Within moments of photos, videos and reports of Hurricane Helene’s unforgiving destruction to western North Carolina began to circulate, musical artists from North Carolina and the country at large started planning.
An area so vibrant and steeped in legend and lore of Appalachia, where bluegrass was born. The mountain towns where someone learned how to pick the banjo, or cities like Asheville where, just two months before, their band played a show at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, The Orange Peel or were booked to play the very weekend the city was ravaged by Helene. The devastation to individuals and families and damage to the eclectic cities and towns of western N.C. has brought out the best in people who have done everything possible to help.
Here’s how musical artists from North Carolina and beyond are coming together to help, and how you can take part while enjoying music you love for the state you love.
In Greensboro, event and music promoter John Fields enlisted Asheville’s Holler Choir, whose members were affected firsthand by the storm. Days without power and no way to communicate with the outside world while seeing their community quite literally underwater, the Appalachian-rooted cadre of musical dynamos jumped at the chance to help if they could.
Simultaneously, Brevard’s acclaimed Steep Canyon Rangers came on board. The planning fell in the hand of both Fields, who’s local promotional company, Greenfield Productions, has for years worked in concert with the North Carolina Folk Festival. Together with city leaders, Fields and N.C. Folk Festival executive director Jodee Rupell put together a benefit concert featuring the two N.C. bands. All of proceeds from ticket sales wil be donated to the N.C. Arts Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. The event takes place Thursday, Nov. 7 at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in Greensboro. Purchase tickets by visiting tangercenter.com/events.
New England’s Goose, an improvisational “jam” band on a meteoric ascension to lofty heights in the company of acts such as Phish, were booked to perform in Asheville the weekend Helene struck the area. Quickly responding to raise money and awareness, they booked a benefit show at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem on Friday. Visit ticketmaster.com for tickets.
Concert for Carolina, led by Luke Combs, Eric Church, Billy Strings and James Taylor, will take place at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, with all proceeds going to support Hurricane relief efforts in the Carolinas. The livestreamed concert will also include The Avett Brothers, Scotty McCreery Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban and Bailey Zimmerman. Visit concertforcarolina.com for tickets or to sign up for the live stream.
Legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt has announced a special benefit concert in Charlotte to raise funds for communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.
The concert will take place on Nov. 20 at Ovens Auditorium. All net proceeds from the event will be donated to nonprofit organizations aiding hurricane recovery efforts. Funds raised will support local relief efforts, including the Emergency and Disaster Response Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. Purchase tickets by visiting her website at bonnieraitt.com.
