by Jessica Carreras
Aj O'Neil is no fool.
Granted, his Ferndale-based cafe, nestled in on Nine Mile Road, opened on April Fools' Day of 2007. But what he's done since is no joke – either for him or for the Detroit Three (formerly known as the Big Three) automakers he so ardently supports.
It began with a dream: O'Neil wanted to put AJ's Music Cafe down in history in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest concert ever. When the 50-hour "Danny Boy" marathon didn't cut it, he decided to combine his goal with another passion – to do whatever was in his power to support Detroit-born automobiles made by Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Chrysler.
On Oct. 17 at the cafe, O'Neil and all the participants of what would come to be known as the Assembly Line Concert will celebrate the achievement that began as a simple idea not even a year ago.
"I called a good friend of mine who … knew my sincere drive and he said, 'Do you think we can do it?'" O'Neil recalls. "I said to him, 'I don't know, but why don't we do something for the automakers?'"
At the time, O'Neil had already begun his I Promise America Campaign, a signature drive in which supporters "promise" that their next car or truck purchase will be a vehicle made by one of the Detroit-born automakers. It was a simple enough idea with a nebulous goal: To raise money? To create awareness? To generate sales?
O'Neil still isn't sure exactly what it does – only that it has brought attention to his cause from media outlets and supporters all over the world.
The Assembly Line Concert, however, took everything a few steps further.
The 10-day concert began on March 20 and ended on the cafe's two-year anniversary. It consisted of over 300 bands playing for a total of 288 hours, with help from notables like Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Ferndale City Council hopeful Greg Pawlica also helped out as the master of ceremonies for over 50 hours of the event, and also worked to obtain corporate sponsorship from Ford Motor Company, where he works as a vehicle data specialist. "This event allowed me to be part of a 'rally' to raise awareness of the U.S. auto industry," Pawlica says of his participation. "It has been really rough for us over these past couple of years. As an employee of Ford Motor Company, I've been concerned with the future of the industry."
Like Pawlica, many supporters and performers either worked for the auto industry or were supporters of the Detroit Three, and then were eager to help O'Neil's cause. "The word started getting out and I started getting calls from all over the area – country, even – of people who wanted to perform because they believe in our industry and nobody really was sticking up for them," O'Neil says. "So we found that we resonated. It was a very grassroots, main street-type effort by someone who has nothing to do with the auto industry other than being affected by virtue of the downturn in the economy."
It was no small feat for a small-city business, which O'Neil now refers to as "the little cafe that could."
And it did, receiving its Guinness certificate for the World's Longest Concert in August after a painstaking process of sending in a concert log, signed affidavits and other testaments proving that the concert not only took place, but followed such stringent Guinness rules such as "No more than three minutes between each set."
"We did this at the most basic level you could, and it was truly a miracle to accomplish what we did," O'Neil asserts. "It was nothing short of stupendous."
The Oct. 17 recognition party at AJ's Music Cafe will celebrate all that accomplishment with an open jam session for performers and certificates for all the participants in the Assembly Line Concert.
But more than just a way to honor the performers, O'Neil hopes that this – and many events to come – will help spur on continued support of his I Promise America campaign.
The initiative – with several thousand signatures – now has a Web site and Facebook page, and plans are in the works for a second Assembly Line Concert in 2010 at a bigger venue. O'Neil continued to get the word out at the opening of Ferndale's celebration of the Woodward Dream Cruise in August, and through general promotion at the cafe.
O'Neil, who is openly gay, hopes that the LGBT community will stay involved, too. "Whether you're gay, straight, black white – the whole community is here because of the auto industry. And we have lost track of that," he says. "This whole area for the last 100 years has been about the automotive industry. Whether you're in the restaurant business or cafe or bar, a 501 (c)3 non-profit – we're all in this together. And because of that, we have to be able to help where we can. We can't afford not to."
Pawlica, who is also gay, agreed, adding that without Ford, GM and Chrysler, many LGBT products would be underfunded. "These companies have supported both local and national LGBT organizations and causes," he says. "We wouldn't have the new Affirmations building without the support of the three local automakers. All three donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the building construction fund. I know this year alone, Ford has donated tens of thousands of dollars to several local organizations.
"If we want to keep these major corporations supporting our community, we need to buy their products."
But the I Promise America campaign goes way beyond the streets of Ferndale, or the gay community. "The beautiful part is that (the signatures) come from all over the country," O'Neil shares, naming off supporters from as far away as Puerto Rico, France and Washington, D.C. "It's nationwide and even global that people understand, that really care to take the time to become aware. They realize the ramifications that how well the Big Three does directly affects them on every level."
And hopefully someday, O'Neil says, he may reach his goal of 15 million signatures.
"This is my vision. We need this to get out so much larger," he adds fervently. "I want to get 15 million signatures and I have every intention of doing it … . I don't care it if takes me three events, but I plan on getting substantially more people convinced that it's in their best interest and our nation's best interest to purchase domestic three automobiles."
And that's no joke.
For more information on I Promise America, visit http://www.ipromiseamerica.com.
