Dear friends,

You might recall that a few months ago I posted an absolutely beautiful video entitled “NATO Blues” by One Earth, a California based group of musicians.  Soon after this post I got a nice email from a member of One Earth who, having read somewhere that I played guitar, asked me to join them in their next project entitled “Refugee”.  I immediately accepted simply because I loved the “freshness” of the “NATO Blues” track (and video) and because I don’t see any reason to refuse my assistance if I can help somebody.  I soon got a rough version of “Refugee” to which I added some light acoustic guitar arpeggios and a short solo which begins at 1:32 or at the words “we are all brothers and sisters” on the video.  Very basic stuff (the electric guitar solo at the end is not by me).  I then emailed the results to One Earth who put a great deal of work into the mixing and production of the video which I can share with the rest of you today.

FYI – One Earth describe themselves as “One Earth is a Los Angeles, California based musical and creative revolt against social, economic and environmental injustice, corporate overreach, political corruption and today’s music scene.  This ongoing project involves various renowned players and features a young musical prodigy named Maxx Henry“.

I would be lying if I said that I agree to participate in this project for any noble political reasons.  I did it because I like to help, and for fun.  Somewhere, I see any and all musicians as my brothers, so how could I say no?  This being said, I am happy that my first (and so far only) public recording is on a track about refugees.  I myself come from a family of refugees and I never forget that.  When my great-grandparents had to flee the Bolsheviks in 1921 they had only one blanket for the entire family and ever since we have been globe-trotters traveling from Russia to Serbia, from Serbia to Germany, from Germany to Argentina, from Argentina to Holland, from Holland to Switzerland and from Switzerland to the USA.  So, on a deep level, I also see every refugee as my brother too.

I owe a big thank you to One Earth for inviting me to participate in their musical journey and for giving me an opportunity to think once more about my fellow refugees.

The Saker

PS: All One Earth music can be downloaded on iTunes by typing “One Earth” in the search bar of the iTunes store or by the name of each specific track – ‘NATO Blues’, ‘Ecuador’ and ‘Refugee’.  It may take a minor scroll down during the search since they are new releases, but they are all there.  The music is also available on Google Play, Spotify, etc.  Their contact email is 1earthmusic@gmail.com. Click here for their YouTube channel and here for their Facebook page.