January 27, 2014

Music Review: “Mr. President Have Pity on the Working Man” by Hard Working Americans

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TRACK 8

“Mr. President Have Pity on the Working Man”

From Hard Working Americans (self-titled)

MELVIN/THIRTY TIGERS

Liner notes: “We just can’t make it by ourselves,” wheezes Todd Snider, as searing slide guitar recasts Randy Newman’s populist lament as scruffy country blues.

Behind the music: Snider, who does his own iconoclastic alt-country solo act, joined members of Widespread Panic and Chris Robinson’s band for this earthy covers set, which includes songs associated with the likes of BR549 and Lucinda Williams.

Check it out if you like: Forward-thinking roots artists, including Bottle Rockets, the Drive-By Truckers, and Iris DeMent.

This review originally appeared in our January/February issue of Mother Jones.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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