Artists Contribute Music to CPI Benefit CD

The war in Vietnam may have ended 30 years ago on April 30th , 1975, but bombs and landmines left over from that conflict still maim and kill innocent civilians almost every day.

In response to this humanitarian tragedy, Natalie Merchant, Philip Glass, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident and other artists have joined forces with Clear Path International (CPI: www.cpi.org) to assist landmine and bomb accident survivors by donating tracks to an upcoming CD entitled �TOO MANY YEARS: A BENEFIT FOR CLEAR PATH INTERNATIONAL.�

The title comes from a Jorma Kaukonen song which is included on the CD.

�The title �Too Many Years� sums up our feelings at Clear Path regarding explosive remnants of war,� said Clear Path International Executive Director Martha Hathaway. �For too many years, decades in the case of Vietnam, thousands of innocent people have been killed and seriously wounded by bombs and landmines left over from conflicts that ended long ago.�

Since the war ended in 1975, nearly 40,000 Vietnamese have been killed and 100,000 injured by leftover ordnance.

Appearing on the CD in track listing order:

Natalie Merchant, Juliana Hatfield, Jorma Kaukonen, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sally Taylor, The Jim Gilmour Band, Rick Redington, Widespread Panic, Dark Star Orchestra, The Samples, The String Cheese Incident, Philip Glass.

Song samples can be heard at www.cpi.org/toomany.php

Legendary album cover artist Stanley Mouse is donating the cover art.

The CD will be released in early May in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Copies are available for pre-purchase at www.cpi.org, or by phone order at 802.867.4406.

Clear Path International, online at www.cpi.org, is an independent 501 C 3 nonprofit serving landmine and bomb accident survivors, their families and their communities in former war zones in Southeast Asia. This assistance takes the form of direct medical and social services to survivor families as well as equipment and technical support to local hospitals. Current Clear Path projects are in Vietnam, Cambodia and on the Thai-Burma border.