In the very first episode of Artist With A Cause, Maia speaks to Butchy Austin from Brass Solidarity.

Brass Solidarity is a brass band based in Minneapolis in the US. It consists of musicians, activists and community members. The movement was created in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by white police officer Derek Chauvin on the 25th of May 2020.

Every week Brass Solidarity convene at George Floyd Square with a shared mission to play music and speak up about Black Lives Matter and racial justice.

During Operation Metro Surge in late 2025 and through to 2026 - a massive deployment of federal agents sent out to the state of Minnesota to crack down on immigration - Brass Solidarity has been present at protests alongside Minneapolis locals.

The city of Minneapolis reached global news as its population said enough is enough and stood up to the aggressive detention and deportation tactics of federal agents within their communities.

Be sure to also check out the affiliated Substack, where I will post recommended book, film, documentary etc recommendations by me and my guests, connected to the issues discussed on each episode.
https://open.substack.com/pub/artistwithacause/p/episode-1-butchy-austin-from-brass?r=804zbh&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Brass Solidarity Homepage:
https://brasssolidarity.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnU2funbEF3tPCQ0A0l-4K65TSlUopDbq0ibn22eQdrAbpLsfu0367h9BWQQg_aem_c2-nntNpMnRt378U0UVbEw