Kix Brooks headlines pop-up concert at Nashville special needs prison
The country superstar joined up with Hope on the Inside to help inspire inmates to find purpose and re-enter civilian life.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Nashville special needs prison played host to a few memorable musical performances last week with the goal of providing hope to the people incarcerated at the facility.
Kix Brooks, of Brooks & Dunn, visited the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility on Friday and took part in a “pop-up” concert organized by Hope On the Inside. Brooks was joined on the small stage by Brianna Calhoun, Terri Clark, and Jeff Bates.
Hope on the Inside was founded by Calhoun, a Louisiana native whose personal journey included a battle with addiction and her own prison time before she became a teacher, a mother, and a songwriter. Brooks is also from Louisiana and quickly jumped aboard the charity’s mission after discovering Calhoun’s story.
Calhoun’s mission is to “empower incarcerated individuals by equipping them with the tools and skills to move from merely existing to living with purpose.”
On Friday, Calhoun, Brooks, Clark, and Bates performed a handful of songs at DeBerry, and all shared their own personal stories of struggle and redemption. Clark is a country singer from Canada who moved to Nashville in the 1990s. Bates is another Louisiana-born artist whose rise to fame came to a halt in 2001 when he was arrested for grand theft and drug possession.
The artists set up the stage in the facility’s packed gymnasium and played a handful of songs. Calhoun also told her story of drug use and time in prison.
“I thought my life was over,” Calhoun recounted. “I thought my life, surely, was over, because I burned every bridge I ever had crossed. My family had given up on me, all except my mama...I just didn’t have the will to go on.”
Bates hoped to provide insight by sharing his life story of abandonment and pursuit of acceptance.
“We can live a short period of time without food,” Bates explained. “We can live a short period of time without water. But I, personally, don’t believe that we can live one second without hope.”
The music was capped by a melodic version of Brooks & Dunn’s hit song, “Red Dirt Road.”
The Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility serves as the primary clinical and mental health facility in Tennessee with a maximum capacity of 854 inmates. DeBerry houses minimum to maximum custody male inmates who require medical and/or mental health treatment on a permanent or temporary basis.
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