Award-winning Nashville recording artists and local country western band, Gunsmoke is performing its latest Music for Hope benefit concert, Home for the Holidays at the Piedmont Club in Darien on Saturday, December 7th. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Also performing at the benefit, and back by popular demand, is classic rock and soul band, The Law.
Gunsmoke performs regularly at Broadway’s Opry City Stage and has recorded six albums, performed for two sitting Presidents of the United States, and has been enshrined in the Connecticut country music hall of fame. The band was formed by brothers Jeff and Nick DeMaio Jr. of Darien, and has been performing classic country, western, swing and rockabilly music for over 25 years. In addition to Jeff and Nick, Gunsmoke includes band members Christina Mae, Van Manakas, Guy "Fooch" Fischetti and Nick DeMaio III. The Law performs classic rock and rhythm and blues music and consists of Luke Appleton-Webster, Frank LaVelle, Nick DeMaio III and Matt Pavia.
Gunsmoke established Music for Hope in 2010 to raise funds to fight cancer on both the local and national level. Through concerts, dinner dances and recordings, Gunsmoke and friends have raised thousands of dollars for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, The Bennett Cancer Center at Stamford Hospital and The Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital. In 2018, the band raised funds for the Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse for hurricane relief. For the second year, the band has added the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund as one of their beneficiaries.
Admission for the Music for Hope benefit concert is $15. Reservations or donations may be made in advance at 203 655-7884. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the show, which begins at 7 p.m. The Piedmont Club is located at 152 Hecker Avenue in Darien. For more information about the Piedmont Club, go to piedmontclub.org. To find out more about Gunsmoke, visit gunsmokeband.com.