If Soulsville Could've Happened Anywhere Else It Already Would've
If Soulsville: A Benefit for The Interface Project could have happened anywhere else in the world it would have. August 2, 2013 saw the community of Missoula, Montana fill the 300-seat MCT Center for the Performing Arts, enjoy some classic soul music, support a local nonprofit, and witness the first celebrity to ever speak publicly in defense of an Intersex person’s right to self-determination.
Long-time Montana residents Huey Lewis (yes, that Huey Lewis) and Eden Atwood have been friends for a decade. In 2007, they performed a sold-out benefit concert for the University of Montana’s Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival. This year, despite a heavy touring schedule for the 30th anniversary of Huey’s landmark album, “Sports”, his reply to Eden’s invitation to participate was an immediate, “Yes.” Huey’s most recent album, “Soulsville,” features the music from blues epicenters Memphis, Tennessee and the Mississippi Delta. Eden, a Memphis native, knew the theme of Soulsville was a perfect fit, and Huey agreed:
Long-time Montana residents Huey Lewis (yes, that Huey Lewis) and Eden Atwood have been friends for a decade. In 2007, they performed a sold-out benefit concert for the University of Montana’s Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival. This year, despite a heavy touring schedule for the 30th anniversary of Huey’s landmark album, “Sports”, his reply to Eden’s invitation to participate was an immediate, “Yes.” Huey’s most recent album, “Soulsville,” features the music from blues epicenters Memphis, Tennessee and the Mississippi Delta. Eden, a Memphis native, knew the theme of Soulsville was a perfect fit, and Huey agreed:
“I love Eden. She’s a great friend and a great member of the community,
and intersex is clearly an issue whose time has come to shine some light on – it’s way past time.”
Weeks before Soulsville I recall sitting at Huey’s kitchen table as we started to wade into intersex issues in all its heavy complexity and we weren’t two minutes into the discussion when Huey stopped us and said he didn’t think this was a complex issue at all. He told us that a kid being operated on unnecessarily is obviously a human rights issue, as he later explained to The Missoulian:
“The concert will hopefully help to bring the issues around intersex into the mainstream and help bring an end to the tragedy and trauma of children who are forced into [cosmetic] surgeries before they know what is going on, or why.
You need to find out what kids want with their lives and not operate until they know what is going on and can tell you what they want.”
The Interface Project was born September 2012 (an Autumn baby), and on August 2, 2013 (with the help of Huey, Eden, and a cast of brilliant Montana musicians) Soulsville formally introduced The Interface Project’s mission of healing connection through visibility to the people of Missoula, Montana. That same community has loved, and supported, us every step of the way. We are forever grateful to you, Missoula.
We hope we make you proud. ©
We hope we make you proud. ©
Susan Reahard Graphic Design
