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where did Zo go? | 2008.03.17

Dear friends,

You may have gone to www.zotobi.com in recent few months, looked at an out-dated news section and an empty tour schedule, and wondered: “Where did Zo go? Is he even making music anymore?”

Well, more than ever – but as I’m learning more and more these days, nothing is the same twice.

Hal, a high school English teacher and moral guide of mine, reminds me of what Benjamin Franklin once said: we must learn to fight wars so that our children can learn to write poetry. Since finishing my undergraduate work at Clark University in December 2007, Ben’s words have taken on a new immediacy for me, and I’ve put gigs on hold in order to pursue our generation’s most urgent war, a war of restoration. I’ve been working full time (and then some) in the youth clean energy movement as the Northeast Organizer for the Sierra Student Coalition and Energy Action, to organize students & young people across the Northeast to solve global warming.

In May 2007, I experienced a strange feeling. For the first time, I imagined never picking up the guitar again, and stil living a joyous life. My understanding of making music, making art, had expanded into something more inclusive: simply applying one’s consciousness onto creation. I’d begun to feel equally creative whether I was organizing a dinner party, strategizing a grassroots campaign, singing into a microphone, or picking a six-stringed instrument. I realized that the outcome I’d sought through performing – to open others to the experience of being part of something larger than themselves – was playing out in my life in many new ways each day.

Since I realized my happiness did not have to depend on my music, my most honest material is beginning to surface, and I’m getting closer to recreating that feeling that inspired me to pursue music in the first place. My tour schedule might not suggest this, but in reality this past six months or so has been the most musically rich and prolific time of my life. Inspired by my own renewed involvement in the youth clean energy movement, and also by Fred Small – a folksinger-turned-Unitarian minister and environmental advocate – I’ve been slowly finding new soul in my songwriting. I’ve played fewer shows this past year than in other years, but these few have been some of my best. A highlight was playing back in November 2007 in a basketball arena, for and with several thousand young climate activists at Power Shift 2007, the first-ever national youth conference to solve the climate crisis. Thousands were on their feet, clapping and singing, including a choir of dozens of fellow Clarkies who rushed the stage to join the action.

To get a sense of this, check out some video footage.

As was true in the Civil Rights Movement, there is a story to be told of this epic struggle to restore our planet and its inhabitants, and it’s a story that belongs in the words, the melody, and the rhythm of a song. It’s a story our nation needs to hear right now, and a story that I and companions-in-the-struggle need to tell.

So does this mean I’m never touring again? Not at all. But all things have their season, and while it might be a rarer thing for the time being to come across a Zo Tobi show, keep your eyes open for surprises. I will be performing, for instance, at Massachusetts Power Shift, a world-changing event from April 11th-14th, where over one thousand citizens will converge in Boston to learn, connect, get inspired, and take action to solve the climate crisis and chart the path to a just, sustainable future. You can learn more about the conference and register at: www.masspowershift.org.

I hope this answers the question, “Where did Zo go?”. I’m here, in more ways than one, and making music like the survival of the human race depends on it. In some ways, I think it just might.

Stay tuned.

Peace and blessings,
Zo

p.s. – To support the important work of the youth clean energy movement (and pay the small salaries of those like me!), click here.

p.p.s. – To join our efforts, click here.

a quick update | 2007.08.20
Hey all! I apologize greatly for the inactivity on this site - this summer, I was working hard on a campaign for clean energy and real global warming solutions (see here), which kept me quite consumed. There are some shows coming up, so check them out here!