Merle Haggard, Buddy Miller, Del McCoury & Many More Contribute To Preservation Hall Album

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. On August 29th, 2005, the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people was affected dramatically. It was the costliest natural disaster in American history and resulted in the loss of almost 2,000 lives. Over 80% of the city of New Orleans was flooded, and even after all this time, a significant number of the city's residents remain displaced. This tragedy was recently compounded by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which affected the Louisiana coastline in addition to extending through the Southeast into Florida.

PRESERVATION: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall and The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program was conceived by independent music distributor RED along with the MRI label group. With the proceeds from this album, RED and MRI have helped to restore and preserve the Preservation Hall venue in New Orleans, and have made it possible for the Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program to continue. The album is a warm and joyous celebration of New Orleans music, featuring over 20 of music's most exciting artists, all performing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The artists appearing on this project are Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandi Carlile, Cory Chisel, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Richie Havens, Jason Isbell, Jim James, Angelique Kidjo, Amy LaVere, Anita Briem, Del McCoury, Buddy Miller, Paolo Nutini and Tom Waits.

A charity called The Gulf Relief Foundation has formed to give relief to citizens affected by the oil spill. Among it's charitable efforts is the distribution of "It Ain't My Fault", a song recorded at the Preservation Hall venue and credited to the Gulf Aid All-Stars, a collective that includes The Preservation Hall Jazz Band along with New Orleans-based horn player Trombone Shorty, Oscar-winning actor/musician Tim Robbins, rapper/actor/musician Mos Def and Grammy-winning musician Lenny Kravitz. All proceeds from the download of this song on iTunes go directly to the Gulf Relief Foundation.