Pickathon has always been built for the digital age, with an army of audiovisual specialists, high-tech equipment, and a commitment to film not only every stage and performance, but secret video stages and extra performances each year. When Pickathon realized that the 2020 festival would have to be postponed due to COVID, they pivoted immediately and opened up their extensive vaults of content for a 100+ day fundraiser for MusiCares. A Concert A Day brought never-before-seen festival performances to live streamed audiences and raised $200,000, including Spofity’s matching contributions, for MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fundraiser. With millions of viewers and bands including Tyler Childers, Drive-By Truckers, Lake Street Dive, Blind Boys of Alabama, Phil Lesh and Terrapin Family Band, Jeff Tweedy, Tanks & The Bangas, Andrew Bird, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, and many more.
“During these challenging times when our community was prevented from gathering together in person, A Concert A Day ended up being an amazing journey to virtually connect and raise significant money for artists in need,” said festival founder and director Zale Schoenborn. “We’re looking forward to going out in style over our festival weekend!”
Pickathon will wrap up their A Concert A Day initiative with a star-studded 12+ hour livestream of past Pickathon concerts and original shorts from July 31 to August 2nd. The goal is to raise $60,000 more over the weekend for MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fundraiser, and Spotify has agreed to keep matching donations. Drive By Truckers, who started the livestreaming series, will wrap it up Sunday night, and Pickathon At Home will include video greetings from artists slated to play at Pickathon 2020, surprise guests, a special video for ticket holders, and exclusive merch. Pickathon At Home will stream on Facebook via Pickathon and the Recording Academy / GRAMMYs, and on Pickathon’s YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram.
