Dear Governor Cuomo

On a rainy night last May, a unique coalition of musicians, scientists and activists gathered in Albany, New York on the governor’s front door step, calling for a ban on hydraulic-fracturing (“fracking”). With the news that Governor Andrew Cuomo might lift the moratorium on fracking in New York any day, a concert event was assembled in less than a month. Two rehearsals in twenty-four hours, and it was show time. The goal of the extremely varied participants, many of whom had never met before this night, was to explain in clear terms the threats of fracking and to motivate people to rise up against the practice using song. Under the musical direction of Natalie Merchant, the event was filmed by Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney. The film features actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo, environmental biologist Sandra Steingraber and musicians ranging from Joan Osborne and Citizen Cope to Medeski Martin and Wood and The Felice Brothers.