The devastation of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have left millions of people in need of help, and Tuesday night celebrities from all over the spectrum, from New York, to L.A. to Nashville, banded together to hold a televised fundraiser called Hand in Hand, which ended up raising more than 44 million dollars, so far, to benefit those affected by the recent storms. One of those who took part was Brad Paisley, who can understands part of what those people are going through…and he also understands what it means to get help after the flood waters receded. In the Nashville flood of 2010 Brad lost many of his guitars, and but restarted his collection thanks to Opry legends Johnny Russell and Roy Clark. Brad shares the story of their giving spirit, “Johnny Russell and I were really close and I was around for some difficult days with him where I would go to the hospital to visit him after he had had his legs amputated from diabetes and John Jr. talked to me about that later. He said he must have really thought a lot of you to want you even around when these difficult conversations were being had and years later he brought me, after the flood, one of the first things that I got was a gift from him…of Johnny’s Telecaster. He said you know, dad didn’t play this very much but it was his and he brought me one of his old captains hats that he wore on the Opry and a Tele that was his and said, you know, ‘start your collection with this again.’ The same thing happened with Roy Clark. Roy Clark, out of the blue, I didn’t know Roy Clark very well. He up and sent me a Stratocaster from the 50’s that had been refinished that he had sitting around and thought well I don’t need this guitar and Brad just lost all his in the flood, I’m sending him this and I think more than anything, more than just bragging, it’s really inspiring.”
If you want to help out those affect by the recent hurricanes, Hand in Hand is still collecting donations, you can call (800) 258-6000, or texting “GIVE” to 80077 for a $25 donation, or you can go to Hand To Hand dot com, or just click HERE
Brad Paisley recalls the first guitars that started to rebuild his collection after the 2010 Nashville Flood, thanks to a pair of country music legends (:67)
“Johnny Russell and I were really close and I was around for some difficult days with him where I would go to the hospital to visit him after he had had his legs amputated from diabetes and John Jr. talked to me about that later. He said he must have really thought a lot of you to want you even around when these difficult conversations were being had and years later he brought me, after the flood, one of the first things that I got was a gift from him…of Johnny’s Telecaster. He said you know, dad didn’t play this very much but it was his and he brought me one of his old captains hats that he wore on the Opry and a Tele that was his and said, you know, ‘start your collection with this again.’ The same thing happened with Roy Clark. Roy Clark, out of the blue, I didn’t know Roy Clark very well. He up and sent me a Stratocaster from the 50’s that had been refinished that he had sitting around and thought well I don’t need this guitar and Brad just lost all his in the flood, I’m sending him this and I think more than anything, more than just bragging, it’s really inspiring.”