| Jackson festival includes UC native | | Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 9:12 pm
| By KEVIN BOWDEN
Staff Reporter
Downtown Jackson will celebrate fatherhood in grand fashion Saturday with a variety of events scheduled as part of The Greer Campaign’s Run Jackson.
The one-day festival will feature American Idol finalist Jason Castro as well as New Orleans Saints cornerback Jabari Greer as part of the impressive lineup.
The festival will also feature the vocal talents of Russell Dickerson, a native of Union City who is scheduled to perform late Saturday afternoon.
He is the son of Richard and Carol Dickerson. Richard Dickerson served as the minister of music at First Baptist Church in Union City from 1983 until 1997 and currently serves in that capacity and minister of worship at Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville.
Russell Dickerson, 25, attended school in Union City through the fourth grade, when he and his parents moved to Franklin. He graduated from Centennial High School in 2005 and graduated from Belmont University with a degree in commercial voice.
As a fourth-grader, the young Dickerson performed in the former East Side Elementary musical at the Union City Civic Auditorium. His mother was the director of the musical and it was his first time performing on stage. He performed the Garth Brooks song “Standing Outside the Fire.”
Russell Dickerson’s career in music has blossomed since then. His professional debut came when he was asked to go on tour with Christian artist Chris Tomlin, who wrote and performs such well-known songs as “How Great Is Our God” and “Indescribable.” At 19 years old, Russell Dickerson was working as a band technician, setting up shows for Tomlin as he toured across the United States and in Europe.
As a senior at Belmont University, the former Union Citian signed a four-year contract with Combustion Music as an artist and writer. His father said it is “very rare” for a college senior to be signed up by that agency.
The Nashville Creative Artist Agency, which is in charge of Dickerson’s bookings, agency handles such country superstars as Alabama, Carrie Underwood, the Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Kellie Pickler, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Sugarland and the Zac Brown Band.
As for Saturday’s performance, Dickerson is scheduled to take the stage in downtown Jackson at 5 p.m. and both his parents plan to be in attendance at the performance.
In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, he said his music career is “very much on track” and — after a year of writing music — he will be heading to a Nashville recording studio in July to begin work on his first album. He will be working with country music producer Dan Huss, who works with such talent as Hill, Rascal Flatts and Urban. He hopes to have his new album released in early 2013.
Reminiscing about his time touring with Tomlin, he said it was “an amazing experience.”
Most recently, he was in south Florida in May at the Key West Songwriters Festival, where he enjoyed networking and “hanging out with all of Nashville’s best songwriters.”
As for the type of music he writes, he described some of his songs as up-tempo love songs and heartbreak ballads.
One of his songs — “That’s My Girl” — is currently available on iTunes.
Run Jackson is being hosted by The Greer Campaign with assistance from the Jackson Downtown Development Corporation. The event will take place in blocked off streets around Jackson City Hall.
The festival will begin at 8 a.m. with a 5K race followed by a one-mile family march with Greer and the Jackson-Madison County Schools Drum Line All Stars. Registration for the race and march will begin at 7.
There will also be a family auction, children’s games and races for Special Needs Athletic members and community heroes. Food and drinks will be available from several Jackson vendors.
Sprint races will begin at 10 a.m. with a 50-yard dash for special needs athletics members. There will be race for communities heroes, which will involve firefighters, police and EMTs from across the region and a 50-yard dash with entrants competing against Greer.
WYN 106.9 West Tennessee Idol/Texaco Country Showdown Finalists will take the stage at 1 p.m., followed at 2:30 by a performance featuring Castro, a finalist from American Idol’s seventh season.
The afternoon of music will continue with the performance by Dickerson, as well as Saul 2 Paul and Smooth Jazz Progression. Joeneshia Green will be featured throughout the day.
The festival will also feature artists, crafters, organizations and small businesses and organizations who will have booths set up during the day. There will be a family auction that will begin at 10:30 a.m. and special Father’s Day T-shirts will be available for purchase at The Greer Campaign booth.
“We have four goals for this event,” Greer said. “Unite fathers and families, bring the community together, bring attention to downtown Jackson and raise money to strengthen our families. With so many people coming together, we’re going to make a huge statement about the importance of family unity.”
Greer graduated from Jackson’s South Side High School and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, where he was a three-year starter at cornerback for the Vols and a track and field record holder. He was signed by the Buffalo Bills in 2004 and became a starter for the Saints in 2009, the same season the New Orleans team won the Super Bowl.
A father of four, Greer is passionate about supporting fatherhood — encouraging dads who are single or married to take active, loving, involved roles in their children’s lives. That led to his founding of The Greer Campaign.
For more information about The Greer Campaign, go online to http://thegreercampaign.org.
Staff Reporter Kevin Bowden may be contacted by email at kmbowden@ucmessenger. Published in The Messenger 6.15.12 | | | | |
