Songwriter Will Gray Remembered By Nashville Film Festival, The Listening Room Event

A 2011 documentary conceived by late Nashville songwriter Will Gray titled Broke* (Reprised) will be screened at the Nashville Film Festival on Monday (April 18) at 5:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion.

Both events will be held at Regal Green Hills Cinema. A fundraising concert at The Listening Room in downtown Nashville will take place later that night.

The industry panel will discuss whether things have improved for indie artists in the last five years. Panelists are moderator Dan Beck (the film’s executive producer), Rachey Whitney (head of country programming, Pandora), Ali Harnell (Sr. VP, AEG Live and co-manager of The Shadowboxers), Jonathan Levine (Sr. Executive Agent, Paradigm Talent Agency), Jed Hilly (Executive Director, Americana Music Association), Matt Lipkins (member of The Shadowboxers), and John Strohm (attorney, Loeb & Loeb).

The Listening Room event will take place from 8:30-10:30 p.m. with performances by Jill & Kate, The Rough & Tumble, Mel Washington, Jann Klose, and Reva and Andrew Russell English.

Gray created and directed the film, which chronicles the stories of artists and executives searching for ways to thrive in the face of music industry challenges. In 2011, it won the Nashville Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize. It was also selected for the Philadelphia Film + Music Festival and the CMJ Film Festival. This year’s screening is sold out.

The film follows Gray’s experiences over an 18-month period in the music industry. John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Isaac Slade from The Fray, producers Don Was and Buddy Miller, and independent musicians Damien Horne, Emily Hope Price, Trent Dabbs, Hymns, Ben Kesler, and Reva Wiliams of Gretel all appear in the film.

“We’re honored to present a fifth anniversary screening of Will Gray’s Broke*,” said Brian Owens, the festival’s artistic director. “I was fortunate to get to know Will and his energy and enthusiasm were contagious. I hope those who knew him will recapture that energy and enthusiasm and those who didn’t will get a glimpse of what a great artist and person he was.”

Gray died from a rare form of cancer in 2013. At the time of his death, he had a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell and had written the song “Do You Remember” on Blake Shelton’s 2013 album, Based on a True Story.

He had also recorded eight songs with producer T Bone Burnett. Those songs will be part of a new, 14-song LP, honeysuckle wine, which will be released on Monday, both digitally and on vinyl. In addition, the event will coincide with the launch of TheWillGrayBlueprint.com, a website that will financially support indie artists.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.