Sophia Michaels
Sheryl Crow and Little Big Town singer Karen Fairchild are two of the numerous artists set to perform at a Nashville benefit concert on Nov. 30 for Sandy Hook Promise, the gun violence prevention nonprofit founded by musician Mark Barden after losing his son in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.
Billed as a “docu-concert,” the show will preview footage from A Father’s Promise, the upcoming documentary about Barden’s journey from musician to advocate that will be released in December to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of Sandy Hook. The film will feature performances from Crow, Tim McGraw, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Daryl “DMC” McDaniels and more.
Sandy Hook Promise is a nonprofit that “has largely avoided more politically fraught issues related to regulations on guns and restricting gun access,” according to The Trace. “Instead, it focuses on mental health and wellness, gun safety, and research.”
That hasn’t prevented country stars from courting right-wing backlash for associating with the non-profit. Tim McGraw, whose touring fiddle player was a close friend of Barden’s, faced a slew of hostile reactions after he donated proceeds from a 2015 Hartford show to the organization.
“Out of this tragedy a group was formed that made a promise to honor the lives lost and turn it into a moment of transformation,” McGraw wrote in a statement at the time. “Sandy Hook Promise teaches that we can do something to protect our children from gun violence. I want to be a part of that promise — as a father and as a friend.”
One of McGraw’s supporters in country music was Fairchild, who’s become one of few country artists to speak out on gun violence over the past decade. “We love you, Tim. You do the right thing,” she told Rolling Stone Country in 2015. “I just wish people would put the agenda and the hate down.”
