Controversy surrounding a Sandy Hook benefit concert has caused a firestorm in the country music world this week, persuading at least one major star to back out of the event. Tim McGraw recently announced that he would headline a 17 July benefit show, with scheduled openers Billy Currington and Chase Bryant, in Hartford, Connecticut, for an organisation called Sandy Hook Promise, which was founded in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in order to “protect children from gun violence so no other parent experiences the loss of their child”.
McGraw has a personal connection to the Sandy Hook shooting through one of the members of his touring band. Fiddle player Dean Brown is a longtime friend of Mark Barden, who lost his son Daniel in the tragedy. “Sandy Hook Promise teaches that we can do something to protect our children from gun violence,” McGraw said in his announcement. “I want to be a part of that promise – as a father and as a friend.”
On 15 April, conservative news outlet Breitbart posted a story about the concert with the headline Country Singers Tim McGraw, Billy Currington Headlining Gun Control Fundraiser. The piece quickly got tweeted by veteran country star Travis Tritt, who added “Please say it ain’t so!” and as it propagated through social media, a tidal wave of angry tweets and comments began to appear on McGraw and Currington’s pages from zealous gun-rights advocates.
More than a few commenters have compared the stars to the Dixie Chicks, who famously burned bridges in the country world when lead singer Natalie Maines said she was “ashamed” of former president George W Bush during a concert in 2003.
Currington, who is one of the opening acts for McGraw’s summer tour, appeared to have no knowledge that he was even part of the benefit show. “I didn’t sign up for shit. Just hearing about it like u are,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
McGraw released a statement to the Washington Post on Thursday, clarifying his viewpoint: “Let me be clear regarding the concert for Sandy Hook given much of the erroneous reporting thus far. As a gun owner, I support gun ownership. I also believe that with gun ownership comes the responsibility of education and safety – most certainly when it relates to what we value most, our children. I can’t imagine anyone who disagrees with that. Through a personal connection, I saw firsthand how the Sandy Hook tragedy affected families and I felt their pain. The concert is meant to do something good for a community that is recovering.”
Sandy Hook Promise also attempted to clarify their stance in a statement released to Saving Country Music. “Sandy Hook Promise supports the Second Amendment and is not anti-gun. We recognize an individual’s right to bear arms and support millions of law-abiding citizens in the United States who own firearms … We support policy that helps identify, intervene and stop at-risk individuals from hurting themselves or others. And, we support laws that will help to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerously ill people and criminals, as well as out of the reach of children to prevent unintentional shooting deaths and injuries that have become much too frequent.”
Despite the reassurances from McGraw and Sandy Hook Promise, Currington nonetheless backed out of the concert on Thursday. In a Facebook post, he wrote: “I’ve never been one to take on controversial issues - I’m a singer. I do feel strongly about honouring and supporting the Sandy Hook community and will be making a donation to a local organisation. I appreciate people’s freedom and passion for whatever cause they want to support, however, I am choosing to step aside from this fundraiser and will focus instead on the rest of the tour dates as I look forward to being on the road with Tim and Chase and having a blast with all of the fans.”
Fledgling country artist Chase Bryant has been mostly left out of the controversy thus far, and has remained silent on social media for the past three days. The Guardian has reached out to his record label regarding the Sandy Hook concert, but requests for comments have not been returned at this time.
