that individuals in communities are willing to surrender their inclinations for and help. There are times when it is completely visible and others that we will probably never hear about.

It’s exciting to think of all of the good, selfless work that is going on in large and small pockets of the country . . . even humbling.

We Want to Know:

• Is there a person or organization doing work in your community that encourages you to help improve humanity?
• What type of work is desperately needed in your community and what do you think would help?

This post was inspired by a story from WEKU called Little Soda Pop Tabs Go a Long Way. It is about a little boy by the name of Dalton Brock that got into a serious car accident with his mother in which the doctors said of his skull fractures and head bleeds, “It was impossible that he lived.” He is now at the Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington hoping to be able to walk without assistance. The family moved into the Lexington Ronald McDonald House. This is a story about the family and community raising money by collecting soda can tabs.

Going Above and Beyond for the Local Music Community

For the Record: The Louisiana Music Factory

Sounds of the Re:Union visits the Louisiana Music Factory, a New Orleans record store that goes above and beyond to serve their local music community. From in-store performances to an extensive selection of local artists CDs, no one nurtures NOLA musicians like LMF. Host Brenton Crozier speaks with owner Barry Smith, as well as musicians Cyril Neville and Kermit Ruffins about the impact LMF has on the community.

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Hear How This Little Instrument Is Changing Lives

Sounds of the Re:Union - The Milwaukee Ukulele Club

The ukulele typically evokes thoughts of a Pacific island paradise, but as we found out, it’s all the rage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Ukulele Club consists of a group of people who come together to play the small instrument and find a meaningful, positive social outlet that creates a unique sense of community in their lives.  We spoke with the club’s founder and leader Lil Rev, as well as members Nina and Cheryl Ann. (more…)

In living with a two year old, SpongeBob rules the domestic airwaves. Additionally, the margin I once used to hit up my favorite news websites has diminished to near nonexistence. So it’s this out of touch cavern that I reside in and to be honest, it’s not all that bad. Frustration spawned from political insanity and the daily global chaos has been replaced by the antics of an underwater world ruled by Krabby Patties. But one of the pitfalls of unplugging like this is reaching a comfort level with omitting certain things that should never be dismissed from my daily stream of consciousness. (more…)

New Sounds of the Re:Union Podcast Coming April 1st

Al read a Washington Post article in which the reporter was lamenting his local record store closing. It gave him the idea for a theme that we eventually dubbed For the Record, a podcast about independent record stores across the country and what they are doing to survive during a widespread industry decline. We not only wanted to highlight some of these community gems, but to chronicle them. (more…)

We had the pleasure of interviewing some of Indie Rock’s biggest names including Ben Gibbard (Death Cab and Postal Service), Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh), Chris Hrasky (Explosions in the Sky), Orenda Fink (Azure Ray) and Pat McGuire (Editor-in-Chief of FILTER Magazine) about the definition, beginnings and humorous stereotypes of the genre. You can visit our Sounds page to view the podcast or go to our Vimeo page for a full-size, HD version. Thank you to everyone involved!