*Raycom Media will present Louisiana Rising: A Benefit Concert for Flood Relief on Labor Day,September 5, 2016, from 7-9 PM (CT). Randy Jackson and Harry Connick Jr have agreed to co-host the show that will benefit victims of recent South Louisiana floods. Both stars are Louisiana natives.
Flood Relief
Louisiana Rising: A Benefit Concert for Flood Relief will be broadcast LIVE across all Raycom Media television stations which reach more than 14% of U.S. television households and will be carried nationally on Bounce TV (Visit BounceTV.com for local channel information.)
More than a dozen well-known artists will play in the concert, including New Orleans-based Better Than Ezra. Sonny Landreth, Chris Thomas King, MacKenzie Bourg, Luther Kent and Rockin’ Dopsie have also joined the cause. A complete lineup will be available in the coming days. Raycom Media’s Tupelo-Honey Raycom will produce the show, and Johnny Palazzotto, a fixture of the Baton Rouge music scene, will serve as music director. The show will be broadcast from Baton Rouge’s River Center Theater and will benefit the American Red Cross’s Louisiana Flood Relief fund.
“We are very proud of the coverage our employees at WAFB have provided to viewers in the Baton Rouge area, despite their personal losses,” said Pat LaPlatney, Raycom Media President and CEO. “With the help of Cary Glotzer’s team at Tupelo-Honey Raycom, the rest of the country will see what a terrible and devastating event that this continues to be and how they can help. Our goal is to raise awareness – and more importantly, money – for the tens of thousands of people who need help to get back on their feet.”
“As broadcasters, we have a responsibility to help people of the areas we serve,” said Sandy Breland, Raycom Media Group Vice President. “So many people are hurting, right now. And they have lost so much, our hope is that this concert can help raise money for them to rebuild their lives.”
“Saddened by the devastating tragedies that keep affecting my Louisiana,” said Randy Jackson. “I want to help raise awareness and restore hope to people that are hurting in the place that I will always call home.” Jackson was born in Baton Rouge.
“So sorry that my home state is undergoing such hardship once again,” stated Harry Connick Jr. “Seems like just yesterday that Katrina left a path of destruction. I hope that this benefit concert brings much needed attention to the good people of Louisiana.”
The August floods are responsible for the deaths of 13 people and damage to more than 60,000 homes. At least 100,000 people need assistance. Thousands are living in shelters. Early damage estimates reach $20-billion. The American Red Cross says the disaster in Louisiana is the worst to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the Northeast in 2012.
source:
Jim Weiss
jweiss@bouncetv.com
