The night of March 3, 2020, just 18 hours or so after devastating tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee, a typically Nashville thing happened at the subterranean nightclub on Eighth Avenue South called The Basement.
As has been the case most every Tuesday night for many years, charismatic co-owner Mike “Grimey” Grimes showed up to man the soundboard, carry guitars and amps, and introduce the bands for New Faces Night.
The night turned into a benefit for Grimes’ sister venue, The Basement East, which was leveled by a tornado that left two dead, both hospitality industry workers. The deadly East Nashville tornado left wreckage in its wake that also included Dualtone Records, label home of the arena-headlining band The Lumineers. Fitting that the only exterior wall remaining at The Basement East still displayed its distinctive I Believe In Nashville mural.
By the end of that Tuesday night, the undaunted Grimes had come up with a catch phrase for reconstruction:
“We will rise.”
Within days The Basement East collected donation on its website for the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund, established by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee just hours after the tornadoes struck.
The Basement East soon announced its plans to rebuild and reopen.
We WILL rise. In the meantime, though, Nashville’s pro sports, music and entertainment industries — including the songwriters, singers, musicians, sound engineers, music bookers, bartenders, and the like who put the music in Music City — have been hit particularly hard by the triple disasters of tornadoes, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and quarantine, and subsequent economic shutdown that threatens to alter our lives for years to come.
And yet the industry continues to show its incredibly giving nature. Philanthropy is in its DNA.
More than 250 entertainment individuals and organizations have engaged thus far with The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in response to the tornadoes, to the tune of more than $4 million in contributions to date. The gifts range from $1 million donations by superstar Taylor Swift and the Tennessee Titans organization to nightclub shows netting a few hundred dollars.
Within a week of the devastating storm, a sold-out, multi-artist, star-studded event at Marathon Music Works — appropriately named “To Nashville, With Love” — was organized by William Morris Endeavor Agency executive Jay Williams, a CFMT board member as well as Country Music Association board member.
The benefit raised more than $500,000 for tornado relief. It also was one of the very last concerts in Nashville before the pandemic hit and Mayor John Cooper shut down much of the city on March 16.
Sheryl Crow and Brandi Carlile perform during To Nashville, With Love Benefit Concert at Music Marathon Works on March 9, 2020, in Nashville, TN. (Erika Goldring Photo) 
To Nashville, With Love Benefit Concert takes place at Music Marathon Works on March 9, 2020, in Nashville TN. (Erika Goldring Photo) 
Old Crow Medicine Show performs during To Nashville, With Love Benefit Concert at Music Marathon Works on March 9, 2020, in Nashville, TN. (Erika Goldring Photo) 
Yola and Aaron Lee Tasjan perform during To Nashville, With Love Benefit Concert at Music Marathon Works on March 9, 2020, in Nashville, TN. (Erika Goldring Photo)
At one point in those first few days after the tornado, CFMT’s Rondal Richardson counted well over 120 events that were being scheduled and planned. There were special cause-related concert shirts and guitars and album debuts and artist catalogs, with proceeds coming to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund.
Old Crow Medicine Show even wrote a song called “Nashville Rising,” with all proceeds going to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund, to commemorate the fact that we will rise as community more bravely and more connected than ever before.
We will indeed rise. What our music industry looks like in the aftermath is an unanswered question
“All of those things go into the economics of when we reopen, how we reopen, and what it looks like,” Erika Wollam Nichols, president and general manager of the Green Hills-based, world-famous Bluebird Cafe, told Rolling Stone magazine recently.
“I’ve seen the mayor’s phase plan, and we have a lot to learn over the next couple of weeks with what’s going to happen with the economies and the virus in all of these different cities that are relaxing their guidelines,” she continued. “It’s still such an unknown for all of us.
“In many ways, it’s like opening a new business,” Nichols said. “It’s great that we have a brand to reopen this new business with, but what does it look like with all of the guidelines and restrictions?
“We’re kind of back at square one.”
Entertainment (Sports and Music) Industry Engagement for CFMT Tornado Relief
(Through June 1, 2020)
| Academy of Country Music | Terry McBride |
|---|---|
| AEG | Ashley McBryde |
| All Hour Entertainment | John McCauley |
| All Our Favorite People Podcast | Tim McCrea |
| Amazon Music | Scotty McCreery |
| American Songwriter Magazine | Lori McKenna |
| Kasey Anderson | The Mavericks |
| Ingrid Andress | Jon Meacham |
| Atlantic Records | Metro Nashville Softball Association |
| Dan Auerbach | Midland |
| Bad Branch House Concerts | Buddy Miller |
| The Barefoot Movement | Rhett Miller |
| Gabby Barrett | Minnesota Wild |
| Basement East | Mississippi State University |
| Marc Beeson | Buddy Mondlock |
| Belmont Bruins | Allison Moorer |
| Dierks Bentley | Kacey Musgraves |
| Justin Bieber | My Morning Jacket |
| Bloodshot Records | Nashville Blue Jean Baseball Club |
| Bluebird Café | Nashville Predators Alumni Association |
| Bruce Bouton | Nashville Predators |
| Scott Bradlee | Nashville Soccer Club |
| Bristol Motor Speedway | Nashville Spurs |
| Brooklyn Basement Records | NFL Foundation |
| Brothers Osborne | Aoife ODonovan |
| Cadillac 3 | OH BOY Records |
| Brandi Carlile | Ohio Valley Conference |
| Vanessa Carlton | Old Crow Medicine Show |
| Troy Cartwright | Old Dominion |
| John Carter Cash | Ian ONeil |
| CFL Music | Opry Circle TV |
| Chicken Ranch Records | Orlando Solar Bears Hockey |
| Brandy Clark | Orthodox |
| Terri Clark | Sam Outlaw |
| Dave Cobb | Jake Owen |
| Luke Combs | Whitney Pastorek |
| Concord Music | Stephen Paul |
| Ross Cooper | Jerry Pentecost |
| Country Music Association | Grant Lee Phillips |
| Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum | Plowboy Records |
| Creative Artists Agency | Steve Poltz |
| Critical Role | Ron Pope |
| Crom Tidwell Merchandising | Portland Timbers |
| Sheryl Crow | Potomac Patriots Hockey |
| Cumulus Radio | Margo Price |
| Billy Currington | John Prine |
| Miley Cyrus | Property Brothers |
| Dan & Shay | Katie Pruitt |
| Anthony DAmato | Punk Rock Community of Nashville |
| Ben Danaher | Michael Ray |
| Dashboard Confessional | Redneck Nation Records |
| Michael Daves | Red Light Management |
| David Lipscomb Athletics | Josh Rennie-Hynes |
| Dominic Davis | The Revivalists |
| Jordan Davis | John Rich |
| Rachael Davis | Lily Rose |
| Devin Dawson | Josh Rouse |
| The Dead Dead | Ryman Hospitality Partners |
| Maya DeVitry | Don Schlitz |
| Leslie DiPiero | The Scott Hamilton Band |
| Cale Dodds | Blake Shelton |
| Dualtone Music Group | Kalie Shorr |
| Mike Dungan | Sophie Sinclair |
| 800 Pound Gorilla Records | The Slow Drag |
| Brett Eldredge | Smack Songs |
| End of All Music | Soccer Mommy |
| Kristen Englenz | Sony Music Nashville |
| Mallory Ervin | Soundstripe |
| Morgan Evans | Soundwaves Arts Foundation |
| Sara Evans | Southeastern Conference |
| Eventbrite | Southeastern Records |
| Ezra Entertainment | Southerland |
| Fitz and The Tantrums | Spazmatics |
| Flying Buffaloes | Caroline Spence |
| Ruby Force | Spotify |
| Kristen Ford | Caitlyn Smith |
| Future Crib | Granger Smith |
| Mary Gauthier | Splice |
| Amerigo Gazaway | Morgan and Chris Stapleton |
| Gibson Guitars | Station Inn |
| Ryan Griffin | Lelan Statom |
| Mike Grimey Grimes | Jeffrey Steele |
| Great Peacock | Ray Stevens |
| GZM Productions | Street Theatre Company |
| H-B Woodlawn Music Department | Billy Strings |
| Jenna Bush Hager | Emma Swift |
| Trent Harmon | Taylor Swift |
| Emmylou Harris | Cole Swindell |
| Jaimee Harris | Brian Sutherland |
| Roger Harvey | Ryan Tannehill |
| Craig Havighurst | Aaron Lee Tasjan |
| Hunter Hayes | Tedeschi Trucks Band |
| Trey Hensley | TedX Nashville |
| Hibbett Sports | Tennessee Golf Foundation |
| Taylor Hicks | Tennessee Performing Arts Center |
| Faith Hill | Tennessee Tickets |
| Robyn Hitchcock | Tennessee Titans |
| Home Free | Tennessee Warblers Band |
| Jake Hoot | The Texas Playboys |
| Houston Texans | Them Vibes |
| John Huie | Theory 8 Records |
| Sierra Hull | Chris Thile |
| Rob Ickes | Third Coast Comedy Club |
| Indianapolis Colts | Mel Tillis, Jr. |
| Jason Isbell | Thrust Magazine |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Thunderdome East Nashville Hockey |
| Jillian Jacqueline | Thursday Night Troubadours |
| Adam James | Tootsies |
| Chris Janson | Triple 8 Management |
| Sarah Jarosz | Troy Gentry Foundation |
| Joey Green Band | Molly Tuttle |
| Cody Johnson | Underground Music Collective |
| Jamey Johnson | Universal Music Group Nashville |
| Naomi Judd | Sadler Vaden |
| Josh Kear | Wynn Varble |
| Kentucky Downs | The View |
| KHS Music | Vintage Ice Hockey |
| Kid Rock | Walker County |
| The Keifer Sutherland Comedy Hour | Warner Music Nashville |
| Randall King | Bryan Wayne |
| Brett Kissell | Bob Weir |
| Lady Couch | Western New York Musicians |
| Trea Landon | Whiskey Riff |
| Chris Lane | Whiskey Wolves of the West |
| Langhorne Slim | Dee White |
| The Last Bandoleros | Emma White |
| Lightning 100 | John Paul White |
| Live Nation | Stacy Widelitz |
| Lindsay Lou | Wiles and Taylor |
| Tony Lucca | William Morris Endeavor Agency |
| Madison Malone | Mark Wills |
| Marathon Music Works | Reese Witherspoon |
| Tegan Marie | Alicia Witt |
| Kendell Marvel | India Wolf |
| Shane McAnally | Alex Wong |
| Martina McBride | The Wood Brothers |
| Charlie Worsham | |
| Yola |
