NRA Country removes country artists from web site

Tuesday, March 20, 2018 – NRA Country has removed the list of country acts associated with the offshoot of the National Rifle Association.

Rolling Stone Country reported the change on the organization's web site on Monday. The names apparently were removed on Friday.

Instead of listing the music acts, NRA Country lists events including a concert of the Randy Rogers Band with Scooter Brown Band and the Charlie Daniels Band with Travis Tritt and Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers.

The Rolling Stone article cited the post Parkland High School deadly shooting as a potential reason for the removal of the names of the artists, indicating that it was a difficult time for musicians to be associated with the NRA.

The article quoted David Macias, head of Thirty Tigers as saying, ""I can only guess that after the Parkland shooting, there were a lot more acts that felt queasy about having their name directly associated with the NRA. So, rather than be left with a list of artists that only has Charlie Daniels on it, they decided to change it so that you couldn't tell which acts were associated."

Thirty Tigers is a distribution, marketing and artist management company and has several NRA Country artists.

The NRA Country web site describes it as "NRA Country is a celebration of American values. Respect. Honor. Freedom. It's a lifestyle and a bond between the best and brightest in country music and hard-working Americans. NRA Country is powered by pride, love of country, respect for the military, and our responsibility to protect our great American lifestyle. NRA Country celebrates these values with concerts and events benefiting military and veteran services organizations, first responders, conservation organizations, firearm safety programs, and local charities making a difference in their communities. NRA Country will be involved in causes that defend our values and it will empower our artist friends who promote these values to encourage our next generation of leaders."

Recently listed as country acts affiliated with NRA Country were:
Trace Adkins
Rodney Atkins
Drew Baldridge
Blackberry Smoke
Lee Brice
Craig Campbell
Luke Combs
Easton Corbin
Tyler Farr
Colt Ford
Kevin Fowler
Lucas Hoge
Angie Johnson
Aaron Lewis
LOCASH
Love and Theft
Montgomery Gentry
Justin Moore
Craig Morgan
Heidi Newfield
Jon Pardi
Eric Paslay
Michael Ray
Chase Rice
Peter Scobell
Granger Smith
Big SMO
The Swon Brothers
Tate Stevens
Sunny Sweeney
Josh Thompson
Storme Warren
Aaron Watson
Drake White
Chuck Wicks
Hank Williams Jr.
Gretchen Wilson