Houston Friends Come Together to Put Concert On In Honor of Their Heart Attack Victim Buddy — The Beat Goes On Promises to be No Ordinary Show

“The Beat Goes On” promises to be one helluva concert when Grammy nominated musician, singer/songwriter Grace Potter and crossover country/rock ‘n’ roll artist Charlie Mars hit the stage at White Oak Music Hall on February 24. This one-of-a-kind music show with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the American Heart Association is not your typical music night or benefit fundraiser. The event has deep roots in a lifelong friendship between two highly motivated buddies and business partners, one of whom died unexpectedly of a heart problem at age 46.

“Our best buddy (Michael Carroll) died of a heart attack and it was preventable,” The Fields Companies and concert sponsor Jay Fields says.

Potter’s performance is expected to rock the night. Her album “Daylight” garnered Grammy Award nominations in 2019 both for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance. In 2011, she was nominated for the Best Country Duo/Group Grammy, performing with Kenny Chesney. Music industry website Spin has toasted Potter as “one of the greatest living voices in rock today.” She’s a regular at major music festivals from Coachella to Lollapalooza.

Mississippi-born Mars, who was in the ATO fraternity at Southern Methodist University along with Fields, has a soulful cache of tunes that Carroll and Fields contracted for after forming Foxgate Records, named after the Memorial area street that the two friends grew up on.

“He’s a cowboy hat away from his songs being on Yellowstone,” Fields’ business partner Eric Houston quips.

Enter another of Fields’ best buds Mark Sullivan, Public Content director of business development. The two came up with the idea of honoring Carroll, who died in 2021, with the concert while raising funds for the American Heart Association. White Oak Music Hall has joined in the philanthropy by donating the space.

“What I did is threefold,” Fields says. “One, it exposes Charlie when we come out with a new album. Two, it’s going to be really fun. Three, it’s good for The Fields Companies. We’re promoting it. I paid for all the acts, every single thing. So that everything that happens with this benefit is going to the American Heart Association.”

Fields believes that he can easily raise $200,ooo to $300,000 and would like to take it to the half-million dollar mark.

“It’s a show that you’re not going to see again,” Fields adds. “It’s pretty special actually.”

The Fields family and The Fields Companies have a multi-generational tradition of philanthropy with their support going to Ronald McDonald House, Cattle Barons and “cancer in every form and fashion,” Fields says. “It’s always been a part of my life. So it just feels natural. Sometimes it’s just money and sometimes it’s actually rolling up your sleeves and actually doing something which is what we have done here.”

The evening will also serve as a reminder that heart disease can be corrected if not actually prevented. It’s all about doctor checkups.

Tickets, which went on sale on Friday, are available here. General admission tickets cost $60 while sponsor tables on the second level are available for $5,000 and $10,000.