Iconic musician Mavis Staples accepts an award for her support of Oxfam America at a concert in LA last month. Photo: Wendy Le

Tegan and Sara and Ra Ra Riot are tweeting about it. Neko Case is posting about it on Facebook. What’s generating the buzz?  An incredible gathering of women musicians—from legendary rockers to up-and-coming new artists—who’ve come together to support Oxfam America ’s efforts around International Women’s Day.

March 8 is recognized globally as a day of celebration of women, and at Oxfam we see it as an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of women to the planet’s social, economic, and political well-being. As my colleague Heather Coleman writes in a recent blog post, “Women work tirelessly to produce the majority of food in many developing countries … annd they’re producing food in the face of increasing natural resource constraints, erratic growing seasons, and rising global temperatures. … Women’s empowerment, in the US and globally, is not and must not be a partisan issue.  ”

Because Oxfam is fortunate enough to work with a multitude of smart and talented female musicians, we thought it would be meaningful to assemble as many of these women together as we could, asking them to pledge their support for women who are working with Oxfam to combat hunger around the world.

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Big news, all: I’m very proud to present the world debut of Oxfam America’s video for the song “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk” by iconic indie-rockers The New Pornographers.

And this isn’t your ordinary music video. Produced and directed by Oxfam’s Shannon Hart-Reed, it focuses on the aftermath of the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

The Gulf Coast oil spill is making headlines right now as one of the biggest stories of the year. But come January 2011, we don’t want the most vulnerable people in this area to be forgotten. Today, over six months after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, coastal communities affected by one of the worst environmental disasters in US history are fighting to make their voices heard loud and clear. Oxfam is working with these communities to ensure that the recovery process doesn’t pass over those most affected by this disaster. (Learn more about Oxfam’s work in the US.)

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