EMMYLOU HARRIS CONFIRMS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH STEVE EARLE, BUDDY MILLER AND THE MILK CARTON KIDS TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR REFUGEES

ROBERT PLANT, JOAN BAEZ AND OTHERS ADDED AS SPECIAL GUESTS ON SELECT SHOWS

Grammy Award-winning artist Emmylou Harris will embark on a North American tour this fall with Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and The Milk Carton Kids. Special guests Ruby Amanfu, Joan Baez, Nancy And Beth (Megan Mullally and Stephanie Hunt), Robert Plant and Ron Sexsmith will also join on select dates. See below for complete tour details. The 11-stop tour, Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees, will raise awareness for the unprecedented worldwide refugee crisis. 

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS) announced today that it will host this singer/songwriter tour in support of the organization’s Global Education Initiative, which was launched in 2015 and endorsed by Pope Francis. JRS seeks to double the number of refugees served in its educational programs to 240,000 by 2020.

“After witnessing firsthand the work of JRS in Ethiopia this past June, I have never been more inspired to champion such a critical cause,” said Emmylou Harris, 13-time Grammy winning artist. “The better angels of our nature call upon us to act with compassion and not with fear in the face of so much suffering.”

In an effort to shed light on the plight of the more than 65 million refugees worldwide and the need to raise funds to support refugee education. The concert tour will be in the below cities:


October 6 /// Boulder Theater /// Boulder, CO
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids

October 8 /// Helzberg Hall /// Kansas City, MO
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids

October 9 /// Rococo Theater /// Lincoln, NE
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids

October 11 /// Sheldon Concert Hall /// St. Louis, MO
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids

October 12 /// Pabst Theater /// Milwaukee, WI
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, Ruby Amanfu, and special guest Robert Plant
 
October 13 /// Vic Theater /// Chicago, IL
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, Ruby Amanfu, and special guest Robert Plant

October 14 /// Massey Hall /// Toronto, ON
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, The Milk Carton Kids, and special guests Ron Sexsmith and Robert Plant

October 16 /// Berklee Performance Center /// Boston, MA
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, Nancy And Beth, and special guest Robert Plant

October 18 /// Town Hall /// New York, NY
Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, Nancy And Beth, and special guests Joan Baez and Robert Plant

October 19 /// Merriam Theater /// Philadelphia, PA
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, Nancy And Beth, and special guest Robert Plant

October 21 /// Lisner Auditorium /// Washington, DC 
Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, and special guest Robert Plant

Everyone’s journey begins somewhere – and for some that journey includes Lampedusa, an Italian island off the coast of Sicily that serves as a waypoint in a refugee’s search for safety and security. 

JRS works in more than 45 countries worldwide to meet the educational, health, social and other needs of many of these refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. The scale of this humanitarian crisis is staggering: one in every 122 people is a refugee. More than half are women and children; at least 30 million are under the age of 18. 

“We are ready to bring this critical issue to the stage and help people understand that education provides a path forward in life for refugees,” said Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki S.J., the President of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. “Most people don’t realize that refugees spend an average of 17 years displaced from their homes and many never return. It’s time to take bold action and our Lampedusaconcert tour will help us do so.”

Funds raised by Lampedusa will support educational programs for refugees around the world. “Education is the one life-saving intervention given to a refugee that cannot be taken away,” notes JRS International Director Fr. Thomas H. Smolich S.J.

For more information about Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees, visit www.jrsusa.org/lampedusa

About Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic non-governmental organization whose mission is to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons in more than 45 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit www.jrsusa.org.

For more information, please contact Carla Sacks 212.741.1000 at Sacks & Co.