Free Clinic’s annual benefit concert to feature solo performance by Brandi Carlile

Six-time Grammy Award winner Brandi Carlile will present a solo performance on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. at the Ting Pavilion in Charlottesville. The event is the 18th annual benefit concert to support the Charlottesville Free Clinic. The concert also coincides with the nonprofit’s 30th anniversary of service to the Charlottesville community.

Tickets go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9.

Carlile was the most-nominated woman at the 61st annual Grammy Awards in 2021, with six nominations, including Album of the Year (By the Way, I Forgive You) and Song of the Year (“The Joke”). Her sixth album, By the Way, I Forgive You, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums. Her seventh album, In These Silent Days, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Folk Albums charts.

Carlile’s music through the years has been categorized in several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country and folk. She recently appeared on-stage with folk legend Joni Mitchell at the Newport Folk Festival.

Proceeds from the benefit concert enable the Free Clinic to provide high-quality medical care, mental health services, dental care and prescription medications to uninsured and under-insured individuals, at no cost to them.

“The Free Clinic was founded 30 years ago by two UVA medical residents who came to realize that thousands of people in Charlottesville were regularly forced to choose between paying rent and seeking medical attention or buying groceries and getting dental care because they had no insurance,” said Susan Sherman, the Free Clinic’s executive director.

The business model employs a streamlined staff supported by a vast network of volunteer healthcare professionals and medical, dental and pharmacy students who receive superior training focusing on the delivery of compassionate care with dignity to our most vulnerable community members. With the support of some 800 volunteer providers, the clinic serves nearly 3,000 patients annually.

“Our founders assumed the Free Clinic would be a stopgap until universal healthcare was the law of the land. Medicaid expansion did provide insurance for thousands of previously uninsured Virginians, but there are still scores of people who are still uninsured and have no other option for care,” said Sherman. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to gather the community together for this event and are grateful for our partners at Red Light Management and Ting Pavilion, who make it possible.”

As a nonprofit organization, the Free Clinic depends on financial support from the community to serve patients without passing on costs to them. The benefit concert is one of the organization’s primary fundraisers.

For more information, contact Clarissa Dulaney at the Charlottesville Free Clinic: [email protected] or (434) 295-8965.