Colt Ford Gets Help From Jason Aldean, James Otto + More for Hometown Benefit Concert

On Tuesday evening, August 16, Athens, Ga. was the place to be as Colt Ford hosted a special benefit concert in honor of Senior Police Officer Tony Howard and Senior Police Officer Elmer “Buddy” Christian -- two police officers injured in a shooting earlier this year, resulting in Christian losing his life.

As someone who was born and raised in Athens, Ford felt it was his duty to help honor the officers and their families by holding his Colt Ford and Friends benefit at the Georgia Theater, bringing along some fellow Georiga boys with big names such as Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, Rhett Akins, hit songwriter Dallas Davidson and special guest Corey Smith.

"It was just amazing," Ford told Taste of Country following the concert. "To do something like what we were trying to do, which was raise money for two police officers who were shot, one was killed, you’ve got to have friends. It's incredible to think about all the artists that came out and gave their time because they’re friends of mine, and I asked them to come because it was something that was important to me. For someone like Jason who is that successful right now -- he’s at the top of his game -- so for him to make time for this was amazing. It’s humbling for all these artists to take their time to do this."

Others who participated in event were James Otto, Edwin McCain, Mike Dekel and newcomer Rachel Farley. In addition to money raised by concert ticket sales, there was a silent auction that pulled in some big bucks, as items included autographed guitars from Carrie Underwood and Darius Rucker, a signed T-shirt from Keith Urban, and other items from the likes of Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Kid Rock, Eric Church, Luke Bryan and more.

"We raised a ton of money with the auction," noted Ford. "Everybody that I reached out to and told them that I needed something, I got it. Some of these people who gave items to the auction I’ve only met in passing and I don’t really know them that well, but that shows you what kind of people they are. That’s why I love what I do and where I’m at because country music fans and artists are the best in the world when it comes to giving back and helping somebody else. It’s important to give back when you have the opportunity. It’s important to me to be good to folks. It’s who I am, I guess."

One of the night's more special moments for Ford came when he shared the stage with Gilbert and Aldean to performed the hit 'Dirt Road Anthem,' which they wrote and Aldean took to the top of the charts.

"It was kind of a reunion," Ford says of the collaboration. "Brantley's been like a brother to me. That was pretty special because the very first time we preformed that live was at the old Georgia Theater that burned down. That was the very first place that Brantley and I ever did that, so it was kind of full circle to come back to here and play this thing again with Jason Aldean who took it to No. 1. That song certainly has changed my life. It couldn’t have been a more awesome night."