Gun violence is mobilizing members of Nashville’s music scene, but not equally

At the height of gun control protests this month, plenty of eyes fixated on the megaphone used on the Tennessee House floor by Democratic lawmakers who became known as “The Tennessee Three.” And word soon spread that the megaphone may have been supplied by Margo Price.

But that’s only one example of how Nashville musicians have reacted to the Covenant School shooting, with some representing a continuation of old patterns — and others breaking in a new direction.

It was nearly six years ago that the country music industry grieved a massacre at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas by an assailant who’d modified assault-style rifles with bump stocks to make them function like automatic weapons.  

But for all the anguish expressed over the 58 deaths and hundreds wounded, relatively few of the genre’s stars spoke out publicly in favor of gun control. What further underscored the complex relationship between country music and gun culture was an NRA promotional program celebrating the link between the two. 

Much about the Nashville music community’s response has played out differently in the wake of the Covenant School shooting, and not least because the tragedy happened right here in the city. As the news spread, countless singer-songwriters and indie rockers posted on their socials about the need for gun reform.

Days later, Ketch Secor, leader of the popular string band Old Crow Medicine Show, zeroed in on country artists’ responsibility to speak to the audiences they’re uniquely positioned to reach in an op-ed for The New York Times.

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

Margo Price and Ketch Secor perform at a Covenant School vigil.

He also was among more than two dozen figures from country and Christian music to sign on, in a gesture of empathy, for a show raising money for the victims. 

Since then, a number of other well-known performers, including Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Martina McBride and Jason Isbell, have signed a letter to the governor. In it, they acknowledge that they hail from different backgrounds, and among them are gun owners and hunting enthusiasts. But they emphasized their unified belief in prioritizing “common sense gun safety legislation” over “politics and special interests.”  

Two artists, Sheryl Crow and Amy Grant, were part of a delegation that met with the governor and state legislators on Tuesday, appealing for a safe storage gun law and a measure to remove firearms from potentially dangerous people. 

Yet when it comes to mainstream country music, the women trying to use their influence to push for gun reform so far outnumber their male counterparts.