Less than a week after the deadly Waffle House shooting in Antioch, musicians are supporting the hero. Brantley Gilbert and Dashboard Confessional‘s Chris Carrabba are coming together to honor James Shaw Jr.
During a symphony rehearsal for his May 4 Ascend Amphitheater show, Gilbert turned the spotlight off of himself. Instead, he turned the attention to the 29-year-old that disarmed the shooter and started a GoFundMe to raise money for the victim’s families.
“When you see someone like James, who just jumped up and did what he did — and you think about the lives he saved, you realize what a special kind of guy he is,” Gilbert says. “I called my manager, Rich Egan, who heads up the I Believe In Nashville coalition and asked if there was any way we could do something that would shine a light and remind everyone that heroes can be real-life people. We came up with the idea of creating ‘I Believe in Heroism’ t-shirts that we will sell at our May 4 Nashville show and give the proceeds to James.”
Carrabba was also on hand at the press conference / symphony rehearsal. Dashboard Confessional is also on board and will be selling the shirts during their May 11 show at the Ryman. Both Carrabba and Gilbert found inspiration in Shaw’s story.
“Bad people do bad things. But good people can do great things. Talking to James before we got up here, he said he’s not a superhero, he’s just a regular person. But I think there has to be some hero inside, that’s where that kind of bravery comes from.”
“When it’s not about me, that’s when I’m happiest,” Gilbert continues. “More than that, when it’s about somebody who was brave, and we can honor them a little, that’s when it’s really good. To me, I can’t wait to play with the Symphony, but I’m really stoked to be here today with someone like James.”
If you won’t be in attendance at either of those shows, you can get your shirt at their website.
