I have been asked by friends, family and SongU.com members from around the world how they can help those in TN affected by the flood. I realize it’s hard to completely understand the magnitude of what happened here. I live here and I can’t comprehend it. This was a historical record rainfall for Nashville and middle TN. We had more rain than we’ve ever had since they began tracking rainfall. We topped the state’s record for rainfall in the entire month of May before sundown on May 2nd. We had about 40% of Seattle’s annual rainfall in less than 2 days. If this was snow, we would have had the equivalent of 13 feet of snow in less than 48 hours. This is not a once-in-a-while kind of flood. No, this one’s in the record books. It’s a once-every-hundred-or-two-hundred-years kind of flood.
The devastation is so widespread, it’s unbelievable. You would probably have to submerge my entire home state of NJ in water to cover as much area as this flood has covered in TN. While a few of these areas are flood prone, the majority are not and a large portion of the people affected do not have flood insurance. Just to give you a better picture of my little world, I could easily draw a one-hour radius from my house and barely scratch the surface of people affected. Across the road from our development, one of our daughter’s elementary school teachers lost everything in the flood. Just up the street at the Fieldstone Farms development, they were rescuing people in boats – one house in Fieldstone caught fire and blew up. Drive south for about 30 minutes, you would get to my friend Dale and Carol’s farm which is home to the annual Blackberry Jam Festival where Michael McDonald played a couple years ago. Their entire first floor of their house was submerged in water. It took a group of four of us about 3 hours just to clean the mud out of one bathroom in their house. Drive west about 40 minutes and you’ll get to Bellevue, an area I lived in when I first moved to Nashville. Entire neighborhoods are underwater. Our friend Gary and Robin’s house managed to escape with about a foot of water, but the rest of their cul-de-sac was submerged. Cars were floating upside down on the road in front of the nearby Belle Meade Kroger. Two people died when their car turned over. Two others drowned behind the Belle Meade Kroger. Head northeast about 40 minutes to Hermitage and you’d get to my friend Denise’s house. The water level is at the top of her garage — she needs a boat just to reach her house. Head north another 30-40 minutes to Goodlettsville and Hendersonville and you’ll find the houses of some of my students and faculty at the college where I teach that were destroyed due to the flood.
Somewhere in the center of all this is downtown Nashville. The Country Music Hall of Fame, the Schermerhorn Center, Broadway and Second Avenue all flooded. The Titans Stadium where my seven year old daughter, Mia, ran the Country Kids Marathon a week ago was flooded up to the level of the first row of seats in the stadium. Other historic landmarks that are synonymous with Nashville are badly flooded and damaged, including Opryland Hotel and the Grand Ole Opry. It is going to take a lot of time and resources for Nashville and all the areas affected by this catastrophic flood to recover. Here are some ways you can help:
Donate money. You can donate to the middle TN Red Cross online at http://www.middletennredcross.org. If you’re a texter, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 on your cell and a $10 donation will be sent to the middle TN Red Cross through your cell phone provider.
Donate stuff. People lost everything. While you can’t replace possessions with sentimental value, you can give someone a shirt to wear or sneakers for their kids or towels or rags so they can clean the mud out of their bathtub. Check out the clothing drive for middle TN residents at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=113883681985618&ref=ts or the cleaning supply drive at http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=111188545589696
Participate in clean up crews. If you live within driving distance and have the time or skills and want to help cleanup and rebuild, go to Hands-On-Nashville at http://www.hon.org They need volunteers immediately.
Donate food. Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN is continuing to provide a central distribution center for companies, groups, and individuals to help provide food for Middle Tennessee’s affected families. Check it out at: http://www.secondharvestmidtn.org/
Plan to visit. Nashville is a great city that has many businesses and jobs that depend on tourism. Come see us. Plan your next family summer vacation or next year’s business conference here. Check out the Nashville Chamber of Commerce for more information at http://www.nashvillechamber.com/Homepage.aspx
Spread the word. Others may not necessarily realize how bad we were hit because of the way the media industry and news organizations work. People are going to need assistance down here for a long time in order to rebuild their lives and restore our historical landmarks like the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel, Country Music Hall of Fame and historic Second Avenue.
