Some of the top stars in contemporary Christian music — with a special focus on the leading lights of ’70s, ’80s and ’90s CCM — will participate Saturday in an online benefit for Bruce Brown, a music journalist who has chronicled the genre for decades and is now grappling with a rare form of cancer.
Set to go out to the web Saturday evening from Nashville, the alliteratively titled “Big Beautiful Bruce Brown Benefit” will include a mixture of live and pre-recorded performances from such stalwarts of Christian music past and present as Phil Keaggy and Russ Taff (both pictured above) and Jimmy A, Bob Bennett, the Choir, Eddie DeGarmo, Rob Frazier, Dan Haseltine, Glenn Kaiser, Phil Madeira, Kevin Max, Charlie Peacock, Dave Perkins, River & Rail, Mike Roe, Chris Taylor, Ojo Taylor, Terry Taylor, Michelle Lynn Thompson and the Throes.
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Amy Grant and Steve Taylor are also set to make a non-musical appearance in the livestream, as will CCM industry figures and journalists of note such as John Styll, Kathy Ervin, Darrell Harris, Chris Hauser, Mark Hollingsworth and Thom Granger. Hosting the event as “ringmaster” will be John J. Thompson, whose True Tunes is producing the livestream.
Access to the livestream is via a private link being sent to donors who contribute $10 or more to Brown’s GoFundMe campaign. Donors will also receive a free download of the event poster, designed by Jay Smith. More information about tuning in and a link to the GoFundMe can be found on the True Tunes site at https://truetunes.com/BBBBB/.
The livestream officially starts at 8 p.m. ET/5 PT. A very limited number of tickets to watch in person and attend a pre-show hang at the Well Coffeehouse in Nashville’s Green Hills area are also available by contacting True Tunes.
Bruce Brown has been in and out of the hospital for treatment for Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare form of blood cancer. His decades-long tenure in the industry includes stints as managing editor or contributing editor for CCM magazine, as well as stints in artist management (Rick Altizer, Ceili Rain, Fleau and No Apples for Adam), as an IT Specialist (for Voice of America), a studio Engineer (ABC News) and in retail advertising and marketing. Now retired, Brown still co-produces the monthly True Tunes Podcast and is known to his Facebook followers for culling from his massive vinyl collection to be one of the most reliable playlist creators around, with a vast interest in all types of music.
“We are all looking forward to joining together to help support and encourage our friend for this once-in-a-lifetime event,” said the event producer, Thompson, in an announcement. “There are a lot of people in our musical community who love this guy for all that he is and all that he has done for the CCM industry and artists. When I was very young and had some decidedly ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas about music, culture and connecting with an audience, Bruce was one industry insider I could always count on for sound advice and encouragement. The opportunity to work with him so closely these last five years on the podcast has been one of the true blessings of my life. Everyone needs a Bruce in their life.”
Besides Thompson, the online concert’s other producers are Ervin, a former CCM magazine editor; Hollingsworth, a fellow CCM journalist and artist manager; and Josh Kato and Kaelyn Rozgony.
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