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Music Legends Joan Baez, Jackson Browne and Emmylou Harris Join Forces with the Downtown Streets Team to End Homelessness

The Downtown Streets Team (DST), a non-profit organization with an award-winning, innovative work-first model that is aimed at eliminating homelessness, is excited to announce a benefit concert hosted by Joan Baez with her special guests Jackson Browne and Emmylou Harris, at the San Jose Civic on Saturday, July 27, 2013. General tickets will go on sale in early May, but VIP tickets and sponsorship information is currently available via a link from DSTs website, www.streetsteam.org. All sponsors and VIP ticket holders will be invited to a reception hosted by DST for the artists on the stage following the concert.

Baez has been a longtime supporter of the Downtown Streets Team. “Joan has been incredibly supportive of our team for many years and has gotten to know many of our members as individuals, said Eileen Richardson, Executive Director, Downtown Streets Team. This is truly an exciting time for DST. Weve grown from a staff of one, four team members and a $50,000 budget to more than 17 employees, with almost 100 team members currently across multiple communities and a multi-million dollar budget in a few short years. And we continue to field calls from across the country from other communities wanting to implement our successful model. We believe this event is going to shake things up and help us continue to change the perception of homelessness within the county and across the nation.

All proceeds from this evening of acoustic music will go directly to support the Downtown Streets Team and its team members as they work to rebuild their lives and recover from homelessness. Team members attend weekly meetings and volunteer their time maintaining our neighborhoods in exchange for a basic stipend and access to agency-wide services, including job training skills, case management services and mentor opportunities. Based on a culture of dignity and respect, DST transforms the lives of individuals, ensuring they have the tools to thrive.

Joan Baez remains a musical force of nature whose influence is incalculable, from marching on the front lines of the civil rights movement and organizing resistance to the Vietnam War to inspiring Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic. Her earliest recordings fed a host of traditional ballads into the rock vernacular, before she unselfconsciously introduced Bob Dylan to the world in 1963, commencing a lifetime of shining a light on a list of songwriters too numerous to name. Amongst her many honors, she is the recipient of the National Recording Academys Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

A 12-time Grammy winner and BillboardCentury Award recipient, Emmylou Harris contribution as a singer and songwriter spans 40 years. She has recorded more than 25 albums and has lent her talents to countless fellow artists recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. 

To learn more about DST and get inside information about our concert, along with the the chance to win free tickets to what is sure to be a sold out event, please be sure to subscribe to our newsletter at www.streetsteam.org and our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/downtownstreetsteam.