Blues star Keb' Mo' says he's performing on the "Vote For Change" tour because he feels if we don't have regime change now, it might be too late.

When the Vietnam War was at its heights in the late '60s, and protests against it were a daily occurrence on college campuses across the country, the musical community also rallied in their efforts to bring about an end to a largely unpopular war. At the time, the musical protest consisted primarily of raising awareness, playing demonstrations and writing and performing songs that spoke to the horrors of the escalating conflict and the desire for peace. They were anti-war actions that were not specifically aimed at stopping the war.

What a change 35 years can bring.

Two upcoming tours making their way to Cincinnati are much more specific in their goals than the peace-and-love anti-war treatises espoused by summer of love hippie bands in the '60s. Both the MoveOn PAC-sponsored Vote for Change Tour (featuring Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Keb' Mo' on the Cincinnati stop) and the Rock Against Bush Tour (backed by punkvoter.com and including Anti-Flag, Midtown, the Nightwatchmen featuring ex-Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morrello, Strike Anywhere, Mike Park and a host of others) are hitting the road with a distinctly stated purpose: to motivate their audiences to join the political process and remove George Bush from his position as the president.

Of the two tours, Rock Against Bush is clearly the more militant. Organized by NOFX frontman/Fat Wreck Chords label owner/punkvoter.com founder Fat Mike and headlined by Anti-Flag, one of the most politically savvy Punk bands of the past 25 years, Rock Against Bush is a formidable political juggernaut. In addition to the messages presented from the stage by each individual band, Punkvoter will be registering voters and providing attendees with a wealth of information about the current administration's missteps.

"We have a lot of fliers, we have the Rock Against Bush CDs and DVDs which have a lot of content," says Punkvoter organizer and Fat Wreck Chords employee Toby Jeg. "On the Warped Tour, we had a Punkvoter booth and we were registering up to 800 people a day. We've registered tens of thousands of kids so far. This last tour is like the knockout punch, the exclamation point, the reminder that we've been working and now we've got to come through as we come down the stretch."

One of the big logistical problems facing Punkvoter since its inception four years ago is the fact that a large segment of the Punk audience is simply too young to vote. Jeg says the organization is philosophical about that aspect of its mission.

"They're seeds for future activists," he says. "Just because they're 16 or 17 doesn't mean they can't get involved. It doesn't mean they can't talk to their parents. The reason those kids should care and the reason we're reaching out to them is because they're the people who are going to be fitted with boots and in the sand in a couple of years. Besides, you don't vote only with your ballot, you vote with your dollar, too."

All of the participants in the Rock Against Bush Tour have strong feelings about the issues necessitating the removal of Bush from office. Everyone agrees on ending the war in Iraq (especially with the potential for a draft) and most cite Bush's desire to overturn Roe vs. Wade to once again outlaw abortion. Anti-Flag drummer Pat Thetic is proud to point out that the president's most recent gaffs are merely the latest reasons his band wants to oust Bush.

"To be honest, every tour we've done since 2000 has been a Rock Against Bush tour," says Thetic. "Before that, it was the Rock Against Clinton tour. This tour was just a natural progression. Now we've got people with like minds with us to talk about the issues and get people motivated and excited to vote in November."

While the Vote for Change Tour is slightly less vehement it is no less passionate in its stated goal, which is essentially the same as its Punk stoked counterpart. One big difference is the scope of the VFC Tour, which consists of a large contingent of artists touring simultaneously around the country. VFC's coalition spans a broad musical demographic; Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Dave Matthews Band, Jurassic 5, Dixie Chicks, John Fogerty (whose song "Fortunate Son" with Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969 was a stinging indictment of the Vietnam War machine), Bonnie Raitt, Babyface, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Bright Eyes, Tracy Chapman, John Mellencamp, Keb' Mo', John Prine (whose "Sam Stone" was a bitter reminder of the aftermath of Vietnam), Ben Harper, James Taylor and many others.

Keb' Mo', whose new album Peace ... Back By Popular Demand is a gentle return to the days of the Folk protest album, says that each artist on the VFC Tour has their own message and method of delivering it. Keb's personal message has less to do with changing the structure of the government and more to do with facing the cold, hard fact of who and what we are as a nation.

"The best thing we can do is to get our souls together," says Keb' with a quiet power. "Because if we don't change in this country, we're gonna pay for it, and we're not gonna keep being the United States as we know it. If that has to happen, that has to happen. But we better wake up. I think we all need to dig deep and reflect on what's going on. George Bush, John Kerry -- I don't think there's much of a difference. There's enough difference for me to go out and try to get Kerry in office, but on the grand scale, whether it's either one of them, the same things have to happen."