Artist For Action To Prevent Gun Violence, an artist-led coalition that promotes unity in prevention of gun violence, announced a concert on December 7 for the film that led to the creation of the initiative: A Father's Promise, which is being released on December 8.
Presented by AFA (Artist For Artist), the concert will take place at Skirball Center in New York City and will be a unique intimate experience with top acts including Sheryl Crow, Peter Frampton, Bernie Williams, Rozzi, The Dumes, The Alternate Routes, Jen Chapin, Aztec Two Step 2.0 plus special guests. A special tribute to John Lennon will be included in recognition of the anniversary of his assassination on December 8.
In addition, the first ever AFA Chapin/Kragen/Belafonte Humanitarian Award will be given to people who are making a difference in the world with their activisim. The show will be filmed as a docu-concert that will tell a story through video and live performances.
Pre-sale tickets are on sale here (Pre-sale Code: SANDYHOOK).
Executive Produced by Sheryl Crow and Directed by Rick Korn, A Father’s Promise is the story of professional musician Mark Barden whose life changed instantly when his son Daniel was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary. Mark lost all joy in music and made a promise to do everything in his power to help prevent gun violence so that nobody ever has to feel his and his family’s pain. He co-founded Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization that takes a holistic approach to ending school shootings and gun violence by teaching the warning signs of violence and how to get help. The film will be released in New York City on December 8th with a wide release following.
"After my son Daniel was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I put my career as a professional guitarist on hold to devote myself to preventing gun violence,” said Barden. “It's going to take all of us working together - artists, musicians, influencers, fans, as well as parents, youth, and policymakers - to finally end this senseless violence."
Led by musician Mark Barden and artists Sheryl Crow, Billie Eilish, Peter Gabriel, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nile Rodgers, Bush, Rufus Wainwright, Pixies, LP, Bootsy Collins, Old Crow Medicine Show, Halestorm, Rozzi, Sofi Tukker and more, the Artist For Action coalition is designed to drive people to volunteer, donate and vote to end the epidemic of gun violence.
“I’m proud to be an Artist For Action and happy to lend my voice and music to such an important cause,” said Peter Frampton. “When something such as gun violence causes so much devastation you have no choice but to speak up.”
Director Rick Korn says, “I have known Mark Barden for 10 years and if there is one thing I’ve learned from him is that despite the politics gun violence is preventable. We together and individually can do something to end gun violence in our communities. Volunteer, donate, and VOTE!”
This is the second in a series of events designed to create awareness about gun violence in an aid to end it. The show follows the launch event with Bush which took place in September at Irving Plaza in New York. Upcoming events including a show at Central Park Summerstage and planned shows in other markets including Los Angeles, Nashville and Austin.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, 2023 is likely to be the deadliest year of gun violence on record, with the U.S. now averaging more than one mass shooting a day. Artist For Action’s mission is to prevent gun violence by forming a coalition of musicians to act and help reduce and eliminate the epidemic of gun violence in America. The easy-to-use platform, available here, makes it simple for artists to activate fans to get involved with gun violence prevention and other life-enriching grassroots organizations in their communities and take direct action.