I love Nashville. It’s a big name city that has a small town feel. Contrary to its sequined, cowboy hat and boots image, Nashville is an incredibly diverse city where the music industry, universities, and lifestyle brings together people from all walks of life, whether they’re writing a song or watching a TN Titans or UT football game. We have one other thing in common – we love our city. If you’ve seen some of the videos and pictures that have been posted, you can probably see why we are referred to as the “Volunteer State.” When the time calls for it, we simply roll up our sleeves and get down to it because there is work to be done.
And there is much work to be done. One of my friends who works at one of the major media outlets in the New York-Metropolitan area relayed to me that Nashville hasn’t been getting a lot of national coverage because our story lacks the “hook” of some of the other currently hot issues like the oil spill and the bomb in Times Square. I get that. I’m a longtime songwriter who certainly understands the power of a “hook”. Truthfully, even if we had our “15 minutes” of full-court press media coverage, it wouldn’t begin to touch how many months or years this recovery is going to take. And it could never cover how many lives have been affected. So spread the word and pass it on. From donations to positive energy and prayers, it is all welcome and needed. This is my city and these are my friends and neighbors.
Soundcheck Flooding Devastates Local Music Industry
/by contributorAdam Gold, from MusicRow’s sister publication the Nashville Scene, posted the following story about the devastation that hit flooded Nashville rehearsal and storage facility Soundcheck, and the far-reaching effects – financial and emotional – on the city’s musicians and music industry.
• • •
Soundcheck Nashville Is Submerged [Lost in the Flood]
When compared to the 19 reported deaths statewide, the homes lost, scrapbooks ruined, missing pets, businesses crippled and lives destroyed, the following might seem like a trite observation, but I can’t help but make it anyway.
Water is no friend to musical instruments. While watching a torrent of heartbreak rip through our city this weekend, as a musician I couldn’t help but constantly wonder how much priceless gear of all kinds was in the process of being destroyed with each passing current and rising inch. While the loss of an original ’59 Les Paul, a Tweed Fender Bassman or the mixing console After the Gold Rush was recorded on is no tragedy in comparison to the loss of human life, we’re talking about the tools with which many peeps in these parts make a living.
As you all well know, Nashville is rife with home studios and basement rehearsal spaces. Couple that with the professional spaces affected, and inevitably the cumulative value of the losses is incalculable, and sentimental losses are even greater. Read the complete story from the Nashville Scene and see more photos here.
Soundcheck's submerged Nashville facility
Shedaisy Video Says Help Your Neighbor…
/by adminKenny Chesney’s Home Flooded
/by contributorIf anyone needs proof that nobody is immune to the disastrous flooding that has hit Middle Tennessee, they need only to visit superstar Kenny Chesney’s riverside residence. CNN’s Anderson Cooper did just that, interviewing the singer via telephone and airing video Chesney made as he found his 40-acre spread covered with flood waters. Chesney also posted a photo and spoke to fans via Twitter, saying, “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. TN is a mess with floods. If you’re fortunate enough to help out, hit up the mid-TN Red Cross. Stay safe, everyone.” Photo and video below.
Kenny Chesney salvages a guitar from his flooded home
Our City
/by adminPhoto: Jude Ferrara
The following letter comes from Danny Arena and Sara Light of SongU.com via Doak Turner of nashvillemuse.com. Turner writes, “great message that speaks for many of us in Nashville – we will come back, we will help each other through this time right now and help with the “moving back in parties” in the future! We all have stories of our friends and family that are suffering right now. Please keep Nashville in your prayers!”
• • •
The Great Nashville Flood…of 1975
/by contributorPhotographer Alan Mayor has been shooting photos for Nashville’s music community for decades and remembers well the flood that inundated the Opry House back in 1975. As with the 2010 flood, the show went on as planned, relocated to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. Mayor offered the following shots and reminiscences.
“This current flood has me back in my files to the flood of 1975 that covered Opryland and caused the Opry to move to the Municipal auditorium,” Mayor says. “Here are a couple of shots from that close call. No one thought it would ever happen again.”
