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"We were at a picnic table outside of The Timberland Company talking about how to change the world. High energy.  Lots of ideas thrown around.  That kinda' convo.

What stuck was the thought that music is a powerful force in people's lives - just as much as our desire to live on a cleaner, more humane planet.  So why not combine them?  

Certainly we aren't the only music lovers who want to make the world a better place.  Why not start an organization dedicated to mobilizing the desire of fans to make a positive difference?  So we did.

Good things start from simple conversations.  Great things happen when thoughtful, committed citizens decide that they're going to change the world.  We're lucky to be surrounded by fans, artists, and organizations committed to changing the world.  We are honored to serve alongside them and we invite YOU to join us!"

That's the story of the Concert Corps.  Founded by AmeriCorps members serving with City Year New Hampshire, the Concert Corps unites good music and good people to produce great change.  

Consider yourself invited to the Big Apple Day of Service on July 14 (THIS SATURDAY). Serve at one of nine different projects all over the city, as part of a sold out three-show event at Madison Square Garden to benefit the Dispatch Foundation for Zimbabwe with the college jam-band turned legend: DISPATCH.

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William James, 20th century American philosopher, called civilian service "the moral equivalent of war." James, in 1906, proposed the creation of a full-time citizen service corps for young people to address the pressing needs of their day. Today, James's ideas are being taken up as The U.S. Public Service Academy Act (S. 960 in the Senate and H.R. 1671 in the House of Representatives), backed by big-time names in the National Service movement: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Former Senator and CEO of the Corporation for National Service Harris Wofford, and Teach for America's founder and president Wendy Kopp.

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A few Sunday nights ago, my Dad and I were watching a program on channel 13 about Iwo Jima which, presumably as intended, sparked me to think about war.