Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum singer-songwriter AaRon Lewis will hold his 6th Annual AaRon Lewis Invitational Charity Golf Tournament on August 5 at Crumpin-Fox Golf Course in Bernardston, Massachusetts. The AaRon Lewis and Friends Benefit Concert will take place the night before at Pines Theater at Look Park in Northampton, Massachusetts featuring special guests Mike Mushok (Staind, Saint Asonia) and Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace, Saint Asonia) plus Ben Kitterman and Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour). All of the proceeds from both events will go to the nonprofit organization founded by Lewis, It Takes A Community (ITAC).
"It Takes a Community began when my family joined with neighbors in our small adopted home town to keep the doors of the community elementary school open after state funding was eliminated due to district consolation," explains Aaron. "It started out as something very personal and close-to-home, but is morphing into something bigger. If we can make a difference in our little corner of Massachusetts, couldn't we give additional worthy organizations in our area a similar leg up?"
Since 2012, the golf tournament and benefit concert have raised over $700,000 for ITAC. These annual events have allowed ITAC to help fund vital programs, education and services to communities in need of support including Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Franklin County,
Greenfield Education Foundation, YMCA of Hampshire County's Camp Norwich Improvement Fund and
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (T.A.P.S). ITAC works with local leaders and organizations that have firsthand knowledge of the needs in their area to support initiatives that improve community life - particularly the lives of children and families.
About
AaRon Lewis AaRon Lewis, the self-proclaimed "Northern Redneck" and Staind front man, achieved critical and commercial success with his latest album, SINNER, which earned him the #1 position on the Billboard Top 200 Albums, Top Country Albums and Top Digital Albums Charts upon release. The 12-track project, voted one of Whiskey Riff's 40 Best Country Albums of 2016, was recorded in 16 hours at Nashville's
Blackbird Studios with producer Buddy Cannon (
George Strait,
Merle Haggard,
George Jones). Lewis penned eight of the songs, in addition to covering Chris Stapleton's "Whiskey and You" and The Dixie Chicks' "Travelin' Soldier." Additionally, Lewis collaborates with
Willie Nelson on the album's title track while Grammy Award-winning artists
Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski and
Vince Gill are also featured. SINNER was also one of Billboard's 10 Best Country Albums of 2016, while The Boot raves, "
AaRon Lewis shows a surprising understanding and respect for country music with his latest album, SINNER. Drawing from his childhood influences of listening to country music in his grandfather's car, SINNER shows Aaron's abilities as a singer, songwriter, musician and stylist. SINNER might just be the record that propels Aaron to a permanent place in country music.
About It Takes A Community Noted musician
AaRon Lewis founded It Takes A Community (ITAC) when the State of Massachusetts eliminated funding for the R.H. Conwell School in Worthington, MA. The school had served the children of the hill towns in the area since the 1940s and was one of the only community buildings in tiny Worthington. Lewis founded ITAC in July 2010 to save the school. The support provided through ITAC provided the bulk of the funding to reopen the public facility as a private community open to all local students. The R.H. Conwell experience demonstrated that rural communities can help themselves if residents work together and have adequate resources. Under Lewis's leadership, ITAC now provides funding and guidance to a wide array of organizations that play a vital role in connecting people within rural communities. ITAC was created to help revive rural communities across
New England by providing assistance to strengthen, enrich and preserve these communities. We share our expertise and provide financial assistance to empower citizens and organizations to take charge of their own community's future. ITAC works to unite resources and ideas to help people and communities create a better tomorrow.
