The 5th Annual Georgia On My Mind Benefit was a huge success. The Peach Pickers and Gretsch were in charge of the night with a slew of special guests (and a surprise!).
Storme Warren and The Peach Pickers (Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip) hosted the Tuesday night event at Ryman Auditorium. John Berry, Kristian Bush, Chris Janson, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser and Dustin Lynch were just a few of the scheduled performers. Most performers took the stage for just one song but The Peach Pickers performed several of their hit songs together. Between the three of them, they have over 70 number one songs! They performed “Honey Bee,” “Dirt on my Boots,” “That Ain’t My Truck,” and “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day.”
.@charleskelleyla was such a great surprise last night! He led a singalong tribute to @GreggAllman. 💙 #GeorgiaOnMyMindBenefit pic.twitter.com/CQYVoM034d
— Nashville Noise (@nashvillenoise) June 27, 2018
Charles Kelley was the evening’s surprise. He’s wanted to be involved in the benefit show for years but it finally made sense this year. The Lady Antebellum singer performed a Gregg Allman tribute but invited all the performers onstage with him. Together they sang “Midnight Rider.”
Hit songwriters Pat Alger and Tony Arata were also on hand to receive the 2018 Flamekeeper Award.
“These are the guys that Garth Brooks thanks every day,” Akins said before giving them their award. The songwriters played a handful of songs between the two of them. They performed tracks they’d written like “Small Town Saturday Night,” “The Thunder Rolls” and “The Dance.” The latter earned them an energetic standing ovation from the crowd.
The most beautiful moment of the event happened when Daryle Singletary‘s wife and two sons were honored. The Peach Pickers, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal presented the late singer’s family with an award for Singletary’s work.
Akins spoke fondly of Singletary, saying they were friends ever since he heard him on the radio and drove straight to his record label. There, he wrote a note for Singletary, telling him how impressed he was with him. Akins also got one of Singletary’s sons to sing a line from their late father’s songs. No one in the audience spoke while this tribute happened, but everyone was on their feet.
It was another successful fundraiser for the Georgia Music Foundation. Gretsch even donated $50,000 to the foundation during the event. If you missed the show but would like to make a donation for music education in Georgia, you can do so here.
Did you miss the event? Head to our pinned Instagram story to see everything you missed.
