by Susan Budig

In a couple of days, Wellstone World Music Day will be happening around the globe. This weekend, October 23-25, people will be celebrating with music and spoken word performances, the spirit of Paul Wellstone. Wellstone, an influential politician from Minnesota, USA whose tagline included "looking out for the little guy," died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. His life as well as his wife's and daughter's, and the three campaign workers and two pilots of that fateful plane are honored through though music, community and fellowship during Wellstone World Music Day, which is now named Wellstone World Music Weekend.

The idea for this special day emerged from Jim Walsh, music critic and writer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On the first anniversary of Wellstone's death, Walsh put out the call for musicians, artists and performers across the United States, and now the world, to get together in concert halls, coffee shops, parks or living rooms and to share their music and art. Walsh says, "I don't want anyone telling me what to think or feel that day, or any day, anymore. I want music on that day. I want to wake up hearing it, go to bed singing it. I want banners, church choirs, live feeds, hip-hop, headlines, punk rock, field reports, arias, laughter."

For more details, click here: Wellstone World Music Day