FOCUS on the 615
Nashville's premier entertainment blog including album, song and show reviews and exclusive artist interviews.
Farm, Fork, and Cork is an annual event held every year on Michael W. Smith’s farm. The tickets are sold out for this event, but there are amazing items people can bid on to help raise money for St. Jude.
Check them at and bid at: bidforstjude.com.
Some of the items available are a Nashville Staycation, breakfast with Vince Gill, a tour of the “Nashville” set, a picnic with Amy Grant and more!
On Saturday, April 29, the annual St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon, the premier running event in Tennessee, continues its strong tradition of great music. The Band Parry takes the stage for the Toyota Rock ‘n’ Roll Concert Series at Ascend Amphitheater, at 7:00 p.m. The concert is open exclusively to runners and their friends and family at this time.
The musically themed road race attracts more than 30,000 runners who will take on the 26.2, 13.1-mile and 5K courses, while many of Nashville’s best live bands perform along the route. In addition, 3,500 junior racers will participate in KiDS ROCK Nashville presented by YMCA of Middle Tennessee, a one mile race taking place on Sunday, April 30.
“St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon, is a marquee event in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series,” said Katie Holmes, Event Manager. “We are thrilled that The Band Perry will headline this year’s post-race concert at the new Ascend Amphitheater celebrating the many musical genres that Nashville is known for. Their country roots and new pop sound are sure to keep the party rocking for runners and spectators after the race.”
During the marathon, thousands of St. Jude Heroes will run for a reason, hoping to raise more than $2 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Over the event’s 6-year partnership with St. Jude, nearly $8 million has been raised.
“The St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon uniquely unites the music industry, fitness enthusiasts and St. Jude Heroes who, together, are bringing children one step closer to victory in their fight against cancer,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “The funds raised from this event and our St. Jude Heroes help ensure no family will ever receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food so that all they should worry about is helping their child live.”
The St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon weekend kicks off Thursday, April 27 with a free two-day Health & Fitness Expo at the Nashville Music City Center. All race participants will visit the expo to pick up their race numbers and browse over 100 exhibitors featuring free samples, the latest in running gear and sports apparel, as well as a series of interactive clinics.
Brand new for 2017, a 1-Mile race will be added to Thursday night, warming runners up for the main event. Participants can earn a third, bonus medal for taking on two days of running over the weekend, completing the inaugural ‘Remix Challenge’. Thursday’s 1-Mile race ends at Ascend Amphitheater where Jake Owen will play a ticketed performance, open to the public.
Fifty of Nashville’s favorite live bands will perform along Saturday’s course, interspaced with cheerleaders and themed water stations. Race weekend includes a post-race headliner concert at Ascend Amphitheater Saturday night where participants and volunteers receive free admission by reservation. The event concludes on Sunday afternoon with KiDS ROCK Nashville presented by the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, where more than 3,500 junior racers from grades K-7 will complete the final mile of their modified marathon.
Free marathon, half marathon and 5K training plans are available online.
ABOUT THE BAND PERRY
Grammy® Award-winning superstar sibling trio The Band Perry are an unstoppable presence in music. Now, after selling two and a half million albums, ten million singles, and racking up over a billion spins on Pandora and over 600 million song streams on Spotify, the story of the sibling trio is evolving.
Since releasing their groundbreaking crossover #1 single “If I Die Young” in 2010 (with its current sextuple-platinum status and VEVO certification for 100 million video views), The Band Perry, have forged a unique, genre bending identity and built an international fan base leading to: sold-out world tours, five No. 1 Singles on the Billboard Country Chart, a No. 1 single on the Hot AC charts, six songs reaching gold or platinum status, and in 2015, brought home their first Grammy® Award. They’ve performed on TV’s biggest stages, from late-night’s most influential (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with Letterman) to daytime’s most popular (Ellen, Good Morning America, Today, The Talk), and their track “Live Forever” was the theme song for Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Recently partnering with Interscope Records, The Band Perry have announced the release of their highly-anticipated upcoming third album. It will be the trio’s first pop album, titled My Bad Imagination due out in Summer 2017. In February 2017, The Band Perry are introducing this newest musical era with their single “Stay In The Dark”.
Known for their boundary-pushing live performances, the band’s combination of music, fashion, and visual art has become a hallmark of their dialogue with their fans and with the industry. Their third effort boasts collaborations with creators such as Steven Klein, Nicola Formichetti, Jeff Bhasker, Jon Bellion, Benny Cassette, and Julia Michaels. Even with the extraordinary musical and visual concepts they’ve introduced in their career thus far, this next era promises to see the band expanding their boundaries in these realms even further.
For more information visit www.thebandperry.com.
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).
About the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
The St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon will celebrate its 18th year running in the Music City on April 27-30, 2017. Featuring many of Nashville’s best live bands on 27 stages along the course, the musically themed road race annually attracts more than 30,000 runners. Saturday’s marathon, half marathon and 5K conclude with a Toyota Rock ‘n’ Roll Concert Series headliner performance and a finish line festival outside of Nissan Stadium. Race week kicks off with a one mile run in downtown Nashville on Thursday night, and the two-day Health & Fitness Expo on Thursday, April 27 and Friday, April 28 at Music City Center. KiDS ROCK Nashville presented by YMCA of Middle Tennessee, a one-mile fun run for children K-7, takes place on Sunday, April 30 at Nissan Stadium. For more information, please visit RunRocknRoll.com/Nashville or follow @RunRocknRoll on Twitter with hashtag #RNRNASHVILLE.
