LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — PLATINUM-certified, GRAMMY-nominated artist and songwriter Anne Wilson – a Kentucky native – will return home for a special concert at Corbin Arena on Aug. 11. The special concert will benefit ongoing tornado relief efforts in affected areas.
Wilson has had a busy few weeks recently, opening shows for Morgan Wallen, playing her first stadium, and releasing her EP "God Story" on Aug. 1. Through it all, she’s a proud Kentuckian.
“I think everyone who grew up there would say that it's such a community of people, that we're proud to be where we're from,” Wilson said.
With these Bluegrass roots, Wilson remembers waking up the day after an EF-4 tornado ripped through southern Kentucky.
“My nana lives in Barbourville, Kentucky, and so does my granddad,” Wilson shared. “I woke up the next morning and just remember my phone blowing up of people asking like, ‘is your family OK in Kentucky?’ Then I checked my phone and called my nana immediately and she was crying, and she was just like, ‘I, I'm like we're in shock.’”
As scenes of devastation unfolded, and as the death toll grew, Wilson wanted to do something to help.
“I got together with my friends at Rural King who made this night happen, and I just said, ‘hey, what would it look like to do a concert for the community?’”
Those conversations led to the Concert for Kentucky, taking place on Aug. 11 at Corbin Arena.
“I wanted to incorporate local people as well that were on the grounds there, and just incorporate a sense of community for the whole state of Kentucky too,” Wilson said, “not just the towns of London, Somerset, Corbin, but even Lexington, Richmond, and the surrounding towns as well to come together and rally and be part of the night.”
The concert will benefit the ongoing tornado recovery efforts, supporting The Sheppard Family Foundation and Appalachian Tornado relief.
“My goal was really that every single penny that comes in would be given to these foundations to distribute that money to reach these people that had been affected to help build back their homes,” said Wilson, adding she hopes “to even just give them the resources they need to be able to continue on and rebuild their lives again.”
It’s not just about raising money for tornado relief, though. On Monday night, Anne hopes her music will leave a lasting message.
“It's knowing that when we go through hard things, which we all have, and specifically these people, you know, that were affected by the tornadoes, that we can rely on a strength that's greater than our own,” Wilson said. “I think for me that's found in in Jesus and in my faith.”
“I've been through that, and I've seen how God has used it for the good and how he's brought so much beauty out of it. Having witnessed that and having kind of experienced that for myself, I hope that people walk away from this concert with just a sense of hope for their future of what God can do through their story and how he's going to mend it all in the end,” she added.
The concert at Corbin Arena starts Monday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. You can purchase tickets for the concert at annewilsonofficial.com.
If you can’t be there in-person, you can still be a part of the entire night through the event, which will be livestreamed on VEEPS. Tickets for the stream can be purchased at veeps.com.
