Professor Dan Sheehan.

PARAMUS, N.J. – Bergen Community College music professor Dan Sheehan has released his fifth album, “Tales from Earth Incorporated,” to raise awareness about global economic injustice and greed.

Inspired by socially conscious albums and songs such as the Who’s “Quadrophenia,” “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills & Nash, “Mercy, Mercy Me” by Marvin Gaye, “Ball of Confusion” by the Temptations and “American Idiot” by Green Day, Sheehan, of Garden City, New York, fuses rock, soul, classical, jazz and world music from Brazil, Africa and South Asia to create an unique musical listening experience and stir a “socially conscious music and art movement,” he said.

“Tales from Earth Incorporated” songs such as “Zero Tolerance” addresses issues with the justice system, while “Kimberley” highlights the terrors of blood diamonds in Zimbabwe. Sheehan’s favorite song, “Wishing Well,” discusses climate change and the struggles of people in three low lying locations of the world: Kiribati, the Maldives and Bangladesh.

“We are living in historically crucial times,” he said. “Such times compel artists to take a stand and speak to what’s going on in the world around us. In recent years, my growing awareness of the extent to which greed has become the driving force behind so much that transpires in this world, bringing devastation to all corners of the globe, drove me to write this collection of songs telling the stories of people around the world and how they have been affected by the rising culture of greed.”

Sheehan collaborated with Dave Krusen – the first drummer of rock band Pearl Jam and current drummer for Candlebox – and Patrick Moraz – keyboardist of Yes and the Moody Blues – on the album. Sheehan also teamed up with several Bergen faculty including Andy Krikun, John LaBarbera, Peter Furlan, Nadya Kourani, Paul Lee and Patrice DeVincentis as well as Bergen alumni Ori Yekutiel and Will Sapanaro to produce.

Sheehan recorded some of the album in studios at the College, as well as California and New York. Radio stations such as WLFR 91.7 FM at Stockton University, WHFR 89.3 FM in the Detroit area and Tameside radio, a region of Manchester England, have all given the album air play.

For lyrics and more information about “Tales from Earth Incorporated,” visit www.dansheehan.net and www.talesfromearthinc.com. For concert bookings, email [email protected].

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 14,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

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