Jelly Roll will be the special performer during the third annual Nashville Bourbon Auction, presented by Alliance Bernstein, and set for Nov. 16 at Nashville supper club The Electric Jane.
Buffalo Trace Distillery is sponsoring the 2023 Nashville Bourbon Auction, and will present its full antique collection. The evening will include a live auction, hosted by Nashville business leaders Max Goldberg and Mark Lombardi, that features allocated whiskey, exclusive experiences and a barrel of one of Buffalo Trace’s award-winning bourbons.
The 2023 Nashville Bourbon Auction will benefit the youth development and mentoring program Impact Youth Outreach (IYO) and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity.
The idea to bring in two-time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper — and current five-time CMA Awards nominee — Jelly Roll as the featured performer for this year’s event came through a friendship between Bernstein Private Wealth principal Dan Weisman and Jelly Roll’s co-manager John Meneilly.
“He came to last year’s event, and mentioned the idea of Jelly Roll performing at this year’s event, and of course Jelly’s career has skyrocketed even more since then,” Weisman tells Billboard.
The Nashville Bourbon Auction launched in 2021, spearheaded by Weisman, musician Drew Holcomb, Lombardi and Goldberg. That inaugural event raised over $100,000 for the TN Golf Foundation. Last year, the event moved to Nashville’s SoHo House and raised $170,000 for former senator Bill Frist’s healthcare nonprofit NashvilleHealth.
The 2023 auction is presented by AllianceBernstein, Bridgeford Trust and Best Brands, and hosted by Weisman, Goldberg, Lombardi, Holcomb, Ryan Moses, Ken Levitan, Robert Sherrill, Paul Steele, Adam Sansiveri, Q Taylor, Sam Reed, Seth Seigle, Jessie Beegle and Meneilly.
“I attended the first annual Nashville Bourbon Auction as a guest in 2021 and was sat next to Master P,” Levitan said in a statement. “It was at that moment I realized what a special event Dan had put together. This year’s event with Jelly Roll is raising money for two great organizations including another one I’m on the board of, the CMHOF, and I’m excited to help the event continue to grow.”
“The nonprofit Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is honored to be a beneficiary of the Nashville Bourbon Auction, and grateful to Daniel Weisman, Adam Sansiveri and AllianceBernstein for creating this opportunity,” Lisa Purcell, the Museum’s executive vice president of external affairs, said in a statement. “We’re pleased that Jelly Roll will be performing, knowing his music inspires empathy and builds community, much like the Museum education programs the event will support. In 2023, the Museum is on pace to serve over 130,000 people through more than 1,300 educational programs, and the sponsors, hosts and contributors to this event help make our work possible.”
Weisman adds that there are hopes to expand the event to other markets such as Los Angeles.
“Buffalo Trace, they are the pinnacle of having a bourbon partner on this,” he says. “The event structure is very repeatable because it mixes bourbon aficionados, music and business leaders in whatever market you are in, and you get this powder keg of people wanting to support a great cause and have a good time.”
Tickets are available at donorbox.org.