Media Contacts:
Kim Dettwiller, SJRnR & Concert, (615) 330-5656, teamstrategies@gmail.com
Teyva Sammet, CGI, (831) 818-5945, tsammet@competitorgroup.com
Dan Cruz, CGI, (619) 925-7671, dcruz@competitorgroup.com
Kassidy Johnson, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, (901) 578-2038, kassidy.johnson@stjude.org
Sarah Burgess, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, (901) 481-5935, sarah.burgess@stjude.org
This will be an amazing night of music to raise money for St. Jude that you don’t want to miss! The Music City Hit-Makers will backed by some of Nashville’s finest symphony musicians in the elegant, trendy setting of City Winery on April 5th.
The money raised at the event benefits St. Jude through The Big 98’s marathon team!
Guests will enjoy an intimate concert, be able to bid on our live and silent auction items, and order drinks and appetizers from City Winery before the show!
· Tables and Tickets can be purchased here: https://songsandstoriesbig98.eventbrite.com
· 2017 Performers Include: Grammy Award Winning singer/songwriters — Chris DeStefano, Brett James, Rivers Rutherford, Hillary Lindsey, Jessi Alexander, and Marcus Hummon!
Chris Destefano — Something in the Water (Carrie Underwood), That’s My Kinda Night (Luke Bryan), Don’t Ya (Brett Eldredge), Nothin Like You (Dan And Shay), and many more.
Brett James — Jesus Take The Wheel (Grammy Winner), Reality (Kenny Chesney), The Man I Want to Be (Chris Young), Cowboy Casanova (Carrie Underwood), Love You Out Loud (Rascal Flatts) and many more.
Rivers Rutherford — When I Get Where I’m Going (Brad Paisley/Dolly Parton), Living in Fast Forward (Kenny Chesney), Real Good Man (Tim mcgraw), Ain’t Nothin’ About You (Brooks and Dunn) and many more.
Jessi Alexander — Mine Would Be You (Blake Shelton), The Climb (Miley Cyrus), I Drive Your Truck, (Lee Brice), and more.
Hillary Lindsey – Blue Ain’t Your Color (Keith Urban), Church Bells (Carrie Underwood), Shotgun Rider (Tim Mcgraw), Girl Crush (Little Big Town), American Honey, Lookin for a Good Time (Lady Antebellum), and many more.
Marcus Hummon – Ready to Run (Dixie Chicks), Cowboy Take Me Away (Dixie Chicks), Born to Fly (Sara Evans), One of These Days (Tim mcgraw).
Hurry and buy your tickets before this amazing event sells out!
Photo credit: Eric Adkins
Country music sensation Scotty McCreery will turn 22 tomorrow (Oct. 9). Instead of sending him gifts, the singer/songwriter encourages his fans to honor his fan club president Sharon Eaves, who passed away suddenly on Sept. 25, and support a cause that was near and dear to her heart — St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital via this link: http://walkrun.stjude.org/southernbelles.
Darius Rucker has put together an exciting lineup of some of today’s best country music performers for his sixth annual “Darius and Friends” benefit concert June 8 at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville.
Winners and partakers of No Shave November benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® celebrated their accomplishments on Monday (12/1) during the fourth annual Beard Bash at Nashville’s The Row Kitchen & Pub. This year, more than $145,000 was raised to help St. Jude continue to find cures and save children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. In the past four years, No Shave November has raised over $500,000 to support St. Jude.
Three-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist Darius Rucker will be hosting his fifth annual “Darius and Friends” benefit concert on Monday, June 2 at the Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville. Featuring performances by Rucker and a star-studded lineup including Clint Black, Eli Young Band, David Nail, Cassadee Pope, Kenny Rogers, Corey Smith and Thompson Square, the sold-out show unofficially kicks off CMA Music Festival Week. All proceeds from the concert will go directly to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Additionally, the annual Darius and Friends Celebrity Golf Tournament, also benefiting St. Jude, will take place on Tuesday, June 3. Artists and celebrities set to tee off for the cause this year include Colt Ford, Scott Hamilton, JT Hodges, Randy Houser, Tommy John, Charles Kelley, Dustin Lynch, Derek Mason, David Nail, Jon Pardi, Eric Paslay, Keifer Thompson and more. Since its inception, “Darius and Friends” has raised more than $225,000 for St. Jude through the concert, celebrity golf tournament and charity auction.
“This is one of my favorite events every year and I’m so glad we’re able to support St. Jude for the fifth year in a row,” said Rucker. “St. Jude does such amazing work for young cancer patients and their families, and I’m grateful to all my fellow artists and friends for coming together to have some fun and support such a great cause.”
Rucker is currently on the road headlining his True Believers Tour. For more information, please visit www.DariusRucker.com or connect with Darius on Twitter and Facebook @DariusRucker.
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Since opening more than 50 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by visiting stjude.org or following us on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.
Danielle Peck is doing a StageIt benefit show tonight for St Jude’s “City of Hope” at 7pm central! Please attend online and donate whatever you can to help this great cause!
Here’s the link to join:
http://www.stageit.com/danielle_peck/city_of_hope_benefit_show/23514
GRAMMY winning trio Lady Antebellum announced today their new charitable initiative called LadyAID™, a philanthropic effort created to bring awareness to and generate support for children in need locally, nationally and globally.
The multi-level organization will reach children across the state of Tennessee through grants to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. On a national level, Lady Aid is supporting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and on a global level, myLIFEspeaks and The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The LadyAID™ Fund is a component fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
“The opportunity to play music on stages all around the world has given us so much happiness,” said Lady A’s Dave Haywood. “By establishing LadyAID™, we’re going to be able to put a new focus on accomplishing an off-stage goal we have as a band, which is to help children in need.”