Opryland under water
Grand Ole Opry performance at Municipal Auditorium
WMBA Announces 2010 Award Recipients
/by contributorThis years awards were presented to the following WMBA members:
Wonder Woman of the Year: Christy Walker-Watkins
Miss Congeniality: Mala Patterson
Passion Award: Josee Deschenes
PR Award: Gloria Green
Spirit Award: Camilla Kleindienst
Team Player Award: Stacey Flankey
Movin’ On Up Award: Dottie Rager
Extra Mile Award: Sheri O’Neal
In addition, inducted into 2010 Alumni are: Liz Hartzog, Jolene Kay, Dottie Rager, Christina Reckard, Rachel Rodriguez, and Cate Roldan.
For more information visit www.wmbanashville.org
(L-R): Chairs: Stephanie Mundy Self and Kasey Cleckler; Treasurer, Holly Ashby, VP Penny Dionne; President Brandi Simms; Wonder Woman Award Recipient, Christy Walker-Watkins; Kama Upton; & Lindsay Puddy
Ohio Station Steps Up For Flood Victims
/by contributorThe Need For Nashville Kids Toy Campaign:
If other station or artists would be interested in getting involved, 98.3 The Bull will promote it on the air and in any documents they release.
Anyone interested in getting involved should contact Roger McCoy at (440) 993-2126 x 116 or at rogermccoy@983thebull.com.
Channel 4 Air Flood Relief Telethon: Vince Gill and Friends
/by contributorNashville and the surrounding Middle Tennessee communities have been devastated by flood waters after the area received 15 inches of rain within a 48 hour time period. Thousands of Middle Tennesseans have been evacuated from their homes with many losing everything to the flood. Many of the victims do not have flood insurance and the demands on relief agencies are stretched to the limit.
“These are our friends and family; we always take care or our friends and family.” said Meredith Senior Vice President and WSMV-TV General Manager Elden Hale Jr. “It’s unfortunate that we’re called upon to do this again for our neighbors, but we are very proud to have the ability to reach out to so many people with Nashville’s flood relief telethon.”
All proceeds from Working 4 You; Flood Relief with Vince Gill & Friends will benefit The Salvation Army, The Red Cross, and The Second Harvest Food Bank.
For more information regarding this special prime time telethon please call WSMV-TV Programming Director Donna Sexton at 615-353-2214.
Newsweek Thrown Into Shopping Cart
/by adminAnne McDaniel, Newsweek managing director and Sr. VP at the Washington Post told Ad Age, “As a public company, we must pay attention to the return to our shareholders. But there are two other extremely important criteria—one, a good home for Newsweek and Newsweek.com, and two, a good home for the employees for Newsweek.”
One issue that will weigh on the sale process is Newsweek’s obligation to its existing subscribers recently reported as an average of 1.9 million. If the publication were to be shut down and not sold, Washington Post might be liable to refund money to subscribers that have already paid. Moving that liability to another party may actually be a large part of what is expected in the sale process.
“That would be the main reason to put it up for sale rather than shutting it down,” said Reed Phillips managing partner at media investment bank DeSilva & Phillips. “The issue with shutting it down, for a company like Washington Post, would be that they have to refund money to subscribers who already paid. I think their primary objective is not to see any objectives from the sale but to off-lay the subscription liability to someone else.”
Read more here….
[AdAge story]
[Newsweek story]
Black River Signs Osborne, Sebastian Consults For ole
/by Bobby KarlBlack River Music Group Publishing has signed Kentucky native Josh Osborne to a publishing agreement.
“I’m very happy to be working with Josh and I believe he will prove to be an important writer and a name we will all recognize inthe not to distant future,” says Celia Froehlig, Black River Music Group’s Vice President, Publishing.
Osborne has had songs featured in shows on the Fox network and his song “Stay Away” was featured in the Hallmark movie, Every Second Counts. He’s also had songs that charted on the Texas and Americana charts.
(l-r seated): Celia Froehlig, Josh Osborne; (Standing l-r): Jimmy Nichols, President BRMG, Tonya Ginnetti, Vice President, Director of Artist Relations
In other publishing news, Mike Sebastian, formerly VP/GM for Blacktop Music Group, has been hired on as a consultant at ole, the publishing company that recently acquired Blacktop. Sebastian will continue to pitch the Blacktop catalog as well as work with ole/Blacktop writers Marty Dodson, Jimmy Yeary and Matt Nolen while also helping ole assimilate the Blacktop company into their system.
Sebastian can be reached at 615-327-2605 or at mike_sebastian@olemm.com