The Mammals Censored at Festival International
Stories about attempts at censorship by venues seem to turn up with disturbing regularity these days. Last fall I pointed out this article prompted by stories circulating on the folkvenu email list. Now this report in The Lafayette Independent about The Mammals being asked not to preform their song The Bush Boys at the Festival International.
Ungar’s band, The Mammals, played a set at the Community Coffee Scène Lafayette stage at Festival International on Saturday, April 23. For its encore, the band performed its song “The Bush Boys,” which contains lines such as: Listen up folks the votes are in It was anyone’s guess who’d win Democrats had the higher amount But they lost ’cause Florida could not count … You won’t believe what the Bush boys bought. Ungar was milling about the hospitality tent the following day preparing for The Mammals’ next performance when Festival International VP of Programming Jimmie Duhon approached her and asked her not to play “The Bush Boys” again. “Our festival is about building unity, and we as a festival feel like political bashing does not help build unity,” says Duhon. “We got numerous phone calls from people who did not appreciate the song. Executive Director Dana [Cañedo] and I felt it necessary to ask the band not to do something that goes against the festival’s belief.”
The incident occured in April but the article is dated last week.
The Lafayette Independent: Don’t Play it Again Sam
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