Artists Unite To Help Country Music Workers
Nashville is a music town and many who work in the music industry there don’t have adequate health insurance. A long list of country artists will unite this fall to alleviate some of that burden, however.
Keith Urban, Chris and Morgane Stapleton, Peter Frampton, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Marty Stuart, Rory Feek, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Emmylou Harris, T-Bone Burnett, Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Jerry Douglas and Rosanne Cash are among those who’ve agreed to donate a portion of their October 20th earnings to the Nashville nonprofit Music Health Alliance as part of Heal The Music Day 2017.
Access to health insurance isn’t just a Nashville problem, of course, but it’s arguable that Music City is unique in some aspects. Of the estimated 56,000-plus people in the area who work in the country music industry, 76% are self-employed or are part of small businesses with no access to group health insurance, according to MHA. Songwriters, publishers and audio engineers are among those particularly affected.
More artists are expected to join the effort in the coming weeks and details on the initiative can be found here, along with information on how to get involved and a breakdown of how MHA distributes the money. Read more about the big day in USA Today here.
Teddy McDonald is a fun-lovin’ country music fan man living in Nashville, Tennessee.
