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Locals rally to help fellow musician Mike McDade

Singer and performer Mike McDade has been performing and hosting open-mic nights around Chattanooga for more than a decade. Fellow performers are putting together a benefit show Thurday night, Aug. 15, at Songbirds South to help pay recent medical bills McDade has accrued. / Contributed photo from Gail Lindsey McDade
Singer and performer Mike McDade has been performing and hosting open-mic nights around Chattanooga for more than a decade. Fellow performers are putting together a benefit show Thurday night, Aug. 15, at Songbirds South to help pay recent medical bills McDade has accrued. / Contributed photo from Gail Lindsey McDade Singer and performer Mike McDade has been performing and hosting open-mic nights around Chattanooga for more than a decade. Fellow performers are putting together a benefit show Thurday night, Aug. 15, at Songbirds South to help pay recent medical bills McDade has accrued. / Contributed photo from Gail Lindsey McDade

By Barry Courter 4 min read

The Lineup

Hara PaperButch RossJennifer Daniels & Jeff NealAmber FultsLew CardJordan HallquistRyan OyerScarlet Love ConspiracyThe RoundersThe Bohannons

When Channing Wilson heard that fellow local musician Mike McDade was having major heart surgery, he did what so many local artists and fans have done over the years – put together a benefit show. He reached out to some of his old bandmates in The Rounders and asked them to be part of the all-star lineup.

“I had heard Mike [McDade] had quadruple bypass surgery, and I knew that he would have to take time off his gig, which is running open-mic nights around Chattanooga. Also the bills, I’m sure, are piling up after a procedure like that. I’ve done my share of benefits and charity shows, so I might as well get one in for someone I actually know and owe a debt of gratitude to,” Wilson said.

The Mike McDade Benefit Concert is set for 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, at Songbirds South. Admission is $15.

Joining Wilson in this edition of The Rounders will be Mike Hagaman and Bryan Gross with Anthony Simms filling in on the guitar for original guitarist Cecil “PeeWee” Moore. Since the band parted ways, Moore has traveled the country with his own band, the Awful Dreadful Snakes, and as a solo act. Wilson has become a successful songwriter, having co-written the No. 1 Luke Combs hit “She Got the Best of Me.”