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Melodic Layers of Truth and Justice |
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stories
 I spent two years in the mountains of Afghanistan with humanitarian organization Global Hope Network International, living with and teaching agriculture to recently-returned refugees.
After long days I would go back to my room at night and sketch out the things I had seen and heard that day on my acoustic guitar. What I experienced in Afghanistan changed my life, and I came back to the States late in 2005 wanting to get the message out.
I joined up with Matt Antolick and fleshed out the ideas I had written in Afghanistan under the band name The OaKs. These ideas came together in melodic layers, with lyrics speaking to truth and justice, and what it means to really give of yourself. We finished recording in the summer of 2006 and we've just released our new album, Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind. One of the feature tracks, "survey for a distribution of winter clothing", features audio I recorded in Afghanistan during a distribution of clothing in the harsh
winter, with guitars, mandolin, bells, and organ weaving over it.
We've partnered together with Global Hope Network International and 50% of the profits from our new album is going directly to projects serving widows and recently-returned refugees in Afghanistan. This is what we're all about, and this is what we feel the indie rock world is ready for - music that speaks to changing the world around you, directly linked with humanitarian work that is actually affecting change.
So, that's our story. You can check out our site at www.theoaksband.com - there's more info, photos, and tracks up there.
by Ryan Costello
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