The fifth annual Heal The Music Day will take place Oct. 21 with music makers across all genres invited to join Chris and Morgan Stapleton, Lauren Daigle, Keith Urban, Rodney Crowell, and more to raise awareness and funding to support Music Health Alliance (MHA).

Launched in 2017, Heal The Music Day is the brainchild of Crowell and aims to raise awareness and support for the emergency and ongoing medical needs of the creative community, 76% of whom are self- employed or part of a small business and often uninsured or under-insured for healthcare.

To participate, members of the music community including artists, songwriters, producers, publishers, publicists, promoters, business managers, record label execs, booking agents, attorneys and more can pledge a percentage of a single day earnings or event to support MHA’s life-saving services and help their fellow music makers in need. Donations can be made here with all donations made Oct. 1-21 being matched up to $25,000.

“In the world of the working musician, good health is something most of us take for granted–that is, until something goes wrong,” says Crowell. “The healthcare advocates at MHA ensure that no music professional must face a healthcare crisis alone. It is crucial to support MHA’s work to heal the music and the best part is that music makers don’t have to do anything that they are not already doing. Pledges can be as simple as a percent of a concert, event, creative work, or single donation made for Heal The Music Day Oct. 21.”

Music Health Alliance’s free services range from access to doctors, specialists, diagnostic testing, hospitals, medicine, health insurance, Medicare and senior care, mental health support, dental and vision resources, end of life care, and financial assistance resources during times of illness. For every $1 donated, MHA can provide $30 in healthcare support and services.

“Heal The Music Day is not only our largest fundraiser, but also an opportunity for the music industry to step up and support their fellow musicians in need,” adds Tatum Allsep, MHA Founder and CEO. “The need for our services has increased more than 65% this year over last, with mental health support growing more than 300% over the past two years. Our goal is to raise more than $300,000 this year to meet the continued increase in critical need and ensure that nobody working in the music industry will ever have to walk a health crisis alone. Heal The Music Day is a great investment into the long-term health and wellness of the music industry as a whole.”

The second annual Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival 2022, which took place Aug. 18-21, wrapped with a successful event that saw doubled attendance, more stages, and new panels and professional writing sessions.

Nestled in the heart of The Great Smoky Mountains, the three-day conference and music event featured a variety of talent spanning multiple genres, and included more than 25 No. 1 hit writers and 60 selected songwriters. Highlights from this year’s festival included the opening night celebration at Ober Gatlinburg with the induction of the late multi-award-winning hit songwriter Kim Williams into the Gatlinburg Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Brady Seals of Little Texas wowed concert-goers as he performed a full-band show and release party. The entertainer played his current single, “Farm Boy,” as well as his recent remake of the ’70s smash hit “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight,” and more.

The special Legends of Bluegrass show at Ole Smoky featured Jerry Salley, Irene Kelley, Carl Jackson, and Thom Jutz. On Saturday night, attendees were treated to “An Intimate Evening with Larry Gatlin,” who performed a string of hits he’s written during his four-decade career. Also on the show were Tommy “C. Thomas” Howell, and Onoleigh.

In addition to these events, the weekend was filled with performances from top songwriters including Shane Stevens, Tony Arata, Danny Wells, Steve Dean, Will Nance, and more.

“This year far exceeded our expectations,” notes Cara Hogan, Executive Director of The Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival. “We’ve already received a tremendous amount of positive feedback including repeated compliments from attendees about how much fun they had, that the connections they made were invaluable, how unique the event is, and that they are already looking forward to next year. We expect 2023 to be even bigger and better!”

The 2023 Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival will take over The Great Smoky Mountains from Aug. 17-20.

The Gospel Music Association has announced the first round of artists performing on the upcoming 53rd Annual GMA Dove Awards on Oct. 18 at Nashville’s Allen Arena.

Erica Campbell, Jekalyn Carr, Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, and Gateway Worship Español featuring Daniel Calveti, Becky Collazos, Christine D’Clario and Josh Morales have all been tapped to perform on the awards, which will air exclusively on TBN and the TBN app on Oct. 21, with an encore presentation on Oct. 28.

The sold-out event will be hosted by multi-chart toppers and award-winning superstars Erica Campbell and Chris Tomlin.

Further details, including more performers and presenters, will be announced in the coming weeks.

In 1997, a small group of rising music industry professionals in Nashville started the Society of Leaders In Development, or SOLID.

The goal of SOLID was to develop a community for its membership that combined social networking with community service and educational opportunities. The ideal membership for such an organization was to be entry to mid-level industry professionals who may not have the resources or opportunities to belong to other organizations in the music industry, such as Leadership Music or the CMA Board.

25 years later, SOLID has become a vibrant organization for future leaders of the music industry. Through its community-building events, educational opportunities and philanthropic efforts, SOLID has continued its mission to improve the future of Music Row.

In addition to general organization and committee meetings, SOLID brings industry members together for events such as happy hours, the annual crawfish boil, writer’s rounds, and other networking opportunities.

To honor its tenant of education, SOLID holds Q&A sessions with industry leaders and panels focused on issues facing the community. It also facilitates mentorship opportunities for members to mentor students, as well as opportunities to be mentored by other industry professionals.

With community service as another key point of its mission, SOLID creates a multitude of ways for members to serve the community. Whether it be by its Music Row Madness fundraiser or by smaller initiatives, it’s clear that the organization sees investing in the community as paramount. In the last 25 years, SOLID has raised over $1,000,000 for other industry non-profits.

Members of SOLID come from all areas of the music business community, therefore contributing to the diversity, productivity and integrity of the group. The organization’s board of directors is continually adapting to meet the changing needs of their membership, working tirelessly to fulfill SOLID’s mission of helping, teaching and leading others.

To celebrate SOLID’s 25th anniversary, the organization will hold a gala on Thursday (Sept. 22). Ahead of the gala, SOLID President and Director of Publicity at Elicity Public Relations, Avery King, spoke to MusicRow about her experience with the organization.

“When I first got started in the music industry, I was trying to network with as many people as I possibly could, and after taking countless meetings—I discovered that the common denominator between so many of the professionals I was meeting with was SOLID,” shares King.

After being encouraged by Elicity’s Elise Anderson to join the organization, King applied and was accepted in 2016. She spent two years leading SOLID’s communications committee before becoming Vice President in 2020 and President the following year.

“I would contribute the majority of my professional growth to SOLID because of the amount of people I have been able to connect and build relationships with,” King explains. “Most of these relationships have developed to be very meaningful friendships and are not just relationships that check a box of ‘networking.’ I’ve gotten the chance to meet hundreds of people that are all spending their free time wanting to grow within their careers—through our membership and also through our board.

“SOLID stands for the Society of Leaders in Development, and that couldn’t be a more accurate representation of what happens when you get involved with such a powerful group,” she adds.

When looking back on the growth and achievements SOLID has seen over the last 25 years, King says that honoring the legacy of the organization is of the utmost importance.

“I believe that the legacy of SOLID is what it stands for: Society of Leaders in Development. Everyone is involved in SOLID for similar reasons—to expand their knowledge within the industry with people from all sides and to develop their own skills and leadership styles. We are all the leaders in development and our founders really thought through the name when they created the organization in 1997.

“In fact, we kicked off this year by hearing from our founding members during our new member retreat,” King adds. “They spoke to the fact that they couldn’t have ever imagined SOLID accomplishing all that we’ve been able to achieve. What started as a handful of people getting together to talk about what they wanted to accomplish within the music industry has now turned into over a thousand current members and alumni. That network has helped us grow year after year in our programming.

“To be in the 25th year and be able to say SOLID has raised over a million dollars for other nonprofits is something that they couldn’t have ever imagined.”

Platinum-selling artist Breland has announced his fall headline “Here For It Tour,” which will start in Oxford, Ohio on Nov. 16, and continue throughout December with more dates to come.

This announcement follows the CMA Award nominee’s release of his debut album, Cross Country, via Bad Realm Records, Atlantic Records and Warner Music Nashville.

Breland fans can get their tickets early starting tomorrow (Sept. 21) at 10 a.m. CT through Thursday, Sept. 22. Tickets will open to the public on Friday, Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. CT on brelandmusic.com.

Breland’s debut single, “For What It’s Worth,” written by Breland, Rocky Block, Jacob Durrett and Greylan James, will hit country radio on Oct. 17. This release follows his feature on Dierks Bentley’s No. 1, Gold-certified collaboration “Beers On Me” with Hardy.