San Quentin Music Lockdown with Beso Negro & This Old Earthquake

A Benefit in support of San Quentin Music & Arts, which will raise funds for the William James Association ~ Prison Arts Project, in order to continue the amazing programs that will help many incarcerated men become better people. Marin County bands Beso Negro and This Old Earthquake will perform, along with filmed performances from four San Quentin performance bands.

The San Quentin music & performance bands, a self-help, member-based activity group, give inmates a chance to express themselves via music and arts instead of violence and anger. The program aims to create a networking structure of rehabilitation through the enhancement of musical & artistic skills as well as encouraging group morale, self-discipline, self-worth and a realization of each member’s potential to be a productive citizen in a free society. The program also provides life-skills training through teaching music and social cooperation and gives an opportunity for inmates to provide entertainment to San Quentin staff, for Institutional events and their fellow inmates.

The William James Association sponsors the Prison Art Project at San Quentin and has, for the past 37 years, organized prison arts and has shown that inmates exposed to arts and music have better chances of success inside and upon release. They have provided countless inmates with the experience of utilizing their creativity constructively within a repressive environment, which in turn helps inmates form self-esteem and a more positive mindset within the system.