L.A. Musicians tour Guantanamo Bay, December 2004.

December 20, 2004

Press Invitation to Cover: L.A. Musicians tour Guantanamo Bay, December 2004.

Verification of trip: Photo disk, Local Newspaper coverage, Armed Forces Radio CD, copies of military clearances and orders.

Los Angeles- When the 15 years old Los Angeles Music Awards were asked to put together a group of artists to go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba earlier this month, they had no idea what to expect. They were a traveling party of 21 L.A. area artists and producers, brought to the island for the specific purpose of providing a Christmas show to the troops, many of whom would shipping be off to Iraq in the next few weeks. "For a lot of those guys, this could be their last Christmas,' says Joshua Poet, one the musicians who performed for the nearly 2,500troops that attended the concert at Guantanamo's Lyceum Theater on Saturday, December 4th.

The trip was a life changing experience for everyone who went. Part of the contractual obligations covered in the written contract with the Morale, Welfare and Recreation division of the Department of Defense was that the members of the traveling party participate in an itinerary set up by the base commander. "That was the most interesting and informative part of the trip,' says Shannon Butler, staff member of the Los Angeles Music Awards. The entire group attended a "mess hall' dinner with the troops at Camp Delta, where the nearly 600 detainees from 42 countries are held. The look of the prison was so intense, it struck fear in the hearts of the band members that saw it.
"I was overwhelmed at what some of the M.P.'s told me about the guys that they have locked up in there,' says Erin McNamara, who helped to assemble the nearly 500 gift bags that were given out to the troops as a gesture of good will from the creative community here in Los Angeles. The artists that performed were Joshua Poet, Shannon Eileen and Cassandra Denver, former wife of American music legend John Denver.

To schedule an interview, please contact the Los Angeles Music Awards production office at 310-798-0822.