By Preshias Harris
Sold-out concert follows turkey fry
Tracy Lawrence is a country star with a big heart. On Tuesday, November 26, Tracy and an army of volunteers took over the parking lot at the Nashville Rescue Mission where they were deep-frying hundreds of turkeys in row upon row of propane-fueled turkey fryers.
It was part of his 14th annual Mission Possible that has served over 84,000 meals to the homeless and hungry in Nashville, Tennessee, and also in Dallas, Texas, and Louisville, Kentucky. Mission Possible also raises money (more than $500,000 so far) to help the homeless and hungry.
It was part of his 14th annual Mission Possible that has served over 84,000 meals to the homeless and hungry in Nashville, Tennessee, and also in Dallas, Texas, and Louisville, Kentucky. Mission Possible also raises money (more than $500,000 so far) to help the homeless and hungry.
Stars join Tracy for Wildhorse fundraiser
After the final turkey was fried to perfection, Tracy was going over to Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon for the (sold out) Mission Possible Charity Concert. In addition to Tracy Lawrence, fans were treated to performances by Tracy’s friends Justin Moore, Rhett Akins, Clay Walker and the band Halfway to Hazard.
I caught up with Tracy as he was frying yet another turkey. The weather was fine this year, cool but sunny; ideal weather for deep-frying hundreds of turkeys outdoors. I asked Tracy about previous years when the weather hadn’t been so good. “I don’t remember the year, but it was raining and sleet and cold,” he said. “It was probably down [near freezing]. It was absolutely miserable! It was one of the worst ones! But we still had lots of volunteers. Everybody was still here, nobody turned away. But this is a good day today.”
He turned to look at the Nashville Rescue Mission. “I love this place,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of great friends here. This is such a special event for them. It’s grown to be like their Super Bowl every year.”
14th annual turkey fry and concert
Thinking back to the first year that he organized the turkey fry and fund-raising concert, Tracy said, “We didn’t know what it was going to do. It was a grass roots thing. We just wanted to do something good for the community, and here it is, fourteen years later. It’s turned into something really cool.”
I asked Tracy to talk about the fund-raising concert scheduled for later in the day. “Clay Walker will be here, Justin Moore that I’m touring with next year, my buddies Halfway to Hazard that have been hanging out here today and Rhett Akins who’s had, like, thirty-one number one records. He’s Songwriter of the Decade, he’s phenomenal.
“So we’ll all line up on stage, I’ll sit up in the middle and everybody will be on both sides of us and we’ll just do one song after another. We’ll do an auction item after one round of songs, then we’ll do another round and another auction item. I think we’re going to do six rounds tonight.”
Several country artists stopped by the turkey fry to lend their support, including Cody Purvis. “This is such a great thing that Tracy does for the homeless every year,” said Purvis. “It’s really special to be here. There’s a lot of people out there that are less fortunate than some of us are and I think it’s great that he puts this on every year. I think we need a lot more events like this to happen. This is my second year doing it and I’ll be back every year that I can.”
Tracy Lawrence’s current album, Made in America, is available now wherever music is sold. For more about Tracy, his music and tour dates here.
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com