From Jimmy Dale Gilmore at Threadgills’ in Austin, TX to Kate Pierson of The B-52s at the BSP in Kingston, NY, more than 1,000 artists will participate in the Concert Across America to End Gun Violence on Sunday, Sept. 25.
Artists and activists are banding together to call attention to gun violence on the Congressionally-designated day to remember victims of murder.
“There are more than 30,000 gun deaths every year including, 12,000 murders with firearms,” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence in Boston. “It’s time to take a stand and make gun violence a voting issue in the November elections.”
Participating artists directly impacted by gun violence include: The Alternate Route’s Eric Donnelly, the Bush Pilot’s Mathew Gross, blues singer Courtney Weaver, fiddle player Sydney Montstream-Quas, rapper Big Rich from the Bay Area, and Grammy-winners Rosanne Cash and Marc Cohn – both of whom will be performing at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan with Jackson Browne and Vy Higgensen’s Gospel Choir of Harlem. For more information, click here.
Ryan Cabrera, Don Felder (formerly of the Eagles), Sam Harris of X Ambassadors, Sebastian Kole, and Carnie Wilson will join the Gay Men’s Chorus and others to be announced at The Standard Hotel rooftop in Los Angeles. (www.Sept25LA.org)
Christopher Cross, Zach Gill (of ALO), Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Ozomatli, and Venice will perform at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, CA. (www.sbcoalition.org)
Big Rich, Lady Ray, Rick Stevens, and Motown Moves Soulful Grooves are among the San Francisco Bay area artists performing. (More here)
Nationwide, the diversity of artists involved range from Hope Thru Harmony Women’s Choir at the Dayton Correctional Institution and the Cleveland Orchestra in Ohio, to the Gay Men’s Choir of South Carolina performing at a coffee shop concert organized by music students from the University of South Carolina in Columbia and the “Mother Pluckers,” a self-described group of “not-so-spring chickens dedicated to ukulele music” at a Seattle Unitarian church.
Many concerts are free to the public, such as events at four Falls Church, VA venues that include Clare & Don’s Beach Shack featuring Hawaiian music, and Argia’s Italian Restaurant featuring the George Mason High School jazz band.
All socially conscious artists can participate with a social media shout-out using the hashtags #ConcertAcrossAmerica to #EndGunViolence.
Spearheaded by the Boston-based Stop Handgun Violence, the Concert is partnered with more than 100 organizations including Faiths United to End Gun Violence, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Rabbis Against Gun Violence, the American Conference of Cantors and Texas Musicians Against Gun Violence.
