In 2020, we launched a new project that resulted in the formation of Musicians for a Smokefree Tennessee, a statewide coalition of musicians, public health partners, and businesses coming together to encourage Tennessee to go smokefree inside its music venues and bars. ANR Foundation has been collaborating with public health partners in Tennessee for decades on smokefree and other tobacco control projects, but hasn’t witnessed momentum like this in quite some time.
In just over a year, this coalition has grown from 4 partners to 85, and has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Tennessean, News Channel 5 Nashville, the East Nashvillian; Tennessee Lookout; Fox17; and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. We’ve helped 8 venues go smokefree, including the state’s largest, Nissan Stadium.
The Smokefree Music Cities project and the Musicians for a Smokefree Tennessee continue to work together with artists across Tennessee and recently launched “Smokefree Sessions,” a video series designed to bring awareness to musicians’ exposure to secondhand smoke in bars and clubs. We currently have eight artists from Chattanooga and Memphis, and we are recruiting more to join in!
Watch Musicians for a Smokefree Tennessee’s Facebook and Instagram for Testimonial Tuesdays, Friday Facts and Smokefree Sessions every other Sunday.
