Brad Paisley Raises $26,000 for Free Grocery Store With Nashville Concert
Brad Paisley was one of three artists who performed during Live Nation's 'Live at the Drive-In' [...]
Brad Paisley was one of three artists who performed during Live Nation's "Live at the Drive-In" concert series in Nashville last weekend, and his performance in Music City helped raise $26,000 for Paisley's free grocery store, The Store. Paisley performed in St. Louis and Indianapolis on Friday and Sunday, respectively, and his show in Nashville on Saturday night was livestreamed for free on his Facebook page.
While watching, fans had the opportunity to donate to The Store, and they came through with $26,000 worth of donations. "I'm told that those of you who hit the tip jar on our [Facebook] live broadcast from the Nashville show raised 26k for [The Store, Nashville]!!" Paisley wrote on Instagram. "Thank you! I know these are trying times, thank you for helping to feed people. #liveatthedrivein."
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Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, started The Store, which serves customers in need for a one-year period as they work toward self-sufficiency after they were inspired by Unity Shoppe in Santa Barbara, California. The Store opened in March 2020 and quickly began serving three times the number of customers they expected due to the tornadoes in Nashville that month and the coronavirus pandemic.
"We had about a week of operating like we expected when we opened in March, and here we are opening something like this when, basically, all hell breaks loose," Paisley told Hoda Kotb on the Today show in April. "Now we're already serving three times the amount of people we expected right away. We thought we would soft roll this thing out, like a slow build to what we would become, and all of the sudden we're kind of thrown into the fire with it, but it's really going well so far — knock on wood — I think."
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The 47-year-old's show in Nashville over the weekend was held in the parking lot of Nissan Stadium and saw fans park as far as one-quarter of a mile away from the stage to hear some live music during the coronavirus pandemic. "This was our weekend," Paisley captioned a video of his three shows on Instagram on Monday. "The back row of cars was over a quarter-mile away, but somehow I've never felt closer to an audience. Everyone went the extra mile to make this work, and somehow, safely, we played live music again. Thank you, St Louis, Nashville, and Indy. These are the moments we will never forget."