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ATLANTA – For the Peach Pickers – Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip
– the fruit of their labor is music and they are bringing the cream of
the crop to Nashville for the “Gretsch Presents the 5th Annual Georgia
On My Mind” benefit concert at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Tuesday, June 26. Tickets for the event are available Friday, Feb. 23.
“For
Ben, Rhett and I, it’s almost like organizing a bonfire party in South
Georgia every year. We call our friends, they call their friends and we
all get together, play the songs we love and tell stories,” said
Davidson, who chairs the Georgia Music Foundation. “The fact that the
last four concerts have allowed us to donate nearly $300,000 to the
Georgia Music Foundation and support music education programs all over
our home state just blows our minds.”
The
Peach Pickers hand-pick a star-studded group of friends to celebrate
the music of the Peach State with proceeds benefiting the Georgia Music
Foundation. Tickets are $54.50 and $44.50 and will be available Friday, Feb. 23 via Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, ryman.com or by calling 800-745-3000.
The 2018 lineup of artists will be
announced over the coming months, but tickets often sell out prior to
the announcement and surprise guests join the fun each year. Over the
past four years, friends joining the Peach Pickers on stage have
included Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Big Boi of Outkast, Thomas Rhett,
Lauren Alaina, Cole Swindell, Chris Janson, Kip Moore, Michael Ray, T.
Graham Brown, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie,
Randy Houser, Lee Brice, Craig Campbell, Tyler Farr, Otis Redding III,
Dexter Redding, Billy Currington, Drivin’ N Cryin’, Brent Cobb, Travis
Denning, Trea Landon, Jon Langston, Cole Taylor, and many more.
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famers Pat Alger and
Tony Arata will be on hand to perform and receive the Georgia Music
Foundation Flamekeeper Award given since 2014 to individuals whose
tireless work preserves and promotes Georgia’s musical roots and
traditions. Past recipients include Jason Aldean; Deanna Brown-Thomas,
daughter of James Brown; Karla Redding-Andrews, Dexter Redding and Otis
Redding III, children of Otis Redding; and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.
This
year, the Peach Pickers welcome Gretsch, the fourth-generation musical
instruments company headquartered in Pooler, Georgia, as a presenting
sponsor. Fred Gretsch, President of The Gretsch Company, said, “As we celebrate our 135th anniversary as a family business run by Dinah Gretsch
and me, we are honored to support the Peach Pickers and present
‘Georgia On My Mind.’ The Gretsch family’s goal is enriching lives
through participation in music and we’ve seen how proceeds from previous
years’ concerts have impacted music education programs around the state
of Georgia.”
The Georgia Music Foundation,
a non-profit organization established in 1994, has distributed nearly
$300,000 in grants to deserving music education, preservation and
outreach programs since the first “Georgia On My Mind” concert was held
in 2014. Proceeds from the 2017 concert benefitted 17 schools and
non-profit organizations. Among the recipients were Nuçi’s Space in
Athens for its annual Camp Amped summer camp; the Allman Brothers Band
Museum at the Big House in Macon for its 2018 outreach programs; and the
Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics in Hephzibah for the
purchase of Orff instruments. In addition, the Georgia Music Foundation
will organize and host four weeks of music camp programs in
summer 2018 in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Albany and
other rural communities. Info on the grant program is available at www.georgiamusicfoundation.org.
About the Peach Pickers: All
Georgia natives, the Peach Pickers have accumulated more than 70 No. 1
songs collectively and individually since 2010, and earned numerous
awards and accolades. Their
respective catalogs include hit songs “I Don’t Want This Night To End,”
“All About Tonight,” “Gimmie That Girl,” “Just
A Kiss,” “When She Says Baby,” “Boys Round Here,” “It Goes Like This,”
“We Owned The Night,” “I Don’t Dance,” “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,”
“Point At You,” “That’s My Kind Of Night,” “Rain Is A Good Thing,”
“Small Town Throwdown,” “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day,” “Star
of the Show,” and many more.
Platinum sponsor Georgia Tourism is proud to feature Macon native Jason Aldean on the cover of the 2018 Georgia Travel Guide. Free copies are available at www.exploregeorgia.org.
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