MACON, Ga. — If you're a local musician, there's a chance to share those talents with the community and help a good cause at the same time. 478 Sings United is back, and they are asking for Central Georgia’s help.
The fundraiser is hosted by The United Way of Central Georgia, Bragg Jam, the Macon Arts Alliance, and Mercer University.
When the competition begins in May, each week sponsors will share video submissions from artists and bands across Central Georgia and the community will get to vote for their favorites at $1 per vote. Voting is unlimited.
“I think it’s really important for the community to get involved with a fundraiser because instead of being a viewer, you actually get to be an active participant in the story and that’s the story of the community,” Communications Director with the United Way Amanda Greechan said.
Greechan says this event will help them to continue providing resources for the community.
“United Way of Central Georgia aims to disrupt the cycle of family poverty by investing in programs that support education, basic needs, income, and access to health,” she said.
Funds from the event will also help the Macon Arts Alliance’s Creative Relief Fund, which helps struggling artists in the community who experience an emergency.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Macon Arts Alliance was able to give $50,000 in cash payments to artists who lost work during lockdown, “But moving forward, the Creative Relief Fund can cover things like an unexpected medical expense, a house fire or things like that for our artists in our community who are often living on very tenuous income situations, so it’s a great way to support that as well,” Project Director at the Macon Arts Alliance J.R. Olive said.
Olive says this competition is a way to showcase that Macon’s music history is still ongoing,
“A lot of times Macon is focused on the 'then' -- you know, ‘Back then, we were doing this,’ ‘Back then, we were doing cool things in music,' but one thing that this competition really does is help showcase what’s happening now in our music scene,” Olive said,
Prizes for the lucky winner include $2,500 cash, a paid performance on a featured stage at the Bragg Jam Concert Crawl, a recording session at Capricorn Studios and participants will also earn 10% of the money collected from their votes!
They are taking 16 bands and registration ends April 15 at midnight. You can register at this website.
To find out more you can go to the 478 Sings United Facebook page.
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