NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) – Artists for the Prevention of School Shootings and Youth Violence have partnered with City Winery Nashville for a benefit concert (docu-concert) to take place on November 30 – and produced by In Plain View Entertainment. Proceeds will benefit Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a non-profit organization with a mission to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. SHP also advances school safety and works to improve the mental health of youth in the US.
Artists for the Prevention of School Shootings and Youth Violence was founded by SHP CEO Mark Barden and film director Rick Korn in an effort to bring awareness to school safety programs, like SHP’s Know the Signs, and other ways to keep our children safe in a school environment.
The City Winery show is part of a series of documentary concerts leading up to the release of A Father’s Promise, a documentary about the journey of musician and Sandy Hook parent Barden, who survived an unthinkable tragedy to become a force for change and re-discovered his love for music. The film honors the 26 children and educators taken on December 14, 2012, in the United States’ worst school shooting tragedy as the tenth-anniversary approaches.
“My three children, James, Natalie, and Daniel were very intimately connected to my music and are all musicians in their own right,” says Barden, “For me, playing music with my children has always been indescribably powerful and joyous. After Daniel’s murder, I was unable to find comfort in music. Over time, and with the help and support of my family, friends, and the music community, I have been able to find my way back to my first real self through creating and performing music again. This documentary project has become another way for me to connect and heal through music and honor Daniel’s life and memory.”
The Promise Band docu-concerts series mixes live performances with video content that tells Barden’s journey of preventing gun violence and the healing power of music. The Promise Band (house band), led by Jimmy Vivino and Mark, includes Natalie Barden, Grammy-nominated Freddie Ravel, Eric Finland, John Conte, and Rich Pagano, who will be joined by various artists, including Sheryl Crow, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, Alternate Routes, and more.
Unlike traditional benefit concerts where guest artists perform a two-song set and leave, the docu-concert spreads the guest artists throughout the show playing songs of theirs (and others) that fit into the storyline. The Nashville event will be filmed and included in the documentary.
The film tells a powerful tragedy-to-transformation story with performances from Barden’s fellow musicians and friends Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Alternate Routes, Jimmy Vivino, Aztec Two Step, Bernie Williams, Freddie Ravel and many more.
“Mark and I created Artists for the Prevention of School Shooting and Youth Violence to get people activated around the one cause that we all can agree on, and that is keeping our children and grandchildren safe. We want to bring awareness to parents, students, schools, and communities that there are effective non-political solutions available to them. Partnering with music artists and other celebrities enables us to deliver that message in an entertaining but effective way.” said Rick Korn, director of the film. You can watch the trailer of the film below.
