Songwriter Harlan Howard said it best: 鈥淐ountry music is three chords and the truth.鈥 Out of that simple formula has come a genre that defines the Nashville sound and its worldwide community of listeners. Where the only cure for a broken heart is to sing about it. Where tractors and trucks are the transportation of choice. Where 鈥淚 should have been a cowboy鈥 and 鈥淚鈥檓 so lonesome I could cry鈥 are common refrains. Where family values are prized above all else.
Country music is about place (鈥淎marillo by Morning,鈥 鈥淥kie from Muskogee,鈥 鈥淐hattahoochee,鈥 鈥淩ocky Top鈥), and no place has loomed larger than Nashville, the site where it all began. But more than 100 years before a WSM radio announcer dubbed the town 鈥淢usic City USA,鈥 Nashville was known as the 鈥淎thens of the South,鈥 the first Southern city to establish a public school system and the home to many colleges and universities, including Vanderbilt and its Medical Center.
Nashville was built on both entertainment and education, and today, more than ever, the industries are creating a two-part harmony with a common bass line: a love for community.
Many in country music consider Vanderbilt University Medical Center their 鈥渃ommunity hospital,鈥 a place that offers world-class health care, whether it鈥檚 for a routine checkup or a family member鈥檚 serious illness. In return for that care, they offer their time and talents in support of the Medical Center鈥檚 mission, and they do so with a humility not always found in other genres of the entertainment industry.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a great feeling when we visit the hospital鈥攐ne of the best in the world,鈥 says Scott Borchetta, president and CEO of Big Machine Label Group, home to artists like Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks.
鈥淥ne day one of us will get sick or get diagnosed, and we know Vanderbilt will be there for us,鈥 he continues. 鈥淲e feel like we can鈥檛 do enough and are honored to be part of the family.鈥
With more than 20 years in Nashville鈥檚 entertainment industry, Borchetta has been a longtime supporter of Vanderbilt, but his relationship intensified in 2010 when Rascal Flatts, a country supergroup with a longstanding commitment to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children鈥檚 Hospital at Vanderbilt, signed to the Big Machine record label.
Rascal Flatts has raised more than $3 million for the Children鈥檚 Hospital, hosted benefit concerts, filmed advocacy messages, performed private shows for patients and families, and offered countless hugs and photo ops.
鈥淪eeing those kids, and being face to face with the people who you directly impact, makes all the early mornings and late flights and touring worthwhile,鈥 says Rascal Flatts bassist Jay DeMarcus.
In November 2010, Children鈥檚 Hospital unveiled its Rascal Flatts Surgery Center, which houses existing surgical programs and will soon hold a state-of-the-art interventional radiology suite.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing what they do here every day. They鈥檙e able to take the most serious situations and turn them into a positive,鈥 says Joe Don Rooney, the band鈥檚 lead guitarist and vocalist. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we knew very quickly that we wanted to be involved with Children鈥檚 Hospital. It鈥檚 a magical place.鈥
鈥淭his is the biggest accomplishment of our entire personal or professional careers, being a part of this hospital,鈥 adds lead singer Gary LeVox.
More Than a Photo Op
鈥淭hey have given their time to come here and sing and be with the children, and I鈥檓 continually amazed at the level of commitment.鈥
鈥擠r. John W. Brock III
Dr. John W. Brock III, BA鈥74, Children鈥檚 Hospital surgeon-in-chief, Monroe Carell Jr. Chair, and director of the Division of Pediatric Urology, says the Rascal Flatts Surgery Center will allow the hospital to provide minimally invasive procedures that weren鈥檛 possible before.
鈥淩ascal Flatts really is not in this for publicity,鈥 he asserts. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e in it because it鈥檚 the right thing to do. I have great respect for them and think they have great respect for what we do here.鈥
Last Halloween, when Rascal Flatts visited the hospital, says Brock, 鈥渢hey didn鈥檛 leave until they went to every single room. Even though it took three times as long as they had planned, they wouldn鈥檛 leave until they had seen everyone. That鈥檚 a pretty amazing thing.鈥
Though Brock has forged a special relationship with the members of Rascal Flatts through the years, he sees their commitment reflected in many others in Nashville鈥檚 music industry.
鈥淪o many great people from country music have really embraced what we do. They have given their time to come here and sing and be with the children, and I鈥檓 continually amazed at the level of commitment, their soul. It鈥檚 not just a front for them,鈥 says Brock.
Big Machine sends artists to Children鈥檚 Hospital each month to perform for patients and families.
