ST. PETE, Fla. — Musicians from across Tampa Bay will be taking the stage one after another at Cage Brewing in St. Pete Sunday for Storm Aid, a benefit concert to support the victims of Hurricane Ian.
“We really wanted to bill this as a Tampa Bay musicians unite for South West Florida,” musician and promoter Christian Walker said.
Walker was scheduled to perform in Ft. Myers this weekend with his band Dead Set Florida, but after Hurricane Ian changed life in that city forever, he teamed up with Cage Brewing owner Bob Hughes to put on a benefit concert right here in St. Pete.
“It all just came together so quickly and so perfectly. Actually, it’s like God put everything in place," Walker said.
Within 48 hours, Walker had booked some of Tampa Bay’s most popular bands, including Billy McKnight and the Soul Circus Cowboys.
“I’m a Florida native, and we love this state," McKnight said. "We’re surrounded by water, and it’s the risk we take because we have our hurricanes. When Christian called over here from Cage and said 'We are going to do a big benefit concert and help out our fellow Floridians,' we jumped right on it."
Earlier this year, the band released a new music video called "The Sunshine State." McKnight hopes that’s exactly what this concert does: bring a ray of sunshine.
“Bizarrely enough, it’s these disasters that show the love that we got for one another, and we’re all kicking in to do our part,” McKnight said.
Storm Aid starts at noon on Sunday and runs all the way to 10 p.m. Tickets are $25, with all proceeds going toward The Southwest Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
“100% of the net proceeds from this event go directly to them, and they spoon-feed that money to the people who need it in the community right away,” Walker said. “Just count our blessings because it could have been us, and that’s why we are doing this. Those are our family, those are our friends in Southwest Florida.”