If you follow the entertainment media, you may have noticed that benefit shows and fund-raising events to assist with the cleanup and rebuilding in middle Tennessee are popping up all over the country. And of course, bluegrass folks are in the thick of it. There are two bluegrass benefit shows scheduled in the next few weeks that promise a great day of music with the chance to share with the people of Nashville who have been so devastated by recent flooding.
On May 22 Nashville Flood Relief will host an all-day show at the Fairborn High School in Fairborn, OH (just near Dayton), starting at 11:00 a.m. All proceeds over expenses will be donated to the American Red Cross for distribution in the middle Tennessee region.
Performing will be Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Jerry Butler, John Wade and the Blu- J’s, Kenny Stinson and Perfect Tym’n, Blue Storm, McCoy Grass, JonEric and Banjotistically Yours, The Bluegrass SoulPickers, Shadez of Blue, Lonesome Meadow, Jordan Run, Rock Island Plow Co., and Evan Lanier and the The Bluegrass Express.
This benefit is being produced and sponsored by a group of Dayton area grassers well known in the bluegrass world: Sarah Smith, Sarah Wallen and Blue Storm (Stevie Williams and Keith Wallen) and Tim Cahall (Old National Bluegrass).
Sponsorships are still being accepted. The organizers can be reached through the Nashville Flood Relief web site.
Then on June 12, a concert will be held on the Market Square in Knoxville, TN to benefit The Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. The show will be free of charge, but attendees are asked to bring cash donations for the Food Bank, as well as non-perishable food items and cleaning supplies, to help replenish the stores depleted in the aftermath of the flood.
Phil Leadbetter – Uncle Phil to his friends – is organizing this event, and promises that more details about performers will be posted soon on Facebook.
In addition to the many charitable organizations we had listed earlier who are accepting donations for relief and rebuilding in Nashville (and middle Tennessee), The Gibson Foundation is also involved.
For an intensely personal look in this tragedy, watch the video below shot by a resident of East Nashville during the aftermath of the floods on May 7 and 8. Please help if you are able.
