SLAM! the NRA at the RNC

As the plot thickens and the delegates, media and activists roll into Philadelphia, it is not without musical accompaniment. Sunday, July 31, the day before the Republican National Convention commences, SLAM!Records and Leslie Nuchow will be holding a concert to promote one of the Republican party's despised opponents: gun control.

Nuchow will be joined by Blessid Union of Souls, Jeffrey Gaines, The Samples, Melissa Ferrick, Stargazer Lily, Sweetie and others in a concert emceed by Bob Harris. Nuchow expects will fill the 1200 seat Trocadero concert hall a block away from the Republican convention.

SLAM!, Nuchow's company, founded in 1997 to expose the exploitative and manipulative practices of large companies, has focused on the tobacco industry for two years, but as their web site (www.slamthenra.com) declares, "We've taken on the tobacco industry. Now we're SLAM!ing the NRA!"

While Nuchow points out that there is no shortage of issues which she and SLAM! could confront, after the Columbine shootings, she decided that SLAM!'s new focus would be on gun control. She, like the rest of the world, "was pretty moved by that event and the unbelievable access of guns to everyone in our culture and to young people especially."

The eve of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia presented a perfect debut location for Nuchow and SLAM!'s new campaign. In an election year which has sparked several layers of response to the usual, scripted political conventions, Nuchow has decided to join the ruckus.

"If Bush wins, the NRA will be working out of the oval office," Nuchow said. "The NRA is the most powerful and effective group that prevents any good gun control legislation from getting passed."

The weekend will embody Nuchow's favorite aspect of her new position: a perfect marriage of artistry and activism.

Saturday night, the day before the concert, Nuchow told AlterNet to let our readers know that they should look up to the Philadelphia sky between 8pm and midnight where there will be, projected onto four of the city's highest buildings, an image of a hand making the gesture of a gun and the words "We, the people, are dying for gun control 89 times a day."

Sunday night concert-goers will find the image and slogan on the orange and black wrist bands they will receive along with a list of statistics about gun-related deaths. A sticker will peel off the wrist band which concert-goers will be informed to stick in a place that matters to them.

Nuchow hopes that this gesture will provide the impetus for further action. The purpose of the concert is for people to "be entertained and get moved by the music, but we also want to take advantage of their presence to educate them a little bit," she said.

SLAM! has come a long way since its birth in 1997. Nuchow, then a struggling New York City singer-songwriter, had received an offer to participate in a high-profile promotion run by the Virginia Slims cigarette company. The promotion, under the Virginia Slims slogan New Woman Music, offered Nuchow previously unheard of quantities of money and publicity. The catch was that the only way to receive one of her CDs was to purchase two packs of Virginia Slims cigarettes. Nuchow was appalled.

"I turned the offer down and sat at my computer feeling good about myself," Nuchow comments. "There is a gap in the culture industry and a lot of artists can't make a living. The cigarette companies are filling that culture gap in an insidious way."

Nuchow not only refused the promotion, but founded Virginia SLAM!, whose goal is to investigate and expose corporate deception and exploitation by picking a new industry each year and "SLAM!ing them with the healing power of music."

The serendipitous coincidence of SLAM!'s first concert and the tobacco industry's admission that it had been lying about its knowledge of the harmful effects of cigarette smoking resulted in more press coverage than Nuchow anticipated.