Seventh Annual Event Featured The Second Amplify Decatur Music Festival and Four Nights of Music at Eddie’s Attic

May 3, 2017 (Atlanta) — The nonprofit group Amplify My Community announced today that the 2017 Amplify Decatur concert series raised $40,000 for Decatur Cooperative Ministry (DCM), a Decatur-based, nonprofit organization that works to prevent and alleviate poverty and homelessness in Decatur and DeKalb County. Amplify Decatur has raised and donated more than $150,000 to DCM since 2011. This year’s $40,000 gift is the most an Amplify concert series has generated to date.

The concert series was presented by Lenz, a Decatur-based marketing agency, and produced in partnership with Eddie’s Attic, the Southeast’s premier music listening room. Christine Mahin, who helped plan and produce the inaugural Amplify Decatur Music Festival in 2016, served as festival director.

On April 22, thousands gathered on the Downtown Decatur Square for the Amplify Decatur Musical Festival, the centerpiece of the concert series.

“Our goal is to create a premier festival experience that unites the community through the quality of the event itself as well as through the compassion of helping others,” said Drew Robinson, President of the Board of Amplify My Community.

Americana legend and three-time Grammy winner Lucinda Williams headlined the outdoor festival, which drew more than 2,000 guests. Also performing were Noah Gundersen, John Moreland, Harold Holloway & Company, Packway Handle Band, and Kristen Englenz & The Committed.

“Anyone who attended the event will recognize how special this community is, as hundreds of volunteers, sponsors, restaurants, beer vendors, citizens, city officials, police force, and artists came together to create a magical night,” said Lenz President and CEO and Amplify Advisory Board Chairman Richard J. Lenz. “It takes a village to put on a great event like we experienced, and I can’t thank them enough. I was lucky enough to spend time with Lucinda and she said she was impressed with the event and audience, which meant a lot.”

According to Robinson, plans are already on deck for next year’s festival.

“We believe we really hit our mark with this year’s festival,” Robinson said, “and we hope that Amplify Decatur will be the premier annual music festival that the city of Decatur needs and deserves.”

Amplify Decatur also featured a four-night stand at historic Eddie’s Attic, featuring Caroline Herring, Leopold & His Fiction, Scott Miller, Bob Sima, and Angie Keilhauer. On April 30, it culminated with the Bob Dylan vs. The Band cover night featuring seven local and regional acts.

Major sponsors included WABE 90.1 FM, The Pinewood, Lockman Homebuilding, The Leafmore Group, Decatur Package Store, Natalie Gregory, and Iris and Bruce Feinberg. Additional sponsors included AtlantaBen.com, Georgia Urology, Hall, Booth, Smith, First Baptist Decatur, Courtyard Marriott, Oakhurst Realty Partners, Plumb Works, Creative Loafing, Scott D. Miller M.D., McCurdy & Candler LLC, Private Bank of Decatur, Verisol Partners, Travis Grubb Residential, Decatur Rotary Club, North Decatur Methodist Church, 97.1 The River, Brick Store Pub, Decatur Presbyterian Church, Decatur CD, Oakhurst Baptist Church, Dynamo Swim Club, Holy Trinity Parish, The Arlo, and New Chance Signs.

The mission of Decatur Cooperative Ministry is to help families facing homelessness settle into safe, stable homes and build healthy lives filled with peace, hope, and opportunity. A member of the City of Decatur community for more than 45 years, DCM provides families in crisis with 90-days of emergency shelter for women and children, six months of transitional housing for homeless families, permanent supportive housing for homeless families with disabilities, financial assistance for families facing eviction/utility disconnection and emergency assistance for low-income veteran households. More information is available at DecaturCooperativeMinistry.org.

Based in Decatur, Georgia, Lenz partners with its clients to grow together. For more than two decades, Lenz’s specialized expertise has helped our clients reach their goals. Lenz offers the full range of digital and traditional marketing expertise, including brand strategy, advertising, PR, website development, inbound marketing, and more. More information is available at LenzMarketing.com.

Amplify My Community was founded in 2010 and is based in Decatur, Georgia. Its mission is to leverage the universal love of music to fight poverty at the local level. To date, Amplify has raised and donated more than $250,000 in unrestricted gifts to locally oriented anti-homelessness and poverty-focused organizations — including more than $150,000 in Decatur. Amplify has held concert series in Atlanta, Athens, Decatur, Suwanee, and Duluth, Georgia; Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlottesville, Virginia.

Interviews available upon request.