Join us for "Jammin' for Justice"
Thursday, October 19 (6 - 9 p.m.)
The Burren | Somerville, MA
In this third annual Jammin’ for Justice event, a very special line-up of local musicians joins forces to honor the memory of Massachusetts exoneree Ray Champagne and to support the work of the Exoneree Network, which Ray co-founded with fellow exonerees Sean Ellis and Victor Rosario.
Ray Champagne spent more than four decades in prison for a crime he did not commit before finally achieving his freedom and exoneration in 2020. From the moment of his release until his untimely death on July 12, 2022 in a tragic motorcycle accident, Ray devoted himself fearlessly and generously to developing resources and healing spaces for the growing numbers of people freed from wrongful convictions. He overcame an intense fear of public speaking in order to participate in virtual and in-person events for audiences ranging from high school students to appellate lawyers to state legislators. And in April 2022, he took his first airplane flight since 1974 to attend the annual Innocence Network conference in Phoenix, AZ, accompanied by a remarkable group of others recently freed from Massachusetts prisons and the advocates who helped them achieve their freedom.
Musical guests include Zach Meyer (mandolin) and Rachel Rosenberg (fiddler & vocalist) of The Talking Hearts, a cutting edge honky-tonk band from Boston. Innocence Attorney (and Jammin for Justice founder) Jeff Harris and the “Friends of Ray,” including Boston-based guitarist Andrew Sue Wing, will perform original songs of exoneration along with some of Ray’s favorites from the Spotify playlist which Ray created for his fellow classmates from Tufts University after completing a semester-long Inside Out course offered at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in the fall of 2019. Ray’s lawyer and CPCS Innocence Program Director, Lisa Kavanaugh, and Exonoree Sean Ellis will speak about their departed friend, Ray. Rounding out the evening, a group of remarkable exoneree musicians, led by Joseph Pope and Albert Brown — the “OGs” — will share some of the tunes that they first wrote and performed together while wrongfully incarcerated for crimes they did not commit.
Concert proceeds will benefit the Exoneree Network, with the goal of ensuring that another inspiring group of men and women freed from Massachusetts prisons for crimes they did not commit will have the opportunity to attend the 2024 Innocence Network Conference, just as Ray was fortunate enough to do in 2022.
Tickets are on sale now, get them while you can!
Learn about the healing power of coming together for the Innocence Network conference with our video of the 2023 IN Conference in Phoenix, Arizona below.