Artists band together for tornado benefit

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PT’s Prime Time Night Club host Texas Country Cares Sunday

By AMANDA KIMBLE

TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (March 19, 2016) – Jon Young. Callahan Divide. Calamity Janes… those are just a few in the growing list of talents set to take the stage Sunday. Texas Country Cares Benefit Concert for Stephenville Tornado victims will be held for 11 hours, featuring names from the local music scene and others from across the region.

Dakota Drummond, Brad Good, Billy Hartman, Davis Danziger, Jared Johnson, Joe Austin, Mike Tinsley, Derek Anthony and Brandon Adams are also on the lineup for the charity event, which will be held at PT’s Prime Time Night Club.

Local talent and Stephenville High School graduate Jon Young will serve as the headlining act and last to take the PT’s Prime Time Night Club stage. Doors open at noon Sunday and the music starts at 1 p.m. and is expected to continue until midnight.

Sonya “The Mouth from the South” Hance, PT’s general manager, said the idea to host the benefit concert followed the EF-1 tornado that hit Stephenville with wind speeds of 86-110 miles per hour in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 8.   

The Calamity Janes
The Calamity Janes

In addition to damage at several local businesses, mobile homes at Smith Springs Mobile Home Park, located on CR 176 (Cheese Plant Road) were destroyed. At last count, about 30 Tarleton State University students, many living in an apartment complex on Lillian Street, were displaced. Foster’s Home for Children was also hit, with damage to roofs, transport vehicles, outbuildings and administrative offices.

“We were sitting here that afternoon talking about what we could do to help,” Hance said. “We thought about cooking meals to take to everyone but saw that was already happening at the senior center. I said, ‘What we really need to do is help them rebuild. We just need to have a big benefit concert.’”

Jason Davis, who has owned PT’s for about a year, immediately agreed. Hance started organizing the event, calling on Jody Lee Caudle and Texas Homegrown Radio for help.

“Everybody knows Jody Lee is the ‘go-to guy’ when it comes to music and musicians,” Hance said.

Callahan Divide
Callahan Divide

Caudle, an Erath County native and Stephenville High School graduate, started calling on local friends, asking them to showcase their singer/songwriter talents for the benefit of his neighbors in need.

“That’s what I love about the Texas Music Scene,” Caudle said. “All I had to do was ask and the phone started ringing. Stephenville and local music lovers support the artists every time they play a local venue, so they didn’t hesitate.”

The full-day of fundraising and entertainment will also include a silent auction with a number of items, including a $2,500 hunting excursion with local outdoorswoman “Rough Stock” Ruby Bausch. The two-day trip will include camping, food and hunting. The highest bidder will have the option of a Turkey hunt in the spring or deer hunt in the fall.

“We will have a day on the town in Stephenville in the auction, which will include food, massages, tanning and more,” Hance said. “Our distributors have also donated auction items, plus we will have music merchandise, something from Cowboy Capital Rustic Signs and more.”

Jon Young
Jon Young

PT’s will also have drink specials throughout the day, and 50 cents of every Budweiser or Bud Light bottled beer purchased will be donated to the relief effort. 

Hance said the organizers will donate the proceeds from the event to local charities – H.O.P.E. Inc., Grace Place, Basic Needs Ministry and The Pantry & More – to guarantee the money benefits local victims.

A newcomer to Stephenville, Hance said the city welcomed her with open arms about a year ago, and she’s excited to work extra hours to organize Sunday’s benefit, which has also been embraced by community members. 

“The outpouring of support has been amazing,” Hance said.

Admission is into Texas Country Cares is $5. PT’s is located at 1400 Swan Street in Stephenville, just off of Lillian Street, inside The Columns apartment complex.

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