FACES OF CHANGE: JAMIE KENT
CREATING A SMOKEFREE TENNESSEE
By Caroline Mills
Jamie Kent. Get used to hearing this change-maker’s name.
Named an “Artist You Need To Know” by Rolling Stone in 2018, Kent is a singer-songwriter with decades of experience touring the world with the likes of Reba McEntire, Huey Lewis & The News, Brandy Clark, The Doobie Bros, America, Brothers Osborne and more. This well-traveled and well-respected musician could live anywhere, yet luckily for us, he chooses to live in Nashville; and we’re even more fortunate that he’s chosen to be a champion for musician’s rights.
As early as 2009, Kent used his entrepreneurial spirit, and his degree in business, to spark support for his fellow artists. His first project, The Collective, created a platform for artists to directly connect with their fans, who were given exclusive access to creative content for a small subscription fee. From there, his activism in the music community continued to grow.
Fast forward ten years, COVID-19 shut down the live entertainment industry and decimated artists’ livelihood. Kent sprung into action, joining forces with some friends to launch the nonprofit organization, People Supporting Artists (PSA), to help provide financial assistance to struggling artists. As a communications strategist, he promoted the cause through an April telethon composed of 40 artists sharing their voices and experiences, generating over $15,000 for the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund.
But there was something else that was keeping him up at night…
Drawing from his own experience playing bars and smaller venues across the state, and how these smoky environments exacerbated his asthma, Kent realized that hundreds, maybe even thousands of artists’ were also subjected to heavy secondhand smoke every time they performed. And even if just a handful of these musicians were immunocompromised, everyone deserved to work in a healthy environment.
Diving headfirst into the issue, Kent soon discovered that a 2007 Tennessee law prohibited indoor smoking in most businesses, but actually exempted bars and music venues with an over-21 age limit. And although the state has four times the national average of working musicians, it appeared that no one on Capitol Hill had been successfully approached to provide protections to help safeguard those musicians’ health. Kent remembers thinking, “a vast majority of Tennesseans enjoy the guarantee of a safe and smoke-free workplace. Shouldn’t musicians and hospitality workers be treated the same? In a state that prides itself on a rich heritage of music and entertainment, that only seems fair.”
And with that, he decided to start a movement. Kent connected with the Smokefree Music Cities Initiative, a national organization which has helped many metropolitan areas and musical hubs pass smokefree ordinances thus far, including Atlanta, New Orleans, and Austin. They were happy to support Jamie, and helped him put the pieces together to begin creating a local campaign here in Nashville. In October of 2020, Kent, launched Musicians for a Smokefree Tennessee in a heroic attempt to make Tennessee's bars and music venues smoke-free for the protection of its live performers and hospitality workers.
One of Jamie’s first moves in announcing the coalition was releasing a campaign anthem which featured eight talented artists and highlighted shocking smoking statistics. Within the first three months of advocating for the cause, Smokefree Tennessee successfully helped Nissan Stadium become a completely non-smoking venue in partnership with the Nashville Department of Public Health. Bridgestone Arena also began offering concertgoers and Predators fans a smoke-free environment. Suddenly, a domino effect took over and the coalition began to receive support from local universities, national medical associations and prestigious Tennessee concert halls.
By November, more than 80 organizations were on board with the cause and 23 artists participated in a campaign to help share the message. Through an array of taped testimonials, performers began to share the challenges that smoke-filled venues created. Derek Webb, a Nashville native musician, admitted, “I’ve definitely faced significant challenges as a performer in venues where smoking is allowed, mostly resulting in severe sore throats, and they have sometimes caused me to cut shows short.”
Musicians for a Smokefree Tennessee’s social media campaign began to connect with more and more supporters as it brought to light little known facts about the financial impact of smoking on the state of Tennessee, including a $3.6 billion loss in workplace productivity each year.* Many musicians were disappointed to find out the Tennessee Legislature never thought to proactively speak out about the issue, although they reside over some of the country’s most renowned music cities, Nashville and Memphis.
John Paul Keith, a Memphis-based Rock musician, spoke out, admitting Tennessee has been behind with the topic, saying, “I have been privileged to travel all over the U.S. and Europe playing music, and I can assure you, Tennessee is way behind the times on this issue. We need to ban smoking in Tennessee bars, to protect the health of musicians and everyone in the hospitality industry.”
After years of building consensus, lobbying lawmakers and enlisting support from companies and artists, Jamie Kent had great news to share with supporters on June 2, 2022:
As he continues his efforts towards ensuring a Smokefree Tennessee, Kent knows there’s always more to do. In a recent interview with Axios, he hints at his next advocacy move:
“Kent says that due to the success of the anti-smoking campaign, he is collaborating with other professionals on creating a new advocacy group to give musicians a seat at the table on policy decisions that affect their livelihoods.”
We’re honored to be working with Jamie to grow this advocacy group and look forward to more big wins to ensure that Tennessee becomes the most welcoming, prosperous and supportive state for the creative community.
*https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/tennessee-tobacco-program/ttp/about-ttp.html
https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/problem/toll-us/tennessee