The new album It Is Right to Rebel by Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore and friends is out now on vinyl and all major streaming platforms.

It is Right To Rebel is an exciting and thought provoking new record from Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore and friends. The double LP consisting of 15 tracks is mostly rooted in american folk music, but incorporates elements from rock, blues, spirituals and roots music. Lyrically it deals with topics such as the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, political prisoners, war and environmental issues.

It Is Right To Rebel is a battle cry, a wake up call, an invitation to join the struggles of our time, a celebration of rebellion and social movements and a musical thumbs up to all the people that realize that big changes have to be made.

The double album comes in a gatefold sleeve with cover art made by graphic designer and author of The Encyclopedia of Political Record Labels, Josh MacPhee. It includes a 12 page insert with lyrics and liner notes.

It Is Right To Rebel is a true product of internationalism. It is recorded in Switzerland by an American and a gang of Swiss musicians, the cover art is made by an American activist from Brooklyn and the record is released by a Norwegian leftist record label.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you’d like to do a review, an interview or if you want any additional information. Mat Callahan is also available for radio or podcast appearances.

High quality wav-files, music videos, press photos and cover art can be found here.

The record can be heard here
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Bandcamp
Watch the music videos on YouTube

It Is Right to Rebel is a true product of internationalism. It is recorded in Switzerland by an American and a gang of Swiss musicians, the cover art is made by an American activist from Brooklyn and the record is released by a Norwegian leftist record label. The release is limited to 500 physical copies world wide.

Album title: It Is Right to Rebel
Artists: Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore and friends
Publisher: Plateselskapet No. 13
Catalog No: NO13LP007
Format: 2 x 12″ 140 g black vinyl LP

Track list
A1: Free Leonard Peltier (4:04)
A2: The War Against Forgetting (3:16)
A3: High John the Conqueror Root (3:38)
A4: Fire Isn’t Fire (3:26)
B1: 99 Books (George Jackson) (4:18)
B2: Say Yes (4:20)
B3: High Time For A High Time (3:44)
B4: Pick Your Poison (3:50)
C1: Cross My Heart (1:47)
C2: Another Message Coming’ (2:45)
C3: Stand and Fight (2:56)
C4: Different Worlds (5:36)
D1: Sellavision (4:26)
D2: Sweep the Moneychangers From Your Soul (7:31)
D3: The Last Word (4:52)

About the Musicians
Mat Callahan is a musician and author originally from San Francisco. Recent projects include the republication of Songs of Freedom by Irish revolutionary James Connolly, the recording and publication of Working-Class Heroes, and the launch of the multimedia project Songs of Slavery and Emancipation. He is the author of five books including, in 2017, The Explosion of Deferred Dreams (PM Press) and A Critical Guide to Intellectual Property (Zed Books). Callahan can be reached at www.matcallahan.com.

Yvonne Moore is a singer and bandleader originally from Schaffhausen. In addition to recording numerous albums of her own music, Moore is cofounder and treasurer of the Art in History and Politics Association, whose purpose is to discover, publish, and popularize music, graphic art, and texts created by participants in conflicts such as the struggle to abolish slavery. Her exploration of the songs of Sarah Ogan Gunning led to the making of Working-Class Heroes. Moore can be reached at www.matandyvonne.com.

Dear Friends
We are happy to announce the release of our new album, “It Is Right to Rebel.” The album is on vinyl, a double-LP, and is a collection of 15 songs recorded in 2021. Originally, it was to be released in December 2021 but shortages of vinyl delayed the pressing until now. By following the various links listed below, you can access samples of the music, videos of the band performing and you can order a copy direct from the distributor. If you have any questions for Mat and Yvonne, you can contact us through this website.

Press Kit
High quality versions of all the tracks and videos, press photos, high resolution cover art, a pdf of the insert and a text document with release information and credits. To the downloads

To Order
• Scandinavia
• Europe and the rest of the world
• North America

Also Available
We’ll be selling the album both digitally and physically on Bandcamp. There are already four singles (6 tracks) including videos available for purchase. The whole album (both digital and physical) will be available 07/29/2022. Meanwhile enjoy these tracks.

First single from Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore’s upcoming album

Switzerland based musicians Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore have signed with the Norwegian label Plateselskapet No. 13 who will release the double album It is Right to Rebel in 2022. The first single to be released is the upbeat battle cry Free Leonard Peltier.

– I began hearing about Leonard Peltier shortly after the occupation of Alcatraz in November 1971. Alcatraz captured the world’s attention and it wasn’t long before the American Indian Movement (AIM) was headline news. Peltier was a nationally known leader of AIM, at the forefront of the Trail of Broken Treaties (1972) and Wounded Knee (1973) protests and a key figure in the explosive situation developing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, says Mat Callahan.

– When two FBI agents were killed in a shootout on that Reservation Peltier was charged with their murders. Because he was a well-known and respected leader and because similar attacks had been made on the Black Panthers, it was clear to me that this was a setup to destroy not only Peltier but the whole AIM organization. In 1977 Peltier was sent to prison. The fight to free him has been going on ever since. This struggle was brought back to my attention by a recent story in a Swiss newspaper. It inspired me to write this song.

The single Free Leonard Peltier will be released on all major streaming platforms Friday 3rd of December, but can be heard in advance using the links below.

The double album It is Right to Rebel is due for release in 2022.

The music video can be downloaded here

Press kit including photos, cover art and lyrics here

For additional information or interview requests, please contact Mat Callahan: info(at)matcallahan.com

The film about our project “Songs of Slavery and Emancipation” will be shown on the Workers Unite Film Festival in September. Click on the above logo to open the festivals website with the program.

A trailor is available on Vimeo here.

Dear Friends:

Due to the pandemic all our concerts and public appearances have been canceled. This includes the US tour we planned in April as well as concerts in Switzerland. Plans for visits to England, Ireland and Italy are on hold. We can’t predict when the epidemic will end or when it will be possible to resume live concerts and other public gatherings. Nevertheless, we know it will end and we plan to be ready when it does.

It is our hope that humanity will learn some important lessons from this episode and that the experience strengthens our resolve to fight for a world free of war, poverty and oppression. Among the most important lessons is an obvious one: health care is a human right, public health must be expanded and improved, and the entire exploitative apparatus of private health insurance and pharmaceutical companies should be abolished. If we can expect any good to arise from this crisis that should be one.

Another lesson is that this epidemic is not an isolated incident but embedded within the wider environmental emergency our planet has been facing for decades now. Since 1988 when Dr. James Hansen presented irrefutable evidence of global warming before the US Congress, we’ve witnessed governments and corporations evading and avoiding, obstructing and sabotaging, every reasonable proposal to end fossil fuel use and convert to clean energy production. Now, suddenly, these same governments and corporations are forced to act by a medical emergency. The connection is obvious to all: the health of humanity depends on concerted action, not only to overcome this pandemic, but to end fossil fuel use-immediately. There can be no more excuses and delaying tactics. Convert to renewable energy now.

A final lesson we might learn is that international cooperation, such as Cuba sending doctors to Italy, or the EU sending medical supplies to Iran, should not end with the retreat of the virus. On the contrary, if it is possible to work together to overcome a medical emergency it is possible to overcome a political one as well. This means identifying the “pathogen” of militarism and targeting its source, most notably the United States and NATO. Along with our physical resistance to the coronavirus, we need popular resistance to war. It is our hope that this lesson is not lost, especially as governments are even now trying to assign blame for their own incompetence. Such belligerence is counterproductive and should be met with a demand for a cessation of hostilities, sanctions, military budgets and arms trading. At the very least, the total ban of nuclear weapons should be as realistic as overcoming the coronavirus. To whom is peace a threat?

Mat and Yvonne

The big news is our Working Class Heroes tour in April. Please let us know if you need more information about any of the following events. Hope to see you along the way!

Working Class Heroes-US tour

Wednesday, April 8th – Marist College talk (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Thursday, April 9th – 7pm-9pm
Wunderbar, 3rd floor, 201 S West St, Syracuse, NY 13202
Contact: syracusedsa@protonmail.com, 315-506-5659
Co-sponsored by Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America and Friends of Irish Freedom.

