The Killers, T-Pain, Dominic Fike, Janelle Monáe and Avery Anna will take the stage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on April 8 for the inaugural Freely Fest celebrating the power of music and the freedoms protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The event from Freedom Forum — a nonpartisan organization dedicated to “fostering First Amendment freedoms for all — will blend performances with the artist’s personal stories about the power of free expression and on-site interactive experiences highlighting the importance of our First Amendment freedoms.
“From Freedom Forum’s perspective, any day would be a great day to celebrate the power of music, how free expression is the First Amendment in action through artists and through audiences,” Freedom Forum chair and CEO Jan Neuharth tells Billboard about the inspiration for the event. “We approach our work [by] trying to bring First Amendment rights to people in a way that makes it feel relevant to them in their daily lives. We want to educate, but we don’t want to lecture, it’s not school, it’s helping people understand these right that maybe we take for granted.”
Neuharth also notes that Nashville was chosen for the show for a number of reasons, including its status as “Music City,” as well as being a creative hub for music and the home of legendary Nashville journalist John Seigenthaler, a civil rights activist and founding editorial director of USA Today, who established the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center at city’s Vanderbilt University. Freedom Forum was established on July 4, 1991 by USA Today founder, and Jan Neuharth’s father, Al Neuharth, with a vision of fostering first Amendment freedoms for all Americans.
“When you listen to a song do you automatically think, ‘Oh, this is free speech and it’s protected by the First Amendment!’ Likely not as you compile your playlist,” Neuharth says, adding that the organization’s “Brought to You By the First Amendment” campaign is a reminder that what we read, sing, listen to and wear are all protected by the First Amendment.
“You’re not thinking about the First Amendment, and it’s so important that people do that and so all of our work is focused on trying to bring these freedoms to life,” she says, calling music “a universal language” that can bring people together to celebrate these freedoms that rely on all of us to stand up to protect. Freedom Forum has teamed with C3/Live Nation on the event, which Neuharth stresses is a “mission-driven” festival that at its core is all about having fun and celebrating the power of music.
In case you need a refresher, the First Amendment of the Constitution prevents Congress from making laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press and the freedom to peaceably assemble, among other rights.
“The First Amendment is for everyone. The First Amendment is non-partisan, we’re non-partisan, Freely Festival is non-partisan, what we want to do is raise awareness that any artist has a right to write whatever music they want and speak in ways they want and fans have a right to listen or choose not to listen,” says Neuharth.
Tickets for the event go on sale on Thursday (Dec. 18) here.
