Keith Richards, Sara Bareilles Perform on ‘PFC3: Songs Around the World’: Album Premiere (Exclusive)

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and songstress Sara Bareilles are among the musicians throwing their considerable skills behind “PFC3: Songs Around the World,” the third instalment of the Playing for Change project. Billboard has an exclusive stream of the new album below.

Los Lobos, Andres Calamaro, Keb Mo, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Taj Mahal and Toots Hibbert from Toots & The Maytals are also on board the border-crossing musical initiative, while Jackson Browne produces a song on the set.

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Songs Around the World co-founder Mark Johnson is a firm believer that music can change the world for the better. The music producer/engineer and his team travels the world with a mobile studio and cameras, filming and taping musos in their natural setting. “When you combine different hearts, sounds and musical styles together you create something new, a better place,” he says. Music “transcends our differences and brings us to place where we can feel more connected as a human race.”

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The results of all those on-the-road sessions will appear on an album and DVD, available from June 17 in digital and physical formats at all major retailers and via Starbucks in North America.

Johnson regales with an anecdote on working with Richards, an artist who is quite literally a force of nature. “We traveled to record and film Keith Richards in the Caribbean and for days there was not a cloud in the sky,” Johnson recalls. “One the day of the recording a storm came from out of nowhere and it rained like crazy all day until right before sunset. When Keith appeared by the beach the clouds literally parted from the sky, a fire pit started to burn and we where ready to record the legend.”

Johnson and Whitney Kroenke conceived the concept of uniting musicians from different countries and cultures to perform on the same track, and set in motion the first iteration back in 2005. The debut song from the movement was a version of “Stand By Me”, featuring more than 35 musicians from 10 countries who had never before met. Since then, the clip has been viewed well-over 60 million times.

A portion of the proceeds from “PFC3: Songs Around the World” will benefit The Playing For Change Foundation, which claims to have served more than 700 children in nine music schools and programs in countries including South Africa, Ghana, Mali, Rwanda, Nepal and Thailand. The programs include free classes in dance, instruments, languages and musical theory, all taught by local qualified teachers.

The Playing For Change Band is currently on a 27-city “Peace Through Music Tour.” For more information visit www.playingforchange.com.

Playing For Change Band tour dates:

June 10 – Philadelphia, PA, U.S., World Cafe Live
June 11 – Annapolis, MD, U.S., Ram’s Head On Stage
June 12 – Bethlehem, PA, U.S., Levitt Pavilion
June 13 – Fall River, MA, U.S., Narrows Center for the Arts
June 14 – New York, NY, U.S., Highline Ballroom
June 15 – Boston, MA, U.S., The Wilbur Theater
June 17 – Washington, DC, U.S., The Hamilton
June 18 – Atlanta, GA, U.S., Variety Playhouse
June 19 – New Orleans, LA, U.S., Tipitina’s
June 20 – Memphis, TN, U.S., Levitt Shell
June 21 – Arlington, TX, U.S., Levitt Pavilion
June 22 – Austin, TX, U.S., The Belmont
June 24 – Santa Fe, NM, U.S., Sol Santa Fe
June 25 – Phoenix, AZ, U.S., The MIM Music Theater
June 27 – Pasadena, CA, U.S, Levitt Pavilion
June 28 – Los Angeles, CA, U.S., Levitt Pavilion
June 29 – Laytonville, CA, U.S., Kate Wolf Music Festival
July 2 – Denver, CO, U.S., Future Levitt Pavilion Site
July 3 – Jackson, WY, U.S., Jackson Hole Live
July 5 – Seattle, WA, U.S., Jazz Alley
July 6 – Seattle, WA, U.S., Jazz Alley
July 8 – Roseburg, OR, U.S., Music On The Half Shell
July 9 – Portland, OR, U.S., Alberta Rose Theatre
July 10 – San Francisco, CA, U.S., Yoshi’s
July 12 – Rochester, NY, U.S., Big Rib BBQ & Blues Fest
July 29 – Aschaffenburg, Germany, Colos-Saal
July 30 – Hamburg, Germany, Knust
July 31 – Berlin, Germany, Lido
Aug. 1 – Cologne, Germany, Luxor

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