Tuesday, August 26, 2008

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON


Sheryl Crow wants your vote - and figures she can get it for a song.

The Grammy Award-winning singer is offering a free download of her politically charged tune "Gasoline" to anyone who logs onto the Rock the Vote Web site or anyone on the group's mailing list.

And the first 50,000 people who register three friends to vote will get a free digital copy of her album "Detours."

"I hope people wake up and emotionally engage in issues," Crow said in a telephone interview during a visit to Los Angeles.

Crow's giveaway is a kickoff to Rock the Vote's voter registration drive, said the organization's executive director Heather Smith.

Crow, 46, was one of the founding artists of Rock the Vote 18 years ago. She said the "Detours" album fits perfectly into the group's cause since the lyrics touch on topics such as adoption, breast cancer, the war in Iraq, the environment and Hurricane Katrina.

"It's about the issues that everyone's talking about, but there's a lot of hope," Crow said. "At this moment in my life, writing about anything else would be uninteresting and impossible because I feel such urgency."

Rock the Vote aims to register 2 million young people to vote by November - the largest youth voter drive in history by three times, Smith said. Anyone who recruits three people to vote will have to log onto the Rock the Vote Web site and go through a verification process before receiving Crow's album, Smith said.

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