Some concerts are about the music. Others are about the moment. This one is about both. On May 25, at Assembly in Kingston, three world-class singer-songwriters—Sara Bareilles, Natalie Merchant, and Rachael Yamagata—will gather for A Night of Community & Song, a benefit for the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network (UIDN). The evening will be hosted by actress Busy Philips and features special guest Mario Rincon. It’s the kind of event you circle in red on the calendar: rare, righteous, and rooted in purpose. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10am.
UIDN, a coalition of faith communities and activists, has been on the frontlines in Ulster County for nearly a decade, offering a lifeline to undocumented neighbors. Food, housing, legal aid, court accompaniment, job placement, emotional support—the work is vast and vital. And in 2025, under the renewed specter of Trumpism and its deportation-first doctrine, the stakes have never been higher.
Across the country, ICE raids are again making headlines. Asylum claims are bottlenecked and batted down. Executive orders are reshaping the legal landscape in real time. For the immigrant families UIDN supports—from long-time neighbors to newly arrived asylum seekers—every knock at the door carries a threat. Every bit of community support is a shield.
Enter the music.
Bareilles, Merchant, and Yamagata are not just lending their voices. They’re raising them in protest, in protection, in solidarity. Each artist brings her own sonic arsenal, honed over decades and resonating with emotional intelligence.
Sara Bareilles may be best known for “Love Song” and “Waitress: The Musical,” but her creative reach defies easy categorization. She’s a Grammy and Emmy winner, a Broadway powerhouse, and one of the few pop artists who can pull off a cover of Sondheim and a feminist anthem in the same breath. Her work is often a salve—but here, it’s also a summons.
Natalie Merchant needs no introduction around these parts. A local legend, Merchant has long blurred the line between artist and activist. Her 2023 album, Keep Your Courage, continues the work of finding grace amid grief, beauty in the ruins. Merchant is the kind of performer who can hold a room silent with a whisper—and set it alight with a well-placed lyric.
And then there’s Rachael Yamagata. Call her a balladeer of the beautifully bruised. Her songs don’t just describe heartbreak—they map it, mine it, transform it. Yamagata is both candle and scalpel, offering an intimacy that cuts through the noise of the day. She’s sung for presidents and medicine men, but she’s at her best when the lights are low and the stakes are high.
Together, these three are more than a lineup. They’re a chorus of resistance. An evening like this isn’t just a night out—it’s a public act of care in a season of cruelty. UIDN’s work is ongoing. The music will be unforgettable. And, if we’re lucky, it might just help build the kind of world where compassion drowns out fear, one note at a time.
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This article appears in March 2025.
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Wealthy and successful people telling us how we shouldn’t care about non citizens dipping into the rights of Americans. American votes, jobs, and social security belongs to the American people. Its sensible, not insensitive.