Bio

Trees on Fire and its hometown crowd will celebrate the release of Organica at Charlottesville’s Jefferson Theater on April 24, 2010. The quintet’s first full-length album connects the dots between rock, dance, roots, and pop music. Recorded in Virginia and Louisiana, Organica takes listeners from the heights of the ancient Blue Ridge Mountains to the buzzing swamps and bayous of the bottom-land. Produced by Rob Evans, Eric Heigle, and Trees on Fire, the exciting original music captured on this recording is only a part of the legacy the band hopes to leave behind.

The band has raised awareness and funds for a number of organizations over its four years in existence, including Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Building Goodness Foundation, Climate Ride, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and others. Trees on Fire was voted “Greenest Regional Band” by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine and had a song featured on Sierra Club’s national website earlier this year. The band will donate 5% of proceeds from its debut album to both Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Appalachian Voices in an effort to keep their important work moving forward.

“ah-CHAFF-ah-lie-yah”
Our first trip to Louisiana included a jaw-dropping boat tour of the Atchafalaya Basin guided by Basinkeeper Dean Wilson. Huge eerily hollow cypress stumps told the sad story of logging for lumber and mulch. Dean told the uplifting story of fighting and winning legal battles to protect the swamp. His watchful eyes are still needed to ensure the safety of America’s largest contiguous bottomland hardwood forest. Our day ended at Dean’s swamp-side home with crawfish, music making, and our strong desire to help. 5% of Organica album sales will support the Basinkeeper’s sustained efforts to keep cypress trees in the swamp and out of mulch shredders. Please visit www.basinkeeper.org and become a member. Don’t buy cypress mulch. America’s “River of Trees” and many generations of hundreds of species will thank you!

Appalachian Voices
The true cost of energy generated by coal acquired from the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining dwarfs the amount we pay each month in our electric bills. Damage to the environment and public health are devastating, permanent, and well documented. Producing energy without trashing our environment and our health is a complex and elusive goal. Trees on Fire firmly believes ending mountaintop removal mining and preventing the construction of new coal-fired power plants are obvious steps in the right direction. We pledge 5% of Organica record sales to Appalachian Voices and urge you to visit www.appvoices.org.