Together: Feeding Nashville, an Aug. 3 benefit concert for a nonprofit that battles local food insecurity, doubled as the inaugural event at Middle Tennessee's newest venue, New FirstBank Amphitheater.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Storme Warren of SiriusXM's The Highway hosted the fundraiser, which began with a short set by Lily Rose before turning into what the Tennessean described as "a country music mixtape come to life, with Florida Georgia Line [FGL] stepping in as de-facto DJ." Meaning, FGL sang its hits throughout the night, with Russell Dickerson, Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice and Chris Tomlin as surprise on-stage guests. Attendees also enjoyed brief sets by Dickerson, Rhett and Maren Morris, with the latter joined onstage by her husband, Ryan Hurd.
For the encore, Rose, Dickerson, Rice, Breland, Blanco Brown and the biggest surprise of them all, Nelly, joined FGL for a mind-blowing rendition of "Cruise."
In all, the sold-out event drew over 7,500 attendees and raised over $450K.
"We're still on cloud nine and feeling overwhelmed with all of the love that everyone poured into Together: Feeding Nashville. So many lives will be impacted by the incredible generosity from our community and we are forever grateful," shares Feeding Nashville's Hayley Hubbard. "We'll definitely be reliving this special night for a long time and dreaming up the next one!"
Hayley and her husband, FGL's Tyler Hubbard, co-founded Feeding Nashville in April 2020 with the Tennessee Titans' Taylor Lewan and his wife Taylin.
"Taylin threw out the idea for Feeding Nashville, and I bit," Hayley told Wide Open Country and other media outlets during a July 1 press conference. "I was like, 'I'm on board with this,' and we took off running. Within two weeks, our first meal went out."
During the concert, FirstBank surprised Feeding Nashville with a massive check (literally and figuratively) for an additional $20,0000.
(L-R): 'Entertainment Tonight's' Cassie Dilaura, Taylin Lewan, Hayley Hubbard, FirstBank's Jeanie Rittenberry, FirstBank's Lenai Augustine, FirstBank's Chris Holmes and Storme Warren (photo by Spencer Combs)
ABC reports that Feeding Nashville has since served over 70,000 healthy meals to at-risk students, low-income patients and the homeless.
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The New Firstbank Amphitheater is in Franklin, Tenn. at the old Graystone Quarry site in Thompson's Station, which is a short, scenic drive from Music City.
"This venue's been talked about through the music community for a while now, and there's been a lot of hype behind this venue because it's very unique and different and beautiful and just a whole event on its own," Taylin Lewan said on July 1. "So when we got the opportunity to do the first concert here, we bit as fast as we could."
During a set in which she sang "My Church" amid creation, Morris likened her gorgeous surroundings to "Red Rocks in my backyard."
Taylor Lewan, whose been promoting the Feeding Nashville cause through his Bussin' With the Boys podcast, joked on July 1 that the next fundraiser should be a tackle football game: country artists versus NFL stars.
