Joy Avenue Media of Bettendorf will present an online eight-hour music marathon to benefit Ukrainian refugees.
“Playing for Peace” will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 31. The live feed will be hosted from Joy Avenue Media’s Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/joyavenuemedia.
The live-stream marathon event will feature over 24 sets from bands and musicians across the Quad Cities and beyond including The Ballroom Thieves (Portland, Maine), Kris Lager Band (Omaha, Nebraska), Bobby Chance (Bay City, Michigan) and Tiffany Christopher (Denver, Colorado).
While the marathon concert will be free to stream, donations will be encouraged to support the millions of refugees and families affected by the war in Ukraine. Event organizers said 100% of the money raised will be funneled through Razom – a humanitarian organization that is directly helping Ukraine refugees at the border by providing them with food, medical supplies and clothing.
“The situation in Ukraine is escalating so rapidly that we wanted to do something right away,” Dustin Cobb, owner of Joy Avenue Media, said in a news release. “These people need our help now, and this is the best way [we] know how to contribute. Every single person I asked to be involved said ‘yes.’”
All of the musicians performing, as well as the studio crew and camera operators, are donating their time and talents to this cause.
“It’s hard to watch the news and not do something to help these people,” said Alan Sweet, a Davenport-based musician playing the event. “They’ve lost their homes, their jobs, their families. Music as a common language is the best way we know how to contribute some hope and compassion from across the globe.”
Joy Avenue Media (JAM), a recording and production studio, adjusted its business model during the height of the pandemic and began offering live-stream concerts as a safe way to continue providing entertainment to the masses and supporting musicians.
With a multi-camera set up and high functioning interface, the studio is able to produce a quality production that gives viewers a front-row view while seamlessly shifting from bands performing live in the JAM studio to a musician in another state playing live from their living room.
The concert footage and donation link will be live for several days following the live stream for anyone that missed it in real time and would still like to donate.
“The goal is to raise as much money as we can. We’re setting a goal of $50,000, but our hope is to surpass that,” said Mr. Cobb.
The donation link is live now, and can be found on Joy Avenue Media’s Facebook Page.
Any organizations or businesses that would like to help in promoting the event, host a viewing party, or donate toward the cause, should email Dustin Cobb at joyavenuemedia@gmail.com.
The lineup of confirmed bands include:
- Winterland
- Orangadang!
- Manuel 3
- Bobby Chance
- Kris Lager
- Ballroom Thieves
- Tiffany Christopher
- David G. Smith
- Jason Carl
- Piso’s Cure
- Avey Grouws Band
- Randy Leasman Band
- Meyers Brothers
- Soultru
- Al Sweet
- Jordan Danielson
- Jenny Lynn Stacey
- The Wontu Trees
- Douglas and Tucker
- Chrash
- The Velies
- Logan Springer & The Wonderfully Wild
- The Dawn
