Monday marks a full year since the Las Vegas shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, and the country music community has spent the past 12 months grappling with the tragedy.
That reaction has varied from artists dedicating their time to festival survivors, to artists rethinking their own relationships to gun culture, to continued efforts to make country music a comforting place for its fans.
Country music singer Michael Ray, who played the festival two days before the shooting, has been particularly dedicated to honoring the survivors and victims. On a tour this year, Ray extended special offers to festival survivors, giving them venue tours and all-access passes. He made them aware of the show’s louder noises and extended a place in his dressing room to go if they became overwhelmed.
“I wanted to show them that we’re all in this together and don’t let this ruin what you love to do,” Ray told The Tennessean.
Big-time stars like Eric Church, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill all advocated for some gun control measures, each saying that the shooting made them reevaluate their positions.
Countless artists have dedicated songs and concerts to the victims and survivors of the festival. “I really feel like country music was the medium in which a lot of that healing was realized, but there’s more healing to go,” Academy of Country Music CEO Pete Fisher said. “Country music is about real people and real lives, and if something is on people’s hearts, you can trust country music is going to meet them there.”
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
