By Peter Cameron, Staff Writer, The Times Tribune
Austin Davis is a big country music fan — especially of the white-hatted star Brad Paisley.
“The country music awards, we play them on YouTube nonstop,” his mother, Francine Adams, said with a chuckle. “It’s always Brad.”
Music is important for Davis, 23, who was born with cerebral palsy and is visually impaired.
So Thursday was a huge day for the Greenfield Twp. man. Thanks to a local charity, he got tickets to see Paisley perform on his Life Amplified tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. and met the country music giant after the concert.
His mother, who also met the musician with her husband and second son, called it “incredible” and “once in a lifetime” for Davis.
“After we met him and we were walking out, he kept saying ‘I got to meet Brad. I got to meet Brad,’” she said of Davis, who has limited speaking ability and vision that comes and goes.
The man and his family went to the show courtesy of Band-Aids, a new, local charity started by Scranton attorney Michael Pisanchyn.
Motivated by a severely disabled client named Barbie Maines, who lit up when she heard her favorite music, Pisanchyn launched the charity to “try to provide a V.I.P. experience” for others in her situation.
The charity secured the tickets for Davis and his family — its first recipient — but didn’t nail down the meeting with Paisley until the day of the show. Pisanchyn said he tried the venue, the musician’s production company and finally tracked down his manager at his hotel to make the meeting happen.
“I told them if I had to run into the bus with my car, I was going to,” he joked.
Band-Aids asks for nominations for mentally challenged and medically fragile individuals, which is how it found Davis.
The charity runs completely on volunteers, Pisanchyn said, so all donations go directly to granting wishes for people.
They certainly did that for Davis.
“He was laughing and smiling nonstop throughout the show,” his mother said.
To donate to Band-Aids, follow this link. You can also nominate someone for tickets to a show and a potential meeting with the musician here.