Lee Brice Gives Back to Home State
Lee Brice. Photo: Joseph Llanes
Lee Brice gave back to his home state of South Carolina via donations raised during three concerts in South Carolina. Brice collected monetary and food donations at an Oct. 16 show at Coastal Carolina University in Conway and an Oct. 17 show in Spartanburg. Following his Nov. 13 performance at Finlay Park in Columbia, Brice raised funds to donate $10,000 to a family impacted by the flood in his hometown of Sumter. An additional $10,000 was donated to the American Red Cross of Central South Carolina to help with broader flood recovery efforts.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to step in and help, even in a small way. So many people were impacted and are still recovering from immense water damage to their homes and property,” Brice said.
Kenny Chesney’s Tour Leads to Bone Marrow Donor Matches
Kenny Chesney. Photo: Jill Trunnell
Through the Love Hope Strength Foundation’s Get On The List Campaign, concertgoers at Kenny Chesney‘s stadium shows were able to participate in a mobile drive to register potential bone marrow donors by using a simple cheek swab test. In cooperation with Delete Blood Cancer, the data is entered in the national donor bank for potential matches. The efforts resulted in 25 potential matches.
“When Kate McMahon with our tour promoter explained it to me, it seemed not only so simple, but the kind of thing the No Shoes Nation is all about. Give back to others, help where you can, live to the fullest and make a difference. I can’t believe they’ve found 25 matches, but I couldn’t be prouder for the fans who come out and live these songs with us,” said Chesney.
ACM Lifting Lives Assists MTSU Songwriting Program
Odie Blackmon teaches as part of MTSU’s “Music Row in Murfreesboro”
MTSU songwriting students will have more opportunities to learn from visiting professionals in the first phase of a new “Music Row in Murfreesboro” project funded by a $10,000 grant from an arm of the Academy of Country Music. The ACM’s Lifting Lives Foundation made the donation to support the Department of Recording Industry’s ongoing Commercial Songwriting Program expansion, program director Odie Blackmon said.
“We’ve had several of our Advanced Songwriting classes up at the ASCAP headquarters in Nashville so we can be close to professionals,” Blackmon said, “and even with the kindness of ASCAP letting us use space, we still had a lot of obstacles for our students.” According to Blackmon, those obstacles included both time and money challenges. Blackmon wrote the grant request in hopes of getting extra funds to reimburse the pros’ expenses for their MTSU songwriting-class visits.
Category: Featured
About the Author
Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.View Author Profile
