Birthed in 2010, First Signal started as a musical partnership between vocalist Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) and German producer Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Khymera). (He is also the vocalist for Visions Of Atlantis, Temperance, and ERA.) Guaitoli also plays bass and some guitars on the album in addition to overseeing production.Īs with all the previous First Signal releases, this will be another must hear for fans of the AOR/Melodic Rock genre. The new record, their fifth overall, continues the tradition they've now established over the course of their discography of delivering top notch melodic rock perfectly suited for the legendary voice of Hess.įor "Face Your Fears", Hess collaborated with producer Michele Guaitoli, who has produced albums by ISSA, Visions Of Atlantis, Kalidia, SheWolf, and many more. This year, after 10 years heading Moms Demand Action, Watts will pass the reins of leadership to Angela Ferrell-Zabala.First Signal, an ongoing melodic rock project fronted by the inimitable Harry Hess (Harem Scarem), has announced the release of their new album, “Face Your Fears” on February 17, 2022. Her father owned one, as do many members of her organization, Watts said.Īnd countries like Israel and Switzerland have "high rates of gun ownership, but low rates of gun violence," she noted. "There are a variety of different reasons you may want or need a gun," she told AFP. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, shares that goal but has been unable to push a ban through Congress.īut there is one step Moms Demand Action will not take: seeking an outright ban on private gun ownership. Watts also wants to see a ban on military-style assault weapons of the type so frequently used in mass shootings. So she keeps pressing for ambitious federal actions - even if those seem doomed by Republicans' current control of the House of Representatives.Ī key goal is a nationwide requirement for potential gun buyers to undergo background checks - to weed out those with criminal records or serious psychiatric problems. There have also been setbacks, which can fuel a sense of fatalism: Mass shootings have become so common, so unexceptional, that they no longer prompt big demonstrations across the country.īut according to Watts it takes more than individual protests to "change legislation and culture." What's needed, she said, is "what I call the unglamorous heavy lifting of grassroots activism." The red T-shirts worn by MDA members have become a familiar sight at demonstrations or outside state capitols, where many legislators have firsthand experience with the group's influence at the ballot box.Ī master of social media, Watts claims the group has scored 500 legislative victories on the local or national level, nearly always in opposition to the country's powerful pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.Īnti-gun violence activist Shannon Watts speaks during an interview in Washington on May 5, 2023 The association - part of the umbrella group Everytown for Gun Safety - enjoys key financial support from billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. That wasn't for her: "I wanted to be part of a badass army of women," she said.įrom humble beginnings as a small Facebook group, Moms Demand Action has grown into a powerful organization with chapters in all 50 US states and claiming some 10 million supporters. Scouring the internet, she found a few anti-gun violence groups, but all were headed by men. That night, Watts said, she went to bed "devastated," in tears but also "full of rage" and overwhelmed by "this feeling of needing to do something." The galvanizing spark was the Sandy Hook massacre of Decem- when a disturbed young man opened fire in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 26 people, including 20 children aged six and seven. It was that sort of fear that prompted Watts to found Moms Demand Action. Shannon Watts leads a news conference with Senate Democrats and other gun control groups outside the US Capitol in May 2022
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