American Revival

06/02/2026

We are so grateful to Powered by Faith for their partnership and belief in the American Revival. Their belief that a just, loving, and compassionate future is possible is exactly what brings people together to show up for one another as neighbors, and it is exactly what we are trying to carry forward with this work.

Thank you for helping power this work. We are honored to be building something together!

05/27/2026

From the plateau of Grundy County to the streets of Memphis, we are still carrying all the good we felt during our time in Tennessee. If you were there, you know. If you weren’t, we hope you’ll join us next time.
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We are just getting started.

05/23/2026

The American Revival shows are amazing, but getting to talk with the folks making a difference in their communities every day is just as wonderful!

We loved hearing about the exciting new chapter ahead for the Brooks Museum of Art, exploring Memphis green spaces through Experience Memphis Gardens, discovering that Memphis Youth Arts has a choreographed performance set to “Tennessee” by Arrested Development, hearing about events at Cazateatro, a bilingual theater company, and finally meeting the iconic Felicia Peat, aka WKNO’s Teacher Teacher, and seeing that fabulous hat in person!

And that’s just a handful of the incredible nonprofits who showed up. Thank you to everyone who shared their work with us at the Memphis Helpers Festival.

05/22/2026

Five cities. Five revivals. Thousands of people who showed up and remembered what it feels like to belong to one another.

From Bentonville to Montgomery, Cape Cod to Grundy County to Memphis, American Revival has been carried forward by artists, volunteers, neighbors, students, musicians, and communities willing to believe that something better is still possible.

None of it happens without the people who believed in this work from the beginning. We are deeply grateful to our partners at Stand Together for helping make these first five Revivals real!

Looking forward to all that comes next.

05/20/2026

We are so grateful that one of the most extraordinary musicians alive said YES! to Memphis on short notice. Five Grammy Awards, 14 Blues Foundation Awards, and more than 50 years of a career that has touched every corner of American music, and he showed up for us and for Memphis without hesitation. That tells you everything you need to know about who Keb' Mo' is.

Memphis, we hope you felt how special that moment was! We certainly did.

Thank you, Keb’. We are always honored to be with you!

📸 1 & 2:

05/17/2026

The Whitehaven High School Drumline opened the American Revival: Memphis, and they crushed it. Stunning photos captured by

05/15/2026

Dear Memphis,

It was such an honor to be in community with your artists, helpers, students, teachers, families, chefs, servers, preachers, rabbis, and organizers this week.

We had a tight timeline on our show — and it wouldn’t have happened at all without the extraordinary trust and hospitality gifted to us from the entire Memphian community.

Our Memphis show featured the Whitehaven High School Drumline, words by Nicholas Ma, music and poetry by Yo-Yo Ma and Tasha LaRae, the blues from Keb’ Mo’, magic by Valerie June with her fearless string trio featuring Alice Hasen and Tamar Love, energy and presence from Arrested Development, and students from Montgomery’s Valiant Cross Academy reminding us that Love is the Answer.

We can’t wait to be back.

Dear Memphis, we love you.

-

📸 These stunning photos and videos were taken by Memphis-based photographer Sean Davis.

05/14/2026

On a Tuesday in Grundy County Tennesee…

American Revival welcomed eight superstars, five lion dancers, two community music groups, one Cherokee Episcopal priest, and of course, all of you, into one of the country’s most sacred natural performing spaces. 

We witnessed the Plateau Community Choir perform “Orphans of God,” Nicholas Ma remind us that we are in the right place at the right time, Abigail Washburn and Yo-Yo Ma play “Bright Morning Star” – you could hear a pin drop – Martha Redbone and Béla Fleck join Abigail for a stunning rendition of “Warrior”, Bude van Dyck enlighten our audience with the prayer of the four directions, T Bone Burnett sing “Everybody wants peace / But nobody wants to surrender” –  Arrested Development get everybody out of their seat for “Tennessee” – which does in fact hit different in Tennessee – and Montgomery’s Valiant Cross Academy join everybody for a finale with local lion dancers to say Love is the Answer. 

We will never forget this night.

Thank you, Grundy County.

05/14/2026

💜💜

🤎What a day at the Helpers Festival!

We loved spending Saturday surrounded by so many neighbors, volunteers, and organizations who care deeply about Grundy County. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘂𝗽, 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to learn more about Housing Hub, share your own housing stories, or just say hello. Every conversation helps us understand the real needs in our community and strengthens the work we’re doing together to make safe, affordable homeownership a reality for more families.

And a huge shout‑out to American Revival and all the “helpers” who make this festival such a bright spot. We’re grateful to be part of a community that believes in showing up for one another.

Here’s to building, learning, and getting stronger —together. 🏡

05/12/2026

We are thrilled to feature this beautiful piece, “Holding Polarities” by Pippa Browne on our Grundy County postcard. Be sure to fill one out and add your voice to our Postcard Project at our events this week!