Hundreds of country music fans crowded Broadway Avenue in downtown Nashville to see a star-studded lineup for the 5th annual “Music City Gives Back” concert on Tuesday night.
Six-time chart topping country entertainer Rodney Atkins hosted the event and performed for cheering fans along with Kip Moore, Tyler Farr, Lee Brice, and Maddie & Tae.
“It’s time to celebrate with the fans,” Atkins tells Country Music Pride. “I swear, it gets bigger and bigger every year.”
This years concert benefits W.O. Smith Music School in Nashville, and the funds raised from sponsors Carl Black Chevrolet, Wrangler, and ALLY Financial will help provide children from low income families musical instruments and programs.
“Getting to do these programs at children’s homes like I was in, and to give them instruments and sit down with them — it’s unbelievable,” Atkins says. “These are under privileged kids, they’ve had a rough road and it disappears.”
The cause hits close to home for Atkins who lived in a rural orphanage until he was adopted when he was six months old by a loving couple in Harrogate, Tennessee. His birth mother became pregnant at 19 and hid her pregnancy from her family choosing to give him up for adoption. Looking back at his childhood, Atkins recalls how he used music as therapy.
“I was always too shy to play music in front of people, but once someone put a guitar in my hand and taught me a D chord, it’s all I could think about,” he says. “And all that stuff from being a kid growing up — disappeared.”
The concert helps kickoff CMA Fest 2015 — and sets the tone for the upcoming CMA Awards. Hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world are expected to soak in days of good ole’ country music.
To watch behind the scenes footage captured at the “Music City Gives Back” concert go to www.WranglerNetwork.com.
One Response
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