GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter Joanie Leeds has announced her protest against the controversial banned books movement with her new record FREADOM.
Her daughter’s voice opens FREADOM with a heartfelt protest, introducing the powerful anthem “Banned,” setting the emotional tone for the album. Leeds and her all-star Book Band (featuring Regina Carter, Oran Etkin, Cheryl B. Engelhardt, Divinity Roxx, and SaulPaul) celebrate many of the banned children’s books with a new collection of eight original songs that joyously amplify messages of love and inclusion.
A leading progressive voice in children’s music, the New York City-based artist Joanie Leeds is a national touring artist, early childhood educator, and activist. Since the 2003 release of her album, Soul from My Footsteps, her witty, heartfelt, and righteous body of work has earned numerous awards. Her 2020 gender equality album for families, All the Ladies, won a GRAMMY Award for “Best Children’s Album.” With FREADOM, Leeds is once again bringing her music to the frontlines, offering support and inspiring music.
2022 saw the highest number of book bans and attempts to remove or restrict materials since the American Library Association started compiling data 20 years ago. Millions of children are currently losing access to important literature. Book banners primarily target stories by and about people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and those exploring Jewish themes. Freedom of expression and the right to access information are fundamental pillars of America’s democracy and FREADOM is Leeds’ message to the world in support of everyone’s First Amendment Rights.
When the political landscape seems too divisive to make change, I ask myself as a children’s musician, ‘What can I do?’ My frustration and grief often become the catalyst for new music. FREADOM lifts up some of our favorite banned titles and causes some ‘good trouble’ as I reimagine the stories in song form and perform alongside some of the best musicians I know. Please take a stand and join me fighting book bans and protecting the personal freedoms of ALL Americans. We will not be banned!
Joanie Leeds.
FREADOM features Leeds with a world-class cast of musicians, including GRAMMY Award-nominated and McArthur Fellow violinist Regina Carter, three GRAMMY-nominated instrumentalists including guitarist/vocalist Saul Paul, bassist/vocalist Divinity Roxx, pianist/vocalist Cheryl B. Engelhardt; multi-reed player Oran Etkin, among others.
Leeds said the rising tide of book bans hit remarkably close to home. “As a mother of an 8-year-old daughter who loves picture books, we’ve been following this story very closely as many of our favorite titles have been removed from schools and libraries, particularly in my home state of Florida.”
Inspired by different children’s books, tracks like “Block Party” take inspiration from neighborly love in Patricia Polacco’s In Our Mothers’ House and “Tango” from And Tango Makes Three, a story about the Central Park Zoo’s beloved penguin family. As a Jewish woman, it was essential for Leeds to bring attention to the fact that books about the Holocaust (Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and Art Spiegelman’s Maus) are being banned. Mara Rockliff’s and Kyrsten Brooker’s Chik Chak Shabbat inspired the incantatory “Cholent Time.”
A tribute to Junot Diaz’s Islandborn, the Caribbean-tinged “Inside Your Heart” honors the children of immigrants who learn about their ancestral homeland from stories passed down by their families. The irresistible anthem and a cappella song “Rainbow Flag” is inspired by Rob Sanders’ and Steven Salerno’s Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag.
“Sing it Out” is Leeds’ homage to Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations, Kelly Starling Lyons’ and Keith Mallett’s moving book about the NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson’s hymn often described as the Black National Anthem. FREADOM closes with “Born That Way,” a sweet ode to gender diversity and following one’s dreams inspired by Marcus Ewert’s and Rex Ray’s 10,000 Dresses.
For more information about Joanie Leeds’ and to see her upcoming performances at The Cutting Room on Sept. 27, the Jewish Museum on Oct. 15, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan on Dec. 2 and 3, visit here.