Saturday, April 11th – Two events:

1pm-3pm-Cornell University
School of Industrial & Labor Relations, Ives 361
Ithaca, NY

7pm-9pm, The Irish American Heritage Museum,
25 Quackenbush Square, Albany
Sponsored by the Upstate Branch of the IWW

Sunday, April 12th – Salon, New York City

Wednesday, April 15 – Two events:

12:15pm-1:30pm “Songs from the Line: The Music of Working Class Heroes” –
Green Room, 4th Floor West, Michigan State University Library
(co-sponsored by the MSU Library Colloquia Series)
MSU Libraries
366 W. Circle Drive
East Lansing, MI
48824 USA

6:30PM – 8:00PM
East Lansing Public Library
950 Abbot Road
East Lansing, MI 48823

Friday, April 17th – Labor Notes

Saturday, April 18th – Labor Notes “Meet The Author” session on Saturday, April 18, between 6 and 7 pm.

Sunday, April 19th – Labor Notes

Dear Friends:

In December, Yvonne and I will be traveling to the Bay Area to record an album. This album is a collection of songs I’ve written over the last ten years but never recorded. While we’ve devoted much effort to Songs of Freedom, Working Class Heroes and Songs of Slavery and Emancipation, we haven’t forgotten these original compositions. In fact, we began investigating the possibilities for recording them in December 2017. That’s when we contacted Greg Landau, an old friend of mine who also happens to be a great musician and producer. Greg’s worked with many outstanding artists from Omar Sosa to Susana Baca and, of course, he was responsible for bringing my band, the Looters, to Nicaragua in 1983, in solidarity with the Nicaraguan revolution.
First, we asked Greg’s opinion of the material, whether it was worthy of the effort and expense of recording it. Second, we asked if he was inspired to take charge of the production. Greg’s enthusiastic endorsement of both the music and the prospects of recording it were enough to encourage Yvonne and me to take the necessary steps. These began with fundraising-as do all our projects!-but quickly led to planning where and how to do the recording. By the end of 2018 we’d hit upon the idea of recording in Matanzas, Cuba with an Orchestra connected to the Conservatory of Music. Greg traveled twice to Cuba to secure the necessary invitations and support. We were all set to make the trip whereupon Trump issued his decree banning travel to Cuba.
To make a long story short, our high-profile visit, at the behest of the Cuban Ministry of Culture, could not escape notice by US authorities making it dangerous for Greg, an American citizen, to travel to Cuba. Suddenly we had to decide whether to postpone to the recording until after the 2020 election in hopes that the travel ban would be lifted or to find another location and go ahead with the recording. Greg convinced us that, while it would undoubtedly be a different album, it would nonetheless be worthwhile if we came to the Bay Area and worked with the pool of musicians Greg works with on a regular basis.
After much discussion, we decided to go ahead and so we begin recording in December. We’ll let you know how well we’ve done in January, 2020.

YOU ARE INVITED:

We couldn’t return to the Bay Area without performing at least a few times. After all, Working Class Heroes was only released in October this year so, even as we are making new music ready for future release, we want to encourage everyone to listen to the music we’ve already recorded!!!

The following events are open to the public and we’d like to see all of you at one or more of them.

Sunday, December 8th – The Howard Zinn Bookfair – 4-5:30PM – ROOM 325
City College of San Francisco, Mission Campus, 1125 Valencia Street

Saturday, December 14th – Down Home Music – 2pm
10341 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA
510-525-2129

Tuesday, December 17th – The Green Arcade Bookstore – 7:30pm
1680 Market Street (at Gough) San Francisco
415 431 6800

Dear Friends: This month we can announce the publication of our songbook, Working Class Heroes. This is not to be confused with the release of the CD of the same name. The CD is comprised of our performance of twenty songs. The same songs are presented with musical notation (including guitar chords) in the songbook. The two are complementary and are best enjoyed together.

If you are interested in obtaining songbook and/or CD please contact the following:
PM Press