Rodney Crowell + More Stars Go ‘Blue’ for Cancer Benefit
Rodney Crowell, Wade Hayes, Grand Ole Opry star Mike Snider and songwriters Gretchen Peters and Mike Reid, among others, will perform at the second annual The Stars Go Blue benefit at the Loveless Barn in Nashville on March 23. Proceeds from the event will go to the Colon Cancer Alliance, which provides services to colon cancer patients and survivors, as well as public education and awareness.
The event was inspired and created by Charlie Kelley, who was once a member of the '90s country group Buffalo Club and has been playing guitar on the road with Jamie O'Neal, among others. He was diagnosed and treated for colon cancer at the age of 40 in late 2008 -- three weeks after his wife, GAC's Nan Kelley, successfully completed treatment for a different form of cancer.
"I truly felt like I had been given a second shot at life and was called to do something with it," Charlie tells The Boot. "So, I phoned my friends in the business to help me create this event to give back to the Colon Cancer Alliance, an organization that really helped me through a tough time."
He also created the Blue Note Fund, with help from the CCA. "This fund will give small monetary gifts to those in need of some help as they go through treatment for this disease," the four-time Grammy nominee explains. "Sometimes just covering a mortgage payment or a few utility bills can mean the world to someone and provides hope as well as the obvious financial assistance."
Last year's event featured performances by Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Ricky Skaggs, Hal Ketchum and Jamie O'Neal, and is now available on DVD at the Colon Cancer Alliance website.
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