Stand By Me while traveling the world

Award winning producer and film director Mark Johnson, recorded a guy on his street singing “Stand By Me”; then he traveled around the world and recorded about 100 other local artists doing the same. He edited some of the snippets of their footage into a video, and this (video below) is the result. It’s just too awesome. There is also a documentary film co-directed by Johnson, expanding on the same idea — you can see the trailer here.

This initiative of course is part of a larger program called “Playing For Change” which aims to connect the world through music. The foundation provides musicians around the world facilities to play music and enhance their skills, therefore not only making their lives better but also demonstrating how music brings people together regardless of cultural and socio-economic differences. Current projects include building a music school in Gugulethu (South Africa) to provide the youth there an alternative to the daily violence and deprivation they face; rebuilding and enhancing Tibetan refugee centers in Dharamsala and Kathmandu; and building an arts center in Johannesburg.

Here’s a recently recorded interview with Johnson by PBS’s Bill Moyers, and a Q&A with him on ComingSoon.net.