Tom Waits against fracking

Tom Waits' name is amongst those listed on the Artists Against Fracking website.

The members of Artists Against Fracking came together over concerns about the impacts of fracking on water, air and local communities in the State of New York. Through information made available by the EPA and the gas companies themselves, we believe that fracking is a danger to New Yorkers. AAF is focusing on New York as a first step in a global effort.

Feeding America’s National Campaign soundtrack

The national public service advertising campaign launched by the Advertising Council and Feeding America to raise awareness of the issue of hunger in America uses the Waits song Never let go of your hand as its soundtrack.

“We all need to be reminded that the folks who need help getting back on their feet are all members of our family”, Tom Waits explains his involvement on the ANTI blog.

Day after tomorrow on compilation

Day after tomorrow is one of the songs on Body of War: songs that inspired an Iraq war veteran . This compilation was curated by Iraq war veteran Tomas Young, who was shot and paralyzed from the chest down after serving in Iraq for less than a week.

The album is tied in with the documentary Body of war and is to be released by Sire Records on March 18; two days before the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Other artists contributing tracks are - amongst others - Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine and Neil Young.

Radio owes Tom money

I'm not sure where this comes from, but Silicon Alley Insider quotes Tom Waits saying in an article about a bill before the American Congress which would make radio makers pay higher royalties to artists: 'It's just plain wrong for radio to be allowed to build profitable businesses with growing revenues on the backs of artists and musicians without paying them fairly for it.'

UPDATE: A Reuters newswire has some more background on this and makes it more clear where this quote comes from. Tom Waits is a founding member of the musicFIRST Coalition, an organisation supporting compensation for artists whose work is broadcast.  

Supporting cultural relations with Cuba

Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan have both signed an open letter addressed to U.S. president George W. Bush requesting him to end to the blockade against Cuba and stop impeding cultural exchange between the two nations.