Georgia On My Mind Online Concert Benefit Set For May 26

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Brent Cobb

This year’s “Gretsch Presents Georgia On My Mind” concert benefiting the Georgia Music Foundation will happen as an online musical event on Tuesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. CT. The livestreamed fundraiser will be hosted for the first time by Brent Cobb and Amy Ray.

Among the artists set to participate this year are Caroline Aiken, Tony Arata, John Berry, Kristian Bush’s band Dark Water, Amy Grant, Rutha Harris, John Driskell Hopkins, Indigo Girls, Kalen & Aslyn, Chuck Leavell, Kim Michael Polote, Katie Pruitt, The War & Treaty, Channing Wilson, Jontavious Willis, Adam Wright, and more to be announced.

Cobb and Ray were curating the lineup together when in March, music tours halted and venues temporarily shut down due to COVID-19. “With concerns for public safety top of mind, we cancelled the as-yet-unannounced Ryman date, but Amy and Brent were totally up for reimagining it as an online affair,” said Lisa Love, Director of the Georgia Music Foundation.

“This is an unprecedented time, where we are united in our isolation and yearning to connect through music,” said Ray. “For Brent and I to come together and host a lineup of artists from across the state of Georgia is a huge honor for both of us.”

Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, and Ben Hayslip, who write hit songs together as the Peach Pickers, initiated and hosted the first “Georgia On My Mind” event seven years ago to support the Georgia Music Foundation, which Davidson chairs.

“We never dreamed it would keep going nor that it would eventually send more than $500,000 back home to support music education,” Davidson said. “We’ve had a great run, but Ben, Rhett, and I decided it was the right time to let other Georgia musicians host to keep things fresh and we couldn’t be happier that our friends Brent and Amy graciously agreed to step up to the plate.”

Lorie Hollabaugh
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