- Sun., Sept. 2, 7:30 pm
- $20 per person, $40 per family, children under 16, free.
- Additional donations accepted.
Here is the Facebook event to share and invite others.
North Church is excited to announce a new music series – Concerts for a Cause. Hosted by North, the quarterly series will feature top-level musicians performing to raise money for charitable causes.
Featuring:
- Nashville Hall of Fame Songwriter, Tony Arata,
- Eric Gnezda
- Keith Larsen
- Parker MacDonall
Tony Arata
Tony is best known for writing one of the most inspiring—and top-selling—country songs of all time, “The Dance,” recorded by Garth Brooks. Garth, himself, says, “One of my favorite songwriters has to be Tony Arata. He’s a cat who doesn’t care about appearances. He doesn’t care about money. He cares about his children, his wife, and his music. That’s neat.”
Garth has recorded seven of Tony’s songs, and Tony also wrote No. 1 hits for Patty Loveless, Lee Roy Parnell, and Clay Walker. Other artists who have recorded Tony’s songs include Reba McEntire, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, Emmylou Harris, and Delbert McClinton.
North Church is pleased to welcome back Eric and Keith, both of whom were featured performers at our Sunday services and The Concert for Children at the Border.
Eric Gnezda
Eric is the creator and host of the American Public Television series, Songs at the Center, produced in Columbus and seen coast-to-coast on more than 200 stations airing locally on WOSU TV on Saturday nights at 11, as the lead-in to Austin City Limits.
A regular performer at Nashville’s famous venue for songwriters, The Bluebird Café, Eric was awarded the Ohioana Citation for Music Composition, joining Michael Feinstein (American Songbook), Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane), and Chip Davis (Mannheim Steamroller). His latest CD is Songs of Hope in a Changing World.
Keith Larsen
Keith’s song, “Hold On,” won the People’s Choice Award in the Nashville Songwriters Association International/Country Music Television songwriting competition. He is a frequent participant in Nashville songwriter rounds and writing sessions. He appeared in the premiere season of Songs at the Center.
Drawing from his years as a firefighter, Keith merges straightforward vocals with lyrics that resonate with simplicity, honesty and humility. Keith’s most recent CD is Made It. His latest single is “At the Foot of Liberty.”
Tony, Eric and Keith will perform in a Nashville-style in-the-round format.
The concert will also include a guest appearance by Parker MacDonell, a songwriter whose latest CD, Miracle on Broad Street, benefited the Columbus homeless.
The Columbus Sanctuary Collective
“North Church is very excited about Concerts for a Cause”, says Rev. Eric Williams. “The spirited music and honest story-telling of our participating artists inspire us to be both hopeful and generous. North Church is a faith community that invites all people of goodwill to come together, to voice our joys and our concerns, and to find ways to serve our neighbors in greatest need. Join us for great music that supports life-renewing causes.”
The beneficiaries for the Inaugural Concert for a Cause are Edith Espinal(in sanctuary at the Columbus Mennonite Church) and Miriam Vargas (in sanctuary at the First English Lutheran Church) through theColumbus Sanctuary Collective (Colectivo Santuario de Columbus), a collective of individuals organizing in active support of immigrants and refugees.
Concerts for a Causeis an outgrowth of North’s Concert for Children at the Border, held in July, which raised funds for Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), providing legal counsel for children incarcerated by Homeland Security on the border with Mexico.
“Our congregation was so inspired and energized by July’s concert that there was overwhelming demand to continue the momentum of providing spiritual sustenance through music, while contributing to causes that matter,” Pastor Eric says.
The quarterly concerts will partner with different beneficiaries, selected by North Church. This inaugural concert is in collaboration with The Columbus Mennonite Church.
The concert will be preceded by a picnic dinner (Fellowship Hall, in the event of rain), at which additional donations will be accepted.
Can’t attend? You can still donate!
Mail checks to:
North Church UCC (memo Columbus Sanctuary Collective)
2040 West Henderson Road
Columbus OH 43220
Tickets for the concert are available at the door.