Old Crow Medicine Show provide a rallying cry for the city of Nashville and a message of positivity for the world at large in the new song “Nashville Rising.”
The string band’s Ketch Secor wrote the song in the days following a deadly tornado that touched down in the city, decimating homes, venues, and businesses, and killing two in Nashville. Before cleanup was even completed, Nashville, like the rest of the country, was dealt a blow from the sweeping coronavirus pandemic.
“These are the dark times where music can really light the way, the times of immeasurable hardship where music can soothe a troubled soul,” Secor said in a statement. “I wrote ‘Nashville Rising’ in the hopes that positivity, perseverance, and people power will be just as contagious as COVID-19.”
Secor and the band, along with special guests Molly Tuttle, Shelly Colvin, and Skylar Wilson, convened in the group’s East Nashville studio to record “Nashville Rising” in a live setting (prior to the social-distancing recommendations enacted in the city). A video, edited by filmmaker Julia Golonka, captures the session and interweaves images of the volunteer efforts to pick up the pieces after the storm.
“We’re gonna build it back together/better than it ever was/than it’s ever been,” Secor sings.
Proceeds from the song benefit the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Emergency Response Fund.
