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Influence: Manu Chao, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, John Prine, Led Zeppelin

Website: http://www.gingerninjas.com

MySpace: http://myspace.com/gingerm...

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Audio Clips: Stuck On Earth; Total Believer; Liberate Your Mind; Bird Fly, Bird Fall; Dick Cheney
Videos: Dick Cheney (Needs More Love)
Images: Ginger Ninjas; Ginger Ninjas

THE PLEASANT REVOLUTION Rock & Roll Bicycle Tour ~ N.Cal to the Yucatan '07-'08
PRESS RELEASE

"This tour don't run on biodiesel!"

On October 18, 2007 bands The Ginger Ninjas and SHAKE YOUR PEACE! will launch the "Pleasant Revolution Bicycle Music Tour," riding over 5000 miles and playing over 90 pedal-powered shows from the foothills of the Sierras in North San Juan, California, to the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. There will be no sag-wagons, and no buses hauling their gear: everything including the 800 Watt human-powered PA System will be hauled entirely on bicycle! The bands will be joined along the way by "The Caravan" – a fluctuating group of bicycle and music enthusiasts made up of friends, fans, and the general public. "Everyone," say the bands, "is invited to come along!"

The tour will join other 2007 Bicycle Music Movement landmarks in what could be called "the year of the bicycle-based musician" – a year which witnessed a successful 600 mile, 25 show SHAKE YOUR PEACE! Bicycle Tour of Utah in April & May of 2007 (the first significant bicycle music tour to be accomplished without a sag wagon, and using a pedal powered PA system), and the monumental success of the San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival on Aug. 11, 2007, a 100% bike-powered and bike-hauled event which heralded the arrival of the Bicycle Music Movement to the world, featuring: 10 bands, 5 public venues, a 400 Watt pedal-powered PA system, and outrageous cruiser rides taking over the city's streets between each festival stop.

The term "Pleasant Revolution" was coined by Ginger Ninjas guitarist Kipchoge Spencer to describe the sense of joy, as opposed to sacrifice and loss, people find when they start living a more sustainable life.

"Our way of life threatens our way of life," says Spencer, bay area bike culture hero, and co-originator of the Xtracycle Sport Utility Bicycle. "As people resonate with that point and start to contemplate giving up their cars and forsaking a lot of other conveniences they're accustomed to, on the surface it could seem like they're sacrificing and losing a lot. But the Pleasant Revolution is about realizing that by losing this stuff, we gain a life that's way more rich, humane, and happy. Anybody who stops driving and starts biking feels that. Biking doesn't feel like losing a car, it feels like you're getting your life back! The message of the Pleasant Revolution isn't: 'sacrifice til it hurts,' it's more: 'drop the excess, and have the time of your life.'"

To join The Pleasant Revolution and have the time of your life, check out the tour's schedule at www.PleasantRevolution.net, or the bands websites: www.ShakeYourPeace.com, and www.myspace.com/gingermyninja

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GINGER NINJA LIFESTYLE: “Walk our talk? Hell no, we RIDE it!”
Sometimes the Ginger Ninjas tour on Xtracycle sport utility bicycles (SUBs) built to carry all their gear. Other times they strap their bikes to the back of Millie the Millennium Van—a retired school bus converted by Kipchoge to run on recycled veggie oil. Ginger Ninjas Pleasant Revolution Tour 2007.

In their continued quest for oversized adventure, the Ginger Ninjas are planning a four-month Xtracycle ride from Nevada City, CA to the Mexican Yucatan. Along the way, the Ginger Ninjas will play spontaneous street corners and scheduled shows in several large venues, and organize a bicycle summit in Mexico City. Their musical odyssey will be the basis of a documentary by Rattle Can Films of Boulder, Colorado.

Go to their live show for the (can you really call it?) rock but stay for the way the two lead singers move your heart. Just when the rhythm section has feverishly guided the audience into the mystic embrace of frontman Kipchoge (think Tom Petty smoking sunflowers while delivering the State of the Onion), into the mix slips punk Latina (she's Uruguayan) seductress Eco. Yelling then whispering, tender then brutal, she evokes Courtney, Norah and Manu while subtly transcending all three.

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Go to their live show for the (can you really call it?) rock but stay for the way the two lead singers and their songs grab your heart. Just when the rhythm section has put the audience into the mystic embrace of frontman Kipchoge (think Tom Petty smoking sunflowers while delivering the State of the Onion), into the mix slips punk Latina (she's Uruguayan) seductress Eco. Yelling then whispering, tender then brutal, she evokes Courtney, Norah and Manu but transcends all three. Supported by an all-star cast, (charismatic young drummer/beat boxer Isaac James from Afro-Celt trio Root Down One; Congolese/French international chart topper Borrina Mapaka on bass; riff-maestro session guitarist Michael Logue) the unit glides from hit to hit.

Ginger Ninjas Pleasant Revolution Tour 2007

Though they play off each other like they've been doing it for years, the lineup is barely 6 months old. The Ginger Ninjas journey across a mystical musical terrain—from old-time country tunes and dreamy Carribbean ballads; to lilting raps that blend dancehall, hip hop, and funk; to Isaac’s raging silky soul (think Marvin Gaye channeling Animal); to a Latin skank that seems invented for Eco's room-shaking bi-lingual flow. www.pleasantrevolution.net

While plainly copping licks and grooves from nearly every flavor of popular music, the group’s magnetism comes from their own simple, catchy, soul-moving sound. Says Kipchoge, "we want to make you ask 'Is this real? what just happened to me??'" Built around lyrics that often pair the subversive and the whimsical ("Men like Dick [Cheney] need more love") with resonant humanism ("and we all, have little doors, that only open from the inside”) the songs are the secret ingredient that turns listeners into instant fans and destines the music for the big stage.

Called “Nevada County’s best songwriter” by Northern California Center for the Arts Artistic Director and KVMR DJ Paul Emery, Kipchoge’s sublime talents took root during an backwoods Oregon childhood where he played Delta blues with his dad. He lives off the grid in a 120 sq. ft. cabin deep in the northern California foothills. A true pioneer in the discovery and promotion of the next generation of accessible, inspiring green living, he doesn’t own a car and uses a rig he helped invent and market, the Xtracycle sport utility bicycle (www.xtracycle.com), to do most of his commuting. James, a master of West African drumming, played Djembe with Kipchoge in a duo for years. Later they met Mapaka, on solo tour from his home in Paris. Originally from war-torn Congo, the bond with the African-steeped American folk rhythms came naturally. He stepped in to produce their second album. Playing a gig in Kauaii, they bumped into actress-turned-beach-bum Eco and instantly realized her potential to go far beyond the open mic. She packed her small suitcase the next day and joined them for a gig at the Oregon Country Fair. The collective moved into Logue’s studio for their demo and tapped him to complete the lineup.

Sometimes the Ginger Ninjas tour on Xtracycle sport utility bicycles (SUBs) built to carry all their gear. Other times they strap their bikes to the back of Millie the Millennium Van—a retired school bus converted by Kipchoge to run on recycled veggie oil.

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