We couldn’t be more excited to be returning once more to New Orleans for a special evening of music called “Dear NOLA: A Concert for New Orleans” – at Blue Nile on Thursday, May 24 at 9pm.

Every year brings an amazing lineup, and 2012 is no exception: New Orleans’ own Bonerama and Sunpie Barnes will be performing with special guests Elvis Perkins, Erin McKeown, Jeanie Schroder (Devotchka), Justin Poree (Ozomatli), Lateef The Truthspeaker, Martín Perna (Antibalas + Ocote Soul), Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs), Spank Rock, Thao Nguyen (Thao And The Get Down Stay Down), and more.

What makes this concert especially unique is the playfully collaborative nature of the show, which blends the distinct traditional sounds of the Big Easy with a wildly eclectic assortment of performers, mixing and matching genres from indie rock to hiphop and beyond.

Once again, this show is a benefit for Sweet Home New Orleans and Gulf Restoration Network, two New Orleans-based nonprofits working to support and sustain the region’s unique musical and cultural traditions and to protect and restore vital environmental and community resources for future generations.

The “Dear NOLA” concert is the celebratory finale of the eighth artist activist retreat we’ve cohosted with our friends at Air Traffic Control since the Gulf Coast storms of 2005. This retreat brings musicians from around the country to New Orleans for four days to meet and visit with some of the city’s notable musicians and community leaders, and participate in strategy sessions about how to integrate activism and philanthropy into their work as musicians.

Tickets for the concert are available via www.bluenilelive.com. Admission is $12 in advance and $15 at the door. See you there!