"Break the silence" is the theme that Garth Brooks, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Mark Chesnutt, Mary-Chapin Carpenter and 40 other country music stars will echo in their industry's national campaign to prevent the spread of AIDS, especially in rural America.
The campaign, to be kicked off in Washington on Jan. 13 by Kristine Gebbie, the federal AIDS policy coordinator, is to feature the country stars in public service announcements on radio and television. Fans will hear George Jones say: "Don't play possum with AIDS. Educate your children."And Clint Black: "You know AIDS isn't just some big city problem. An estimated 1 out of every 250 Americans is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And that includes small towns and rural communities and counties all across the country. Break the silence."
Cynthia Ellie Noel Chapman, the campaign's executive producer, said the initiative was started by Chesnutt in response to published reports that AIDS is increasing in rural America twice as fast as in urban areas.
"This is the part of the country that country music can speak to directly," she said in a telephone interview from Nashville.
"We're trying to raise awareness, change attitudes and behavior as much as we can. There are messages ranging from encouraging parents to talk to their children about AIDS to encouraging people to use condoms every time they have sex. The idea was to get as broad a representation of artists as possible, artists from the old guard and the best established new artists. We wanted artists who have their own audiences, audiences who listen to them and trust them."
Each participating country star is to disseminate information about AIDS at one of his or her already scheduled concerts. Chapman said the American National Red Cross would also set up information booths at the concerts.