ReTune Nashville Announces Flood Benefit

Tennessee non-profit ReTune Nashville announced today (7/30) its Benefit Concert and Art Auction Event set for Saturday, October 23 at Nashville gear storage facility and rehearsal space, Soundcheck, featuring artwork both created and donated by Nashville celebrities.

The music and live art auction event will feature a gallery of artwork created from flood-damaged instruments, along with a star-studded concert.

ReTune Nashville founder Sheri ONeal comments about the importance of using Soundcheck as the venue for the event: “From inception, we wanted to have the event at Soundcheck. It was suggested by musicians, and it’s the place where a lot of heartbreaking damage was done. We wanted to turn something negative into something positive for the facility and for the musicians. We couldn’t think of a better place to hold the event.”

As a non-profit organization, ReTune Nashville is also seeking sponsorships from local Nashville businesses to offset costs of the event and the support of local media.

“We are all volunteers from the Nashville music and art communities,” O’Neal says. “We want to get other local businesses and media outlets involved with us to truly make this an event that celebrates and gives back to the Middle Tennessee community.”

To date, ReTune Nashville has collected more than 60 damaged instruments from the Nashville floods of May 2010 with more than 50 visual artists committed to bringing them new life.

Contributing musicians include Rich Eckhardt and Chuck Goff (Toby Keith), Brady Seals (Little Texas, solo artist), and Michael Spriggs, Chris Leuzinger and Brent Mason (Nashville session guitarists), among others.

Eckhardt, who serves as ReTune Nashville’s Music Director, shares his experience with the flood: “I’m in a very privileged position as a musician. The greatest part for me is being able to give back to the music community that has been so good to me.”

Celebrity artists tapped to create artwork, including fashion designer Manuel, Rachel Kice (MuzikMafia), Michael Cartellone (Lynyrd Skynyrd), and Nathan Barlowe (Luna Halo).

Artist Joel Anderson, the creator of the “Spirit of Nashville” – a collection of prints celebrating Nashville’s charm and history displayed throughout BNA Nashville International Airport – is also creating a piece for auction. Brother Mel, renowned for creating considerably high volumes of art in a variety of media will join the group of artists as well. For a full list of donating musicians and visual artists, visit retunenashville.org.

Retune Nashville Music and Art Event tickets are $35 in advance and $45 the day of the event. Ticket information and performers will be available on retunenashville.org in the coming weeks. All proceeds from the sale of tickets and artwork will directly benefit uninsured musicians through MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief and the Nashville Musicians Association Flood Relief Fund.

For more information or to participate as an artist, musician, volunteer, or sponsor with ReTune Nashville, visit retunenashville.org or call 615.385.5947.