NEW YORK (
Baria Records)
- While most rock bands are lucky to book a tour, pile into the van,
and make it through their tour dates in one piece, Minnesota's
Cloud Cult are
taking touring to a new level with the "greening" of their tour.
Scheduled for June and July, the band's U.S. tour will coincide with
the release of their fourth album,
Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus .
The band will counteract all pollutants created from the tour through
various efforts organized by Cloud Cult front-man and environmentalist,
Craig Minowa.
Although Cloud Cult have seen success and accolades for their music, having been nominated for 2004 Artist of the Year along with Prince and Paul Westerberg by the Minnesota Music Awards, and landing in the top 10 of college radio charts in over 100 cities with their previous release Aurora Borealis, Minowa says he doesn't feel his job is complete unless
he's working on both music and environmental activism. "It's important
for us to help establish an environmental business model that can help
demonstrate to the rest of the music industry that this can actually be
done in an ecologically sustainable way," he says.
The
tremendous attention to detail is evidence of the group's dedication to
creating an eco-friendly outing. Calculating the amount of energy Cloud
Cult will use on stage each night, the group will purchase equal
amounts of wind power energy credits. During the day, many of the band
members also work on environmental organizing, as they travel from city
to city for evening performances, so their van is equipped with solar
panels to power their laptops and cell phones.
They'll also offset the carbon dioxide created by their tour vehicle with the help of sponsor Clif Bar. "Each gallon of gas puts out 22 pounds of carbon-dioxide," Minowa explains. To
counter both car and air travel emissions associated with the tour,
Clif Bar and Cloud Cult will plant nearly an acre of new trees through
the organization American Forests. That acre will absorb, in a year,
the amount of carbon dioxide created from the tour.
Cloud
Cult's performances also incorporate more than just live music, which
includes cellos, violin, piano, guitar, bass, drums, and electronic
effects. The Dallas Observer called Cloud Cult's show "an aura. You go for the music,
but you come out wanting to save the world." Throughout the tour, local
environmental non-profits will set up tables at shows to talk with
audience members about environmental issues in their local community.
"We're really trying to connect these organizations with a whole new
base of people who might not go to environmentally focused events,"
Minowa says.
After their U.S. tour, Cloud Cult will
prepare for overseas tours in the UK, the Netherlands, and Iceland,
where their CD will be released by Baria Records in the fall.
Although numerous label offers followed the success of Aurora Borealis, the band has chosen to keep their U.S. releases on Earthology Records,
the label Minowa established in 1997. Earthology is the world's only
environmental nonprofit record label, donating all profits after
expenses to environmental charity work and creating CD packaging using
recycled materials.
Clout Cult Tour Cities
Fri, 6/3: Minneapolis , MN : Local CD release party @ First Avenue
Sat, 6/4: Duluth , MN
Thur, 6/9: Philadelphia , PA
Fri, 6/10: New York , NY
Sat, 6/11: Cleveland , OH
Sun, 6/12: Ann Arbor , MI
Mon, 6/13: Madison , WI
Tue, 6/14: Iowa City , IA
Wed, 6/15: Omaha , NE
Thur, 6/16: Kansas City , KS
Fri, 6/17: Denver , CO
Sat, 6/18: Fort Collins , CO
Sun, 6/19: Salt Lake City , UT
Tue, 6/21: San Francisco , CA
Wed, 6/22: Arcata , CA
Thur, 6/23: Eugene , OR
Fri, 6/24: Seattle , WA
Sat, 6/25: Portland , OR
Fri, 7/1: Milwaukee , WI
Sun, 7/3: Rapid City , SD
