YOUR FAVORITE CMT SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

Brandi Carlile's Concert Raises Over $100K For Rainey Day Fund, Color Me Country Fund & Fanny's School Of Music

CMT Equal Play, The Looking Out Foundation, Fiona Prine and others provide massive support

Alongside $10,000 from Fiona Prine and friends, Brandi Carlile's livestream fundraising concert from The Ryman Auditorium raised $50,000 for the Kelly McCartney founded Rainey Day Fund, the McCartney and Rissi Palmer co-founded Color Me Country Fund, and Nashville's Fanny’s School of Music.

Carlile's donation of $1 per every ticket sold, plus CMT Equal Play matching those donations -- up to $15,000 -- and Carlile’s Looking Out Foundation matching the donations to all three organizations equated to this impressive total.

Kelly McCartney posted the news via Twitter stating:

Got word from @LookingOutFndn last night that Rainey Day, Color Me Country, & Fanny’s are each getting $40k from Brandi’s Ryman show + the $10k our funds already got from @FionaPrine & friends. @RissiPalmer & I are over the moon with big plans in the works to support our mission.

Broadcaster and journalist McCartney's Rainey Day Fund assists marginalized artists within the Americana, roots, and country music spaces. Vocalist and broadcaster Palmer’s Color Me Country Artist Fund offers sustainability for Black artists, Indigenous artists, and other artists of color within the country music community. Since its 2018 founding, the Rainey Day Fund has given 28 grants. In 2021, its inaugural year, the Color Me Country Fund has given another 18.

So far, the Rainey Day Fund has aided artists including Yola, Birds of Chicago, Tré Burt, Joy Oladokun, Brittney Spencer, and Jontavious Willis. As well, the Color Me Country fund has benefitted Sacha Visagie, Michael Whitfield, and Julie Williams.

Regarding their mission moving forward, McCartney noted that "Together, [Rissi Palmer and I are] the change we wish to see in the music world.”

Latest News