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HeadCount Enlists Bob Weir, Jon Fishman, Marc Brownstein and Adam Gardner to Call Pledged Voters

On Monday, HeadCount, a nonpartisan voter registration group, along with Bob Weir (Furthur), Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits), and Adam Gardner (Guster), unveiled a new “get out to vote” initiative in the lead up America’s upcoming election. Those who have signed up for HeadCount’s “Pledge to Vote” campaign, will be randomly selected for a chance to receive a phone call from one of several musicians including the three artists mentioned above, as well as Jon Fishman, Warren Haynes, Willie Nelson, ?uestlove and more.

HeadCount is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages music fans to participate in the democratic process by registering voters at concerts and music festivals. The organization was co-founded in 2004 by Marc Brownstein (bassist for the Disco Biscuits) and Andy Bernstein (author of Phish fan guide “The Pharmer’s Almanac”). Headcount’s board features a long list of musicians and music promoters, including Weir, who are vocal with regard to youth engagement in democracy. Adam Gardner has welcomed HeadCount on tour with his band Guster, and is the founder of Reverb, a non-profit greening program that attempts to make concerts and tours more eco-friendly.

Most of the phone calls made by the artists will be prerecorded, however, several lucky fans will receive actual live phone calls from their music heroes. The calls will be made on Monday, November 1st at 9PM EST and streamed live on Relix.com. “One of the reasons I want to make these calls is I want to hear these folks” said Bob Weir on a teleconference yesterday afternoon. Weir was sure to clarify that these calls will not be an attempt to influence the fans’ voting decisions, but rather their decision to vote. “Rather than getting a recorded or live call from a politician saying vote for me,’ what we’re going to be dispensing are live calls saying ‘vote for you,’” said Weir.

Brownstein explained this idea started when Weir suggested he would be willing to make personal calls to some of his fans, in addition to a prerecorded message. “in 1988 when I was 15 years old my older brothers started dragging me along to see the Grateful Dead and one word that always stuck with me was ‘Inspiration.’ The band has inspired millions of people…and this is just another way that [Weir has] inspired me…Hopefully we can inspire the youth to get out to vote” said Brownstein.

This is just one way that these musicians have been influencing their fans to get out and vote in recent months. Brownstein added that both he and Weir have recently taken control of their personal facebook accounts, and have been actively interacting with their fans to spread the message. “There’s such a special relationship between bands and their fans that [is] really unlike any other. It’s just a pleasure to be around other artists that feel the same way and who understand the power to influence a great number of people to do something…in their best interest,” said Gardner.