Greg Williamson on The Healing Power of Live Music

In 2017, a group of people including myself, fashion designer John Varvatos, my partner Nicole Rechter, and the leadership of the venerable and beloved New York based charity, God’s Love We Deliver, started a concert in New York City called Love Rocks NYC which was designed to help New Yorkers who are too sick to cook or shop for themselves.

Since 2017, these annual concerts have raised millions of dollars to help support this important cause. The overarching theme of the concert was, and always will be, to bring people together through the healing power of live music.

Today, as America is in crisis, and the live music industry has come to a complete halt, that healing power of music is needed more now than ever.

Music is an art form that unites, it speaks to people of all languages and backgrounds, it combats mental health and it lifts us up. It has the ability to literally take us out of ourselves. And to quote the great Aretha Franklin, “music is uplifting, it’s encouraging, and it’s strengthening”.

There is much speculation about when the live music business will return and what it will look like when it does. With mass gatherings likely to be included in the final stages of the re-opening process, the live music industry could be one of the last businesses to return.

In addition to this art form being sorely missed and desperately needed, it is also extremely urgent that artists, crew members and venues be supported during these unprecedented times. Music has so many important functions - beyond the ability to heal and unite - that we must make sure these sectors of the business remain solvent and cared for as we forge ahead through this crisis.

The message of this article - particularly as we navigate this unprecedented pandemic and its severe health and economic impacts - is to remember that our artists are some of the most transformative and powerful people in our society, and that they have the magic to heal us and to move us with their music and song. Long live the live music industry, and may it be able to safely return sooner rather than later!

Greg Williamson is a licensed real estate broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, a producer of live music events such as annual charity benefit concert Love Rocks NYC as the co-founder of UpperWest Music Group, and a supporter of nonprofit organizations local to his hometown of New York City and nationally. Greg is married to Katy Yulman Williamson, and together they have 2 children.