Millions of pennies and a Sacred space – memories of the original Guitar Pull

Guitar Pull began as a small concert at Augusta’s Sacred Heart Cultural Center. The ticket was designed by our marketing director and popcorn was the only concession item sold. It was being popped by our business manager. 

The idea was to be a small show to raise money for our Million Pennies for Kids campaign. Originally, KICKS 99 raised money by collecting a million pennies ($10,000) and we would drive all over the area collecting them.  

Once, as I remember, the weight of the pennies broke an axle on the vehicle. Pennies are heavy, I guess. 

We started to work on the line up for this first concert. We had 400 seats to sell. We figured they would sell out quickly.  

The popcorn sold out quicker. It took over a month to sell that first show. 

The lineup was Doug Stone, The Warren Brothers, Chele Wright, Michael Peterson and the Wilkinsons. Each of them had hits on the radio in 1999.  

We knew from the beginning that Guitar Pull could be special, but never in a million years did we guess that it would turn out to be the biggest concert of the year. We certainly never envisioned the event it has become today.  

Chuck Nance was on the KICKS 99 Morning show - Johnson & Johnson. He remembers it this way. 

“The annual Kicks 99 holiday charity promotion was "The Million Pennies for Kids" to benefit the United Way,” he said. “Here's how it worked. Debbie and I ("Johnson & Johnson") got off the air each morning and then stood on a street corner somewhere essentially asking people to stop by and empty the change from their ashtray. This went on from the Monday after Thanksgiving until we collected one million pennies worth of donations.”  Nance said that while the charity was worthy, the time and effort it took to collect $10,000 one pocketful of change at a time made it hard to justify. 

“The juice didn’t justify the squeeze,” he said. 

So, after that first Christmas, the team gathered in my office to rethink the idea. 

At the time one of the biggest music shows on TV was "MTV Unplugged." A plot was hatched to put something similar together with the idea that it might net even more than $10,000 in pennies. Planning commenced.  

Fun Fact: Chuck and Debbie are now doing radio in Charlotte, North Carolina at WSOC and are one of the top 10 afternoon shows in America. I’d like to think Guitar Pull had something to do with it. 

Over the years, we have had some of the biggest artists in country music, including Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Brad Paisley and many more - more than 125 over the years. This year, to commemorate the event’s 25^th anniversary, there will be two shows -Tuesday, November 12 and Wednesday, November 13 at Bell Auditorium. Ten artists, five each night. 

Both shows are sold out. 

For Steve Hodges, Executive Vice President of Sony Music Nashville, the KICKS 99 Guitar Pull represents the sort of success that comes with understanding the artists, the audience, and finding those ways to connect them in a unique and special way. 

“I had my first artist participate in 2000, the Second Annual Guitar Pull,” he said. “I’ve watched that event blow up into one of the best acoustic performance events in the industry. Kudos to KICKS 99 for their dedication to charity and to the integrity of their event.”