This past Sunday, Little Big Town and friends took to the roads to raise awareness and funds for cancer research here in Middle Tennessee. This was the group’s fourth year of involvement with “Ride for the Cure,” a motorcycle ride and concert to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation, which funds medical research aimed at finding cures for AIDS and various cancers, including leukemia. The funds raised during this year’s event will be used to fund cancer research at Frances Williams Preston Laboratories, part of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.

The day started off on Music Row at Nashville’s Tin Roof, where Cali Rodi, Randy Montana, and Brett Eldredge performed short acoustic sets, and Little Big Town welcomed the riders and spectators to the event. The artists and riders then geared up and traveled by motorcycle to Columbia, Tennessee’s Harley Davidson dealership, where more musical performances awaited. Josh Thompson, The Band Perry, Randy Houser, and Luke Bryan took to the stage to entertain the waiting crowd. Between sets, host Storme Warren urged the crowd to bid on items such as signed guitars, a signed copy of the latest country edition of People magazine, tickets with “Eat and Greet” passes donated by the Zac Brown Band, and other memorabilia. The auction was very successful, as some items sold for $1,000!

Luke Bryan commented during his set that seeing some rain would be “comical,” and that is exactly what happened. The skies opened up almost as soon as Little Big Town took the stage. They jokingly thanked Luke for bringing the rain, but still entertained the crowd that stuck it out to see them perform.

All in all, the benefit was a huge success, and the lives of many individuals will benefit from the great work done by Little Big Town and all that were involved in the event.

For more information about the T.J. Martell Foundation, visit http://www.tjmartellfoundation.org.

Mariah Childress
Amy Barton
CMTT Contributors
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