Turns out that that Kelcy Warren, owner of Energy Transfer Partners – “the DAPL people” – is a huge folk music fan. He created the Cherokee Creek Music Festival in Texas, and is a megafanboi of Jackson Browne, having produced a tribute album to him.
Too bad Browne – along with the Indigo Girls, Shawn Colvin, Joan Osborne, and several other musicians – isn’t returning the love. They’ve written an open letter to him decrying DAPL and announcing a boycott of his festival and studio:
“[W]e realize the bucolic setting of your festival and the image it projects is in direct conflict with the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline … This pipeline violates the Standing Rock Sioux Nation’s treaty rights, endangers the vital Missouri River, and continues the trajectory of genocide against Native Peoples.” The letter concludes, “In order to stay true to our music and respect the Native Nations that are united against the Dakota Access Pipeline, we will no longer play your festival or participate in Music Road Records recordings.”
I must have missed the folk music genre that celebrates despoiling the earth while trampling on Native American rights and attacking peaceful protesters with tanks and dogs.
PS – This Atlantic piece provides a good overview of some of the legal issues, and outlines some of the shenanigans the folk music enthusiast’s company pulled.
Edit: Open Thread! I always forget that.