In 2007, Congress designated September as a day of remembrance for gun violence victims. Yet the fact remains that since then, Congress hasn’t done much to alleviate the scourge of gun violence. This year — an election year — activists will be uniting musicians to bring awareness and seek voter action against the gun violence epidemic in America. On Sunday, Great Barrington and Williamstown concerts will join the more than 350 venues producing versions of The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence.
“If deaths by shooting were a disease, or any kind of illness that killed people in these numbers, we’d be all over it,” says Southfield resident Elise Richman [photo, left], who is organizing the Great Barrington concert. The landscape designer has a personal stake in the issue: 43 years ago her father was killed at a dinner party by a jealous ex-husband who came in the house to kill all the men. Having become an activist, Richman was also one of the original founders of the Million Mom March in Washington, DC in 2000. Headlining the Great Barrington concert will be Grammy nominee Seth Glier, a western Massachusetts native, along with Bobby Sweet, David Reed, Terry a la Berry, David Grover, The Beeline Ramblers and The Matchstick Architects. In Williamstown, the performers will include Deb Burns, Norm Burdick, Long Journey, Jeb Barry, Rosin the Beaux, Sarah McNair, Jackie Sedlock, Thomas Marshall, poet Jessica Fisher and other area musicians. All are donating their performances, and proceeds from the concert and t-shirt sales at the Great Barrington concert will go to Stop Handgun Violence (SHV), a Massachusetts-based non-profit committed to the prevention of gun violence through education, public awareness, effective law enforcement and common sense gun laws. Each of the concerts nationwide will be live-streamed. “We want to bombard YouTube, Facebook, Twitter — and Congress — with song,” says Richman. The Concert Across America to End Gun ViolenceSunday, Sept. 25 Society of the Congregation Church251 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 2-5 p.m. First Congregational Church906 Main St., Williamstown, 4-7 p.m.