鈥淵ou always see a spirit of life in the kids. They鈥檙e so brave and tackle their illnesses so seriously,鈥 Borchetta says. 鈥淜ids aren鈥檛 supposed to be sick. It鈥檚 a mess-up in the system, and we can鈥檛 do enough to make it right. We always walk out of the hospital asking, 鈥楬ow can we do more?鈥欌
Rondal Richardson, entertainment industry relations manager for VUMC, says Big Machine and others in country music understand that music is a healer.
鈥淭hese artists can鈥檛 cure cancer, but they can let patients know they are supported by a special community,鈥 he says. 鈥淢usic City USA has a great medical center that believes in the premise that music heals the mind, body and soul.鈥
Richardson has more than 25 years鈥 experience in the entertainment industry and helps strengthen relations between VUMC and professionals in music, athletics and performing arts. As an industry insider, he understands how precious an artist鈥檚 time is, but also how much they want to give.
鈥淚n any given week in a manager鈥檚 office in Nashville, they could get 100 requests for charity events. Learning to say no to something that is so worthy is really tough,鈥 Richardson says.
Especially in country music, he says, artists see their fans as an extension of their families and will do just about anything to help them. 鈥淭o whom much is given, much is expected, and there鈥檚 a sense that this is a beautiful family that doesn鈥檛 exist in any other form of entertainment.鈥
Richardson says it鈥檚 that love for family and community that draws them to Vanderbilt.
鈥淭hey understand that health is one鈥檚 most important asset in life. They want to do something beyond music and give back to the people who have given them so much. Many of them really find their missions through charity work, and we鈥檙e blessed that so many of them have chosen Vanderbilt.鈥
Lifting Lives
Vanderbilt shone brightly in the national spotlight during the 46th Academy of Country Music Awards, broadcast last April. Hootie and the Blowfish alum and country music artist Darius Rucker took the stage with 25 young adults who have developmental disabilities to perform 鈥淢usic from the Heart,鈥 and viewers were given the opportunity to donate to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center.
The song was a product of the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp held each summer at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for people with Williams syndrome, autism and other disabilities. The song was written collectively at the camp with songwriters Brett James and Chris Young.
鈥淭he ACM Lifting Lives performance with the Kennedy Center campers was honestly one of the top musical moments of my career,鈥 says Rucker. 鈥淪inging on stage with them, watching their faces and hearing their voices is a moment I鈥檒l always remember.鈥
Lifting Lives is the Academy of Country Music鈥檚 philanthropic arm, dedicated to improving lives through the power of music, and has sponsored the Kennedy Center鈥檚 Music Camp since 2010.
The weeklong residential camp gives young adults who have developmental disabilities the opportunity to participate in songwriting workshops, recording sessions, and a live performance at the Grand Ole Opry. Country music veterans who have participated in the camp include Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Gary Allan, Odie Blackmon, Mark Bright, Little Big Town and Wynonna Judd.
鈥淏eing part of the ACM Lifting Lives camp at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center last summer was one of those inspiring moments that comes along only once in a rare while,鈥 says Judd. 鈥淭he campers lifted my spirits and restored my hope in humanity. The impact of the great work happening at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center around the idea of 鈥榤usic as a healer鈥 is something I am proud to celebrate. It is indeed proof that when we stand together, it is our finest hour.鈥
The Pied Piper
for Children鈥檚 Hospital
鈥淚t all comes back to the hope in a child鈥檚 eyes, knowing they are counting on us to help them get well. It is a giant responsibility, and one we have to embrace. I can鈥檛 think of anything more important.鈥
鈥擪ix Brooks
Much of today鈥檚 support for the Children鈥檚 Hospital can be traced back to one man: Kix Brooks, half of country superstar duo Brooks & Dunn.
鈥淗e was the first to get down on the floor with the kids, and then he told all his peers,鈥 says Rondal Richardson. 鈥淗e was the Pied Piper for that place. Everyone followed him in, and thankfully no one has wanted to leave.鈥
Back in the early 鈥90s, when Brooks & Dunn was headlining its first concert at Nashville鈥檚 Starwood Amphitheater, two industry veterans鈥攕ong publisher Donna Hilley and Connie Bradley from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)鈥攃ontacted Brooks and requested he donate all the concert proceeds to the Children鈥檚 Hospital.
Brooks admits he was flabbergasted. Like many, he had bought into the false notion of the 鈥淢agnolia Curtain鈥 cutting off Vanderbilt from the wider Nashville community.
鈥淟ike many people with no knowledge of the place, when you hear the word 鈥榁anderbilt,鈥 you generally assume here鈥檚 a place with plenty of money that serves those in Nashville who can afford it, and a place that certainly wouldn鈥檛 be needing a donation from somebody like me,鈥 recalls Brooks.
But Hilley and Bradley encouraged him to visit the hospital, then housed on three cramped floors in Vanderbilt University Hospital.
What he found, Brooks says, 鈥渨as a hospital that was extremely overcrowded and, quite frankly, threadbare鈥攚ith a dream in the air of a new facility that had been promised for the near future, and a staff of doctors and nurses who were working in very tough conditions with an attitude that made me embarrassed I would ever complain about anything. They were putting smiles on the faces of some very sick kids and putting hope in the hearts of their parents.鈥
Vanderbilt Children鈥檚 Hospital, Brooks soon realized, 鈥渨as not the pretentious, exclusive establishment I had conjured up in my mind, but a nonprofit hospital, made for the everyday families of not just Tennessee but all the bordering states and beyond鈥攁nd no child was being turned away because they couldn鈥檛 pay.鈥
For Brooks, it was a moment of revelation: 鈥淲ow, I thought. I鈥檝e got to do my part. This isn鈥檛 their hospital鈥攖his is our hospital.鈥
All the proceeds from that sellout concert were given to the hospital, and shortly afterward, Brooks joined the hospital鈥檚 board of directors, on which he still serves today.
鈥淚 am very proud of the progress we鈥檝e made between Music Row and the hospital, but we have to keep growing this mission,鈥 he says. 鈥淗onestly, it all comes back to the hope in a child鈥檚 eyes, knowing they are counting on us to help them get well. It is a giant responsibility, and one we have to embrace. I can鈥檛 think of anything more important, and with all sincerity, I feel privileged for the opportunity.鈥
In addition to Rascal Flatts, one of Brooks鈥 early followers was Dierks Bentley, BA鈥97, whose annual Miles and Music for Kids celebrity motorcycle ride and concert is one of Children鈥檚 Hospital鈥檚 more visible entertainment events. Now being duplicated in other cities, it has attracted 36,000 fans and raised more than $2 million for Children鈥檚 Miracle Network hospitals.
鈥淕od Picked Guatemala for Me鈥
鈥淐ountry music artists are giving people with big hearts, so it doesn鈥檛 surprise me a bit that so many support Vanderbilt and the Children鈥檚 Hospital.鈥
鈥擲teve Moore, CEO, Country Music Association
Brooks also connected with Steve Moore, CEO of the Country Music Association (CMA), the genre鈥檚 trade organization. He is personally committed to Children鈥檚 Hospital through the Shalom Foundation, a charitable organization he founded to serve children and families living in extreme poverty, with a special focus on Guatemala.
鈥淕od picked Guatemala for me,鈥 Moore declares. 鈥淚 went there on a construction trip through my church to build a school. Then when I saw the Children鈥檚 Hospital for the first time and walked through it, it ached me that kids in Guatemala would never see a facility like that.鈥
After meeting Dr. John Brock, the two forged a relationship to send surgical teams to Guatemala, a project that grew to demand a permanent surgical facility there. Earlier this year a Vanderbilt team helped open the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center, a 2,000-square-foot structure equipped for medical and surgical care with three operating rooms and beds for pre-operation, intensive care and recovery.
鈥淭he staff at Vanderbilt was instrumental in consulting on the needs and specifications and even giving some financial assistance to getting the facility open. Great nurses and doctors have gone on our trips, and Vanderbilt is a great partner for Shalom,鈥 says Moore.
鈥淲e really have a chance to live out part of Chancellor Zeppos鈥 vision for 鈥榦ne Vanderbilt鈥欌 through the endeavors in Guatemala, Brock points out. 鈥淕uatemala is a natural fit because we鈥檙e so involved with Vanderbilt鈥檚 Center for Latin American Studies and with medical care. How we marry those two together gives us a true 鈥榦ne Vanderbilt鈥 presence, and we couldn鈥檛 have done some of that without Steve.鈥
Now Moore is encouraging all CMA members to lend their support to Vanderbilt.
鈥淐ountry music artists are giving people with big hearts, so it doesn鈥檛 surprise me a bit that so many of them support Vanderbilt and the Children鈥檚 Hospital,鈥 Moore says. 鈥淚 would, of course, like to see more get involved, though.
鈥淚n doing so, you get more than you鈥檙e giving, and the reward is beyond measure, especially when you鈥檙e working with children. Artists know they have been really blessed with talent and resources in their career, and they look to do something meaningful and give back.鈥
Leslie Hill is an information officer for Vanderbilt University Medical Center 大象传媒app and Communications.