Update: Blake Shelton, Dave Matthews, Roger Daltrey Join LEVL UP Fest Lineup

LEVL UP Fest has added Dave Matthews, Blake Shelton and Roger Daltrey to its artist lineup, bringing the number of performing artists up to 25. The event is still streaming from the Ryman Auditorium on Dec. 16 at 8:30 p.m. EST.

LEVL UP Fest co-founder Eileen Valois said in a statement: “Creating an incredible live show is what our team, and all of our production partners, do best. Speaking up, drawing attention to ourselves…not so much.  We’re an industry of people who work behind the curtain, blending into the background, making our artists, entertainers, and guests the focal point in everything we do. We’re humbled to now have so many of them supporting us, showing their appreciation for their crews, and amplifying the message of Live Events Lift Up Festival.”

Jimmie Allen, Shy Carter, and Jason Mraz top the list of artist playing the Live Events Lift Up (LEVL UP) Festival livestream benefit on Dec. 16 to support the 12 million live event industry workers who have been dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown of their industry.

Other artists performing include The War And Treaty, John Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Ray, Indigo Girls, Dispatch, Keala Settle, Mt. Joy, Augustana, Lucie Silvas, Annie Bosko, Bre Kennedy, CJ Hammond & Sloan, and Veridia.

The event is being streamed from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on the No Cap Shows platform and on Twitch, and is being organized with input from groups like Roadies of Color United, Event Safety Alliance, and We Make Events. The full list of organizations partnering to put on LEVL UP Fest is available at the LEVL UP Fest website.

The purpose of the event is to raise funds and awareness for the millions of Americans who remain out of work and in desperate need of aid as the live event industry has been virtually non-operational since March, and still looks to be the last to return. Funds raised through the festival will be distributed through MusiCares, The Roadie Clinic and the Country Music Association Foundation, which will distribute funds through the CMA EDU program.

The show will be hosted by Nicole Ryan, co-host of SiriusXm Hits 1’s “The Morning Mash Up.” Ryan said in a statement: “When my management team approached me to host, it was especially impactful because I’ve spent the last 14 years on air and in person, interviewing top artists whose careers I’ve not only watched grow, but I’ve gotten to play a hand in on radio which helped ignite and widen their audience reach.  Now witnessing the rippling effects of Covid-19 suspend the artists’ ability to tour, all crew members across the world unemployed and on an indefinite pause with little to no income coming in, as an industry and as a society moved by music constantly in our everyday livelihoods, it’s our responsibility to step up.”

Cisco Adler, who was featured on the cover of Pollstar earlier this year, said in a statement: “Almost my whole adult life I have been touring in one shape or form and the road crews on my team and the venue crews that welcomed us and helped us put on a great show are all part of my extended touring family. They really make it possible for artists like me to do what we do, and they are truly unsung heroes. They are also the first to be hit hard by a situation like this so part of our mission at NoCap is to get shows happening again and get these good people back to work. This cause that LEVL up is supporting is the essence of that as well and it was only right that we get involved and give back to those who have given so much to us and our fans. It wasn’t ever a question.”