(Austin, TX) – Austin Arena Company’s community platform, Red River Rising, today announced a benefit concert featuring multi-platinum selling country rock group ALABAMA, and special guest The Bellamy Brothers, as a part of the Roll on North American Tour at Moody Center on December 5. As the Official Social Impact Partner of Oak View Group (parent company of Austin Arena Company), Stand Together, a philanthropic community that tackles the root causes of the country’s biggest problems, will co-produce the event with Red River Rising.
Earlier this year, Oak View Group and Stand Together announced a transformative, strategic partnership aiming to catalyze significant positive change across a spectrum of initiatives, including community engagement, education, youth development, and social justice.
Stand Together Presents ALABAMA benefit concert is the first-of-its-kind at the award-winning venue, where all net ticket revenue will go directly to Austin-based nonprofit, Mobile Loaves & Fishes through Red River Rising’s community platform. Realizing that housing alone can’t solve homelessness, Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ Community First! Village provides formerly chronically homeless men and women a nurturing community and the ability to put their skills and passions to work. Community First! Village offers permanent, affordable housing to those coming out of chronic homelessness, as well as the opportunity to work in micro enterprises within the community such as organic farming, ceramics, jewelry–making, and property beautification. Residents can develop self–sufficiency and earn a living, while their products and services attract neighbors from surrounding areas, expanding and enhancing the circle of support.
Red River Rising is dedicated to empowering local musicians, preserving Austin’s vibrant downtown music scene, and addressing housing insecurities. As the presenting partner, Stand Together will play a pivotal role in expanding Red River Rising’s impact and reach in the community. Additionally, Stand Together will bring annual benefit concerts to Moody Center, further amplifying awareness of social issues and generating funds for local nonprofits for years to come.
“Partnering with Red River Rising to co-produce the annual benefit concert at Moody Center allows us to not only showcase incredible talent but also elevates an impactful organization addressing critical issues in the Austin community with bottom-up solutions,” said Colette Weintraub, head of Stand Together Music, Sports & Entertainment. “We believe there are significant opportunities within the music industry to drive social change, and we're grateful for our partnership with Oak View Group to empower artists to make a more meaningful impact on the issues that matter most to them."
Senior Vice President of OVG Austin and General Manager of Moody Center, Jeff Nickler says, “We are moved by the incredible work that Stand Together is doing in the Austin community. Their support of Red River Rising and local nonprofits is so meaningful, and we are honored to host this benefit concert that will bring people together through music to make a positive impact on the city we love so much.”
Over 50 years ago, cousins Teddy Gentry, Randy Owen and the late Jeff Cook left the cotton farms of Fort Payne, Alabama to spend the summer playing music in a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina bar called The Bowery. It's a classic American tale of rags to riches. From humble beginnings picking cotton in the fields to international stars, ALABAMA went on to sell 80 million albums and change the face and sound of country music.
Quality songs that have become the soundtrack for American life are the foundation for ALABAMA's stellar career. The group introduced rock style guitars, lights, pyrotechnics and sounds to the country audience that has inspired many of today's brightest country stars including Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan. While their music continues to stand the test of time, their numbers and stats are beyond compare.
Five decades since starting the band, ALABAMA has charted 43 #1 singles, including 21 #1 singles in a row, and have won dozens of CMA, GRAMMY®, and ACM Awards. They are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame and have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition, they are world-class philanthropists who have raised millions of dollars for various charities.
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About ALABAMA
Over 50 years ago, Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry and Randy Owen left the cotton farms of Fort Payne, Alabama to spend the summer playing music in a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina bar called The Bowery. It took them six long years of tip jars and word-of-mouth to earn the major label deal they'd been dreaming of. Then, seemingly no time at all to change the face of country music. ALABAMA, country music’s first band, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. The group is known for hit songs including “Mountain Music,” “Roll On,” “Dixieland Delight” and “If You're Gonna Play In Texas (You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band).” From humble beginnings picking cotton in the fields to international stars, ALABAMA went on to sell 80 million albums and charted 43 No.1 hits, becoming the most successful band in the history of country music. In November 2022, ALABAMA co-founder Jeff Cook passed following a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. With his prior encouragement and wishes, ALABAMA continues touring on a limited basis, keeping the iconic music they created alive for the current and future generation of fans.
About The Bellamy Brothers
The brothers first official gig was in 1968, playing a free show with their father at the Rattlesnake Roundup in San Antonio, Florida. They honed their early skills playing Black clubs throughout the south, and singing backup for artists such as Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd and Little Anthony & The Imperials. Within a few months, the brothers moved north, immersing themselves and their rock/country sound in the Atlanta market, where the Allman Brothers were the emerging kings of the music world. The Bellamys officially lifted off the launch pad in 1976 when their single, “Let Your Love Flow,” became an instant smash in both the U.S. and Europe. It stayed on the international charts long enough to build a huge international fan base for the hip young brothers that endures to this day. By the late ‘70’s The Bellamys were emerging on the country charts with another bona fide smash. “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me),” originally scrawled on a dinner napkin by David, rocketed them to the top of the country charts the way “Let Your Love Flow,” had done in the pop market just a few years earlier. It proved to be the first of a string of fourteen No. 1 singles in the U.S. alone.
Success followed success: “Dancing Cowboys,” “Sugar Daddy,” “You Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie,” “Lovers Live Longer,” “Do You Love As Good As You Look,” “Redneck Girl,” “For All The Wrong Reasons,” “I Love Her Mind,” “I Need More Of You,” “Old Hippie,” “Too Much Is Not Enough,” “Kids Of The Baby Boom,” “Reggae Cowboy” and “Crazy From The Heart,”…all have lined the corridors of the Bellamy’s musical history and their walls with platinum and gold.
About Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Founded in 1998, Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) is a Christian social outreach ministry that empowers communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless. The organization’s innovative Community First! Village is the country’s largest master planned development designed specifically for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness, and has become a national model replicated by other organizations in different cities. With the support of tens of thousands of volunteers and more than 6.5 million meals served through its Truck Ministry, MLF has also grown to become the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless in Central Texas and has spawned similar food truck programs across the country. For more information, please visit www.mlf.org.
About Stand Together
Stand Together is a philanthropic community that tackles the root causes of our country’s biggest problems. Alongside inspiring partners, we drive solutions on education, economic opportunity, health care, bridging partisan divides, and dozens of other pressing issues. We can all make a greater difference by uniting on areas of common ground than we can by acting on our own. Learn more at www.standtogether.org. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Red River Rising
Red River Rising is Austin Arena Company’s community platform initiative dedicated to empowering local musicians, preserving the downtown music scene, and addressing housing insecurity.
About Austin Arena Company
Austin Arena Company is a privately financed partnership between Oak View Group and Live Nation/C3 Presents. The partnership manages and operates Moody Center, the 15,000+ seat premier venue in Austin.
About Moody Center
Moody Center provides the nation’s 10th-largest city with a premier venue to host the biggest artists and acts on the planet. Designed specifically for concerts, the new arena is home to The University of Texas Women’s and Men’s basketball games, family shows, and other sporting and community events. Moody Center is the first of its kind in the industry with an unrivaled partnership between Oak View Group, Live Nation/C3 Presents, The University of Texas at Austin, and Minister of Culture, Matthew McConaughey. Moody Center has been recently named the Arena of the Year by Pollstar and by the Academy of Country Music. For additional information and news, follow @moodycenteratx on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, and Tik Tok.
