Old Crow Medicine Releases Protest Song "Louder Than Guns"

Cait Stoddard April 27th, 2023 - 4:31 PM

Today Old Crow Medicine Show have released a protest song called “Louder Than Guns,” which in partnership with 97Percent who are a bipartisan gun safety organization working to create researched-backed policies supported by both non-gun owners and gun owners.

Recorded in the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting last month, “Louder Than Guns” was penned by bandleader Ketch Secor, who is a father of two and co-founder of The Episcopal School of Nashville. Furthering Secor’s commitment to the cause, the bandleader will also join 97Percent’s advisory board.

Guns are now the leading cause of death among children in the United States, and more than 349,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine in 1999.

Following the devastating shooting in Nashville last month, Secor was compelled to speak out in an effort to unite Nashville’s music community in the fight for gun reform. The artist penned a compelling guest essay for The New York Times, spoke with Rolling Stone, CNN’s The Assignment with Audie Cornish and The CBC. Also Secor will appear in a live taping of KCRW’s Left, Right & Center in Washington, D.C. tonight.

In the press release Secor discusses his thoughts behind Old Crow Medicine Show‘s latest tune.

“When the lives of 6 teachers and students were snuffed out in a couple minutes at Covenant School in Nashville, I knew I had to speak out, and so I sought every opportunity to do so. I wrote the song ‘Louder Than Guns’ and recorded it just a week after the funerals for the slain. Before we recorded the track, I carved their names in my fiddle – Hallie, Evelyn, William, the three 9-year-olds, and Mike, Cynthia, and Katherine, the three educators.”

The musician adds: “I dedicate this song to them because I swore when the shooting came to Nashville I was going to work my hardest to make it the last stop on this runaway train of murders, gun violence, and terror. I stand up not knowing the answers as to how this will be done. I am a musician, not a politician. But I will use my voice from now on to demand the change our communities deserve; won’t you join us in Old Crow Medicine Show and take a stand in your community, too?”

Yesterday 97Percent and Wunderman Thompson launched the campaign “Aim For Change,” which takes aim at gun safety by giving a voice to a group usually shut out of the conversation: gun owners. “Aim for Change” is a petition featuring four gun reform laws that 97Percent’s research shows are supported by gun owners.

Old Crow Medicine Releases Protest Song “Louder Than Guns